680 replies to this topic

[futurebird]

This makes me feel better about they way my Camponotus discolor colony is sprawling. Although you probably have twice as many ants as I do as they are smaller and I think a maybe 1/2 bigger by volume. 

 

(when you start thinking of the ants in volume you are in deep)

[ANTdrew]

This makes me feel better about they way my Camponotus discolor colony is sprawling. Although you probably have twice as many ants as I do as they are smaller and I think a maybe 1/2 bigger by volume.

(when you start thinking of the ants in volume you are in deep)

Successfully keeping ants is not an aesthetic undertaking.

[Flu1d]

Update 4-6-24
Welcome to the sixth year of this journal (though it is now following a second colony)! I brought Queen Della and her minions out of hibernation on March 13th. They did fine during their diapause time and bounced back to frenetic activity very quickly. I upgraded their setup at the end of March by adding a new CrematoProof mega-outworld I had made for them along with the UtahAnts Nucleus replica that my original colony used to live in. I had to disconnect the mega-outworld, though, due to a problem with the escape barrier. I had experimented with putting talc and alcohol instead of fluon on the anti-escape rim at the top, but because the rim was made of a flexible plastic, too much talc dust fell down every time I bumped the box at all. The poor ants got dusted by walking around and literally couldn't climb anything! I didn't want the outworld to become a death trap, so I broke it down and will need to redo later with fluon.

Here are the ants the day I brought them home into my warm kitchen.



Here is the expanded setup before I removed the mega-outworld.



I love keeping Crematogaster this time of year since they become so ravenous and active. I plan to devote almost all of my energy to this colony this year. No other ant species can even hold a candle to Crematogaster in my opinion.

I had a Crematogaster pinicola queen, but she didn't end up making it very far unfortunately. I was very interested in seeing her colony grow.

Hopefully I catch one this year, I'd really love another shot at that species!

[ANTdrew]

Update 4-16-2024

I was quite shocked last night to find that this colony has several queen larvae already! The growth of this colony is just astounding!

Edited by ANTdrew, April 16 2024 - 10:51 AM.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

Wow that is quick, I love crematogaster genus.

[The_Gaming-gate]

My dream is to set some Crematogaster in a THA Aerie. Then they’d really be “acrobat” ants.

[ANTdrew]

Update 5-3-2024
This colony is something else! A strong heat wave in my area warmed them up quite a bit, so many of the queen larvae have started pupating and a few already eclosed as winged princesses. I started noticing a few workers here and there slipping out of their setup somehow. It took me a while to figure out how, but the fact that only the smallest workers seemed to be getting out led me to suspect it must be some gap they were slipping out of. Sure enough, when I detached their old Antpartment, the escapes ended, so it seems they somehow managed to slip under the airtight lid! Crematogaster’s combined ability to scale almost any surface and compress their body through tight gaps makes them the consummate escape artists.

Queen pupae:

[ANTdrew]

Back side of their UtahAnts nest with new eggs. The queen hangs out in the middle tier to the right.

Attached Images

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[ANTdrew]

Update 5-28-2024
This colony has been a real handful the past few weeks. All the queen alates eclosed, along with lots of new workers. On hot, humid mornings, lots pf queen alates come out into the outworlds to try to fly. I’ll need to figure out how to remove as many of them as I can, so they don’t sap the strength of my colony like they did last time.
Somehow they chewed through a rubber plug blocking one of the entrances to their UtahAnts nest. I managed to swap out the plug for a tighter fitting nestmate, and sealed around that with silicone. I also redid the mega outworld I had for them and hooked that up to their great excitement.
Here is the new outworld:


A look at the whole setup:


The plug they destroyed in under six weeks:


Some of many new queen alates:

Edited by ANTdrew, May 28 2024 - 2:32 PM.

[Ernteameise]

This is an amazing colony, and with it's size exciting to look at.

Plus, Crematogaster just look cute.

But what you describe is exactly why I am intimidated by fast growing species like these.

[Mushu]

It's like reading a diary of a parent trying to keep the naughty kid out of trouble. I thought about getting rubber plugs to plug up 3/8 holes in case I need to. The solid plugs aren't as easy to find(or I've not been looking as hard) but also thought a more destructive species may easily work their way out. I ended up requesting extra 3D plugs from Tar Heels Ants but am curious if they'd be able to chew through that too. 

[ANTdrew]

I don't think they would chew through the 3D printed plugs. The issue is that those plugs don't create as tight of a seal, so I would still recommend sealing around the plug with silicone if you're dealing with Crematogaster. 

[Mushu]

Yeah that’s another issue, as my ants plug up the edges of the 3d printer plug with sand indicating as you said it’s more air tight and can see that being a problem for smaller ants. Use something too rigid and it’s not a tight fit, something softer and they’ll chew through.

I thought about using vinyl tubing but they would somewhat ruin the esthetic a bit. Wonder if they would be able to eventually squeeze in and chew through the silicone, if there is enough room for them to squeeze out. A plug with a screw flat cap that can sit flat against the wall might work.

[ANTdrew]

Update 7-11-24

This colony has undergone some massive growth in the past few weeks. Thankfully, they have not also been staging any massive escapes, either. At some point in late June, all the queen alates seemingly disappeared. They may be hiding somewhere in the setup, or there may have been a mass culling. Culling alates is not something my last colony did, so that would be a new observation with these ants. They are constantly moving around huge piles of larvae and pupae. Sometimes they pile them up in the outworld above their UtahAnts nest during the day, then bring them down into the chambers at night.





Brood mountains in the outworld:

[Stubyvast]

Huh, must be because they consider that outworld to be part of the nest? I've heard that wind (via a fan in the outworld) helps to make ants react to it more like a true outworld. Cool stuff! Massive brood pile there!

[Ernteameise]

I actually find this growth kind of scary!

[ANTdrew]

It is low key scary. I have several of the biggest liquid feeders available on the market, and they empty them faster than I empty my monthly paycheck.

Edited by ANTdrew, July 13 2024 - 2:11 AM.

[Ernteameise]

You also write that you had a lot of alates.

So is it normal that the problem "disappears" suddenly?

You might have noticed I am a bit paranoid concerning this issue, since in my Facebook group someone posted that their queen alates had killed the real queen.

I am however not sure if that is a normal thing or an exception.

So you do not remove alates when you have them in the colony?

And have nature run its course?

[ANTdrew]

You also write that you had a lot of alates.
So is it normal that the problem "disappears" suddenly?
You might have noticed I am a bit paranoid concerning this issue, since in my Facebook group someone posted that their queen alates had killed the real queen.
I am however not sure if that is a normal thing or an exception.
So you do not remove alates when you have them in the colony?
And have nature run its course?

With my Pheidole, the alates always disappear suddenly once the colony culls them. This also happened when my Aphaenogaster got some male alates in the late spring this year. I strongly suspect that my Crematogaster have culled all the queens somehow as well.

[ANTdrew]

Update 8-22-24 (I will add in photos later)

Things are relatively stable with this insane colony. They have grown quite a lot this summer, and they always have some massive piles of larvae and pupae that they are constantly shifting around. A few smaller members of the colony were able to escape last week because some of the talc barrier at the top of their large outworld got brushed off during daily maintenance of the colony. The lid on the big box is not tight enough of a fit to stop the smallest workers from squeezing out, unfortunately. I reapplied talc mixed with alcohol and chuckled a bit as some of the workers trying to escape seemed to get a bit tipsy from the fumes. Talc is very effective against this species since they are relatively chunky.




This colony will now empty one of the largest byFormica water feeders full of nectar in under 24 hours! I got a good technique figured out to deal with this, but it is tricky because there are always at least 40 or so ants hanging out on the feeder. What I do is quickly pull out the feeder, then I brush all the ants off into an old tupperware container that is completely lined with fluon using a stiff goose feather. I can then just pour the ants back into the outworld like a liquid since they can't get a hold on the fluon. Keeping a mature colony of Crematogaster is definitely a labor of love!

Here is the tupperware I use:

Edited by ANTdrew, August 22 2024 - 1:45 PM.