13 replies to this topic

[WanderAnts]

September 3, 2018

So I happened to be taking out the trash and was walking back to my front door when I realized this beauty was hanging out on the column. I had a test tube setup within an hour of catching and soon put it away.

 

September 20, 2018

So what can I say, this lovely lady must have found her heated test tube quite comfortable because after a little over two weeks she had a decent amount of brood

 

October 27, 2018

So to avoid stressing this lovely lady out too much, I've decided that if I'm going to disturb her that it will only be once a month. It appears to have paid off; she has three substantial sized larvae along with what looks like four or five smaller ones.

Edited by WanderAnts, August 9 2019 - 8:04 AM.

[DaveJay]

She's a good looking Queen!

[WanderAnts]

November 14th

 

Came home on my lunch break and decided to check on this founding queen to find she had her first worker, two other pupae and other small larvae or eggs. I'm quite happy that she was fertile as I'm looking forward to watching the colony grow.

 

 

 

 

To avoid stressing the queen, I decided to go with some protein jelly instead of a piece of a feeder insect. Once I set down the jelly on the small piece of tin foil I honestly thought I had given her a piece that was too large, but she devoured it.

 

 

November 15th

 

This queen wasted no time and helped her second worker eclose the very next day, I'm assuming the third worker will be here by the weekend. I did decide to give them another piece of protein jelly to see if I could boost the queen a little.

 

Edited by WanderAnts, November 21 2018 - 9:18 AM.

[WanderAnts]

December 1st

This colony now has its third worker, three pupae and a few larvae and eggs. I've given them portions of super worms and a drop of honey every other day and a small portion of protein jelly in between. They are honestly way more interested in the jelly than anything else. I've also moved them into a newer glass test tube versus their old plastic one. I should be able to get far clearer pictures in the future as I'm greatly looking forward to the growth of this colony.

 

[sirjordanncurtis]

Update?

[WanderAnts]

So I hadn't realized how long it had been since I updated this journal, but this colony made it to 20 workers sometime around the first couple of weeks in January. At that point, I moved them into a THA mini hearth that I made sure to air out for a good two weeks with the glass and lid off. At the rate they seem to be going I assume they'll be filling it rather quickly though.

 

     

January 31, 2019

A slightly larger worker that eclosed shortly after the move into the mini hearth and some of the first generation workers have died off

 

 

   

February 12, 2019

At first, the die-offs had me a little worried, but they have plenty of larvae and pupae that should eclose soon.

 

[WanderAnts]

April 26, 2019

 

This colony has been growing so quickly that I had to move them from a mini hearth into into a XL mini hearth, once the colony gets bigger I'll reconnect their original mini hearth to give them more space. If I had to guess the colony has about 100-150 workers with as many as 15-20 fairly large majors. Their gasters vary between greenish and yellow because they got green tinted honey back in March and they've recently been blowing through sunburst ant nectar pretty quickly

[WanderAnts]

August 9, 2019

 

 

 

Since my last update in April I've had to move this colony from their XL mini hearth and into a fortress which they have quickly filled as well and I would estimate the colony between 350-400 individual workers. This species seems to grow on a similar pace to C. floridanus which can reach 1000 workers in the matter of the first year. They are constantly foraging in the outworld, readily accept any form of protein, and have recently finishing large feeders of sunburst and water on almost a weekly basis.

 

 

 

 

The queen of this colony who usually hangs around the middle and top portions of the nest and usually stays out of sight on the chamber roof but uncharacteristically posed for the camera on this day.

 

 

 

I particularly really like the coloration of the majors in this colony

Edited by WanderAnts, August 9 2019 - 8:03 AM.

[Acutus]

Very Cool Ants! I have also used the THA Mini and Mini XL and they seem to be doing great with my C. castaneus. do you have a picture of your ants in their THA Fortress? I'm thinking of getting one and wanna get an idea of what it looks like with that many workers.

Also how large are these ants?

[WanderAnts]

Very Cool Ants! I have also used the THA Mini and Mini XL and they seem to be doing great with my C. castaneus. do you have a picture of your ants in their THA Fortress? I'm thinking of getting one and wanna get an idea of what it looks like with that many workers.

Also how large are these ants?

 

 

castaneus is a larger species than inaequalis, the queens of each species side by side

 

 

They like packing the back and roofs of the chambers

Edited by WanderAnts, August 9 2019 - 12:27 PM.

[Acutus]

Thanks so much for the pics! That really gives me an idea of how many ants can fit in a Fortress! You can check out my castaneus journal if you like but basically I had them in an XL and added a regular mini. IF everything goes right with hibernation I think they will quickly fill the current and I'm now gonna make sure I have a Fortress ready. I'll probably connect t the Fortress to the current.

Edited by Acutus, August 9 2019 - 3:04 PM.

[WanderAnts]

 

 

August 20th - These are two short videos showing the chambers throughout the nest and the outworld to better show the population boom this colony is currently having. There is a fresh batch of brood and almost all of the pupae from early August have already been eclosed and the worker population is ridiculous at this point as there are usually a minimum of fifty plus workers in the outworld throughout the day. I've also transitioned from using the nestmate to using a byformica feeder to provide water to this colony because taking the nestmate out from a chamber full of ants has become a bit difficult. I'm also planning on connect an XL mini to give some more nesting space until I can get them another larger formicarium.

 

 

 

August 24th - I decided to try giving my colony some urine to see if they would be receptive to it and this was the response in their outworld just minutes after putting the feeder in. The colony was able to finish the feeder in under an hour so I provided more, which sat there untouched for two days until I removed it. I'll try again in a few days and see if they they want more

[BeginnerAntKeeper]

I’m quite sure urine has loads of chemicals and harmful stuff in it that could harm ants as that is one of the main ways animals get rid of toxins in their bodies, and it’s also not very morally sound...

[WanderAnts]

I’m quite sure urine has loads of chemicals and harmful stuff in it that could harm ants as that is one of the main ways animals get rid of toxins in their bodies, and it’s also not very morally sound...

So it's been documented that species of ants specifically Camponotus seek bird and lizard feces in addition to mammalian urine likely to obtain urea from it. Urea is essentially a processed form of ammonia that is non-toxic to mammals, unlike ammonia, which can be highly toxic.I suggest looking into the links I provided below and doing some research yourself so that you are better informed rather than casting aspersions based on your being "quite sure."

https://chem.librete...on_and_Function
https://bmcbiol.biom.../1741-7007-5-48
https://vtechworks.l....PDF?sequence=1
http://www.the-eis.c...ib dune ant.pdf+
https://www.alexande...notus/i-qjs4tFC

Edited by WanderAnts, August 29 2019 - 4:18 AM.