21 replies to this topic

[Ferox_Formicae]

So I collected a small colony of Pheidole navigans on Tuesday, but all of the workers ended up dying due to them running out of moisture and me not noticing in time. The queen is alive and well, and I gave her some water so she would be okay, and she immediately started to drink it. She has brood, but I'm not sure if it's alive or not. I also have a much larger Pheidole navigans colony that I collected last night with workers numbering in the hundreds. I'm wondering if I should give her some brood from that colony so that while her next set of workers develop, she can have some workers to tend to her. I am not going to try and merge he two colonies together as I hear they are monogynous, with he dominant queen killing the others before the brood even hatches. Should I boost her or should I just wait and see if her brood is alive?

[YsTheAnt]

If you want her to successfully start up her colony again, brood boosting will be the way to go.

[Ferox_Formicae]

If you want her to successfully start up her colony again, brood boosting will be the way to go.

Okay, thanks!

[CoolColJ]

dip the workers in water a few times to remove the colony scent

[Ferox_Formicae]

dip the workers in water a few times to remove the colony scent

Okay, should I do that after they eclose?

[CoolColJ]

dip the workers in water a few times to remove the colony scent

Okay, should I do that after they eclose?

Oh, I thought you were going to give her some adult workers.
If it's just brood no need

[Kalidas]

Wait... You can just take workers from other colonies and transplant them?!

Edited by Kalidas, November 9 2018 - 3:44 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Wait... You can just take workers from other colonies and transplant them?!

sometimes it works

[Kalidas]

That's pretty neat

[ANTdrew]

I would just advise against spreading yourself too thin. Don’t keep gathering too many colonies unless you can give them all optimal care. Be careful not to do ecological harm to the things you love. There is a lot to be said for learning to appreciate ants where they are in their natural habitat.

[Ferox_Formicae]

I would just advise against spreading yourself too thin. Don’t keep gathering too many colonies unless you can give them all optimal care. Be careful not to do ecological harm to the things you love. There is a lot to be said for learning to appreciate ants where they are in their natural habitat.

Okay, thanks for the advice. I try and only collect the colonies that I know I will find interest in. I see several colones with visible queens a day, and yet I only collect a small portion of those colonies. I mostly see colonies of Linepithema humile, or Tapinoma sessile, and their queens are visible, but I usually don't collect them. I also don't collect queens of species of which I have multiple of them, for example Camponotus castaneus or Pseudomyrmex pallidus. I do try and collect colonies of Pheidole however as they are some of my favorite ants, also some of the more cryptic species such as Strumigenys. I am going to release some of my colonies like my worker-less colony of Crematogaster lineolata as I collected a colony today with 2 queens and hundreds of workers. They're doing good in their new formicarium. I may also release my single Camponotus castaneus queen. But yes, thank you for the advice.

[ANTdrew]

Take my advice with a grain of salt. You have an impressive knowledge of your local ants, and I find it heartening to hear of all the diversity you encounter just a few states south of me. In my ignorance, I thought SC would be all RIFA by now.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Take my advice with a grain of salt. You have an impressive knowledge of your local ants, and I find it heartening to hear of all the diversity you encounter just a few states south of me. In my ignorance, I thought SC would be all RIFA by now.

Yeah, I'm pretty observant when it come to looking for ants. I literally leave no stone unturned, even the really tiny ones yield some ants. I once flipped over a tiny rock and found a massive colony of Strumigenys louisianae. I sometimes think I am too lucky.

[ANTdrew]

Your grammar is better than many of the grown ups on here, too. As an English teacher, I appreciate that!
Good luck with your anting!

[Ferox_Formicae]

Thanks, good luck to you too!

Edited by CloudtheDinosaurKing, November 11 2018 - 10:33 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Would that I had ant expert students with decent grammar!

We had a hard frost here last night, so anting is done for me. I had a lot of success for a rookie, though! My hope for 2019 is to found a C. castanaeus colony.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Would that I had ant expert students with decent grammar!

We had a hard frost here last night, so anting is done for me. I had a lot of success for a rookie, though! My hope for 2019 is to found a C. castanaeus colony.

We had a frost too, and yet I was still able to collect another ant colony today, a colony of Pseudomyrmex ejectus that I found in a hollow twig of an ash tree. I've also seen several and species foraging, Prenolepis imparis, of course, Brachyponera chinensis, some species of Nylanderia, Solenopsis invicta, and Linepithema humile. Ant hunting is not really a season, more of a year-round thing, depending on the species of course. Like you won't be able to find Trachymyrmex septentrionalis during the winter as they dig deeper and seal off their nest entrances, but I bet you will be able to find at least a claustral cell of Camponotus castaneus under a large rock. They'll also be much easier to collect. I do hope you're able to find some.

[Rstheant]

dip the workers in water a few times to remove the colony scent

You might want to do it quick, in order for the workers to stay alive. And also don’t dip them in scalding water. I would just chill them go 15min to put the workers in a test tube for 2 days.

[CoolColJ]

dip the workers in water a few times to remove the colony scent

You might want to do it quick, in order for the workers to stay alive. And also don’t dip them in scalding water. I would just chill them go 15min to put the workers in a test tube for 2 days.

No need for quick, ants can survive for 24 hours under water, they just go dormant, much like they do in the fridge.
I have tested it on a few of my queens and wild ants, up to 30 mins, they wake up no worries

Even revived workers that have drowned in leaked test tubes.

Good way to dissolve honey soaked ants as well, dipping them into water and stirring around

Edited by CoolColJ, November 14 2018 - 10:14 PM.

[FSTP]

Maybe try boosting them with pupae instead of egg/larvae. That way the queen won't need to take care of them and all you and she has to do is wait for them to eclose for her and then she'll have an instant worker force without her having to take care of any eggs or feed any larvae.

Edited by FSTP, November 14 2018 - 10:21 PM.