77 replies to this topic

[ANTdrew]

Another good Team Castaneus journal! What is that cool test tube holder?

[Acutus]

 

Also this is just an observation. But look at the wings on Queen 5 and compare them to Queen 4 (the other Queens 1-3 all look like this too) It just seemd odd that the one Queen that has laid also has her wings held differently. I know they usually lose them anyways but was wondering if anyone had ever noticed this?

 

 

 

 

 

It appears as if she's been trying to shed them as one pair is missing.

 

 

Then would she eat the other set? they are not in the test tube. 

 

Another good Team Castaneus journal! What is that cool test tube holder?

 

I got them from Ants Canada in their Startup kits. I think they sell the rack separate though.

[TennesseeAnts]

The Camponotus americanus queen I had, that has a really weird color scheme, is actually Camponotus castaneus!!! She will be getting her first workers in a few weeks, as she has lots of larvae!

[ANTdrew]

Welcome to Team Castaneus!

You had one all along!

[TennesseeAnts]

Welcome to Team Castaneus!
You had one all along!

Yea. She just had a darker head than the specimen I now have.

[TheRealAntMan]

 

 

Also this is just an observation. But look at the wings on Queen 5 and compare them to Queen 4 (the other Queens 1-3 all look like this too) It just seemd odd that the one Queen that has laid also has her wings held differently. I know they usually lose them anyways but was wondering if anyone had ever noticed this?

 

 

 

 

 

It appears as if she's been trying to shed them as one pair is missing.

 

 

Then would she eat the other set? they are not in the test tube. 

 

 

 

Then she probably dropped them before you caught her.

[Acutus]

 

 

 

Also this is just an observation. But look at the wings on Queen 5 and compare them to Queen 4 (the other Queens 1-3 all look like this too) It just seemd odd that the one Queen that has laid also has her wings held differently. I know they usually lose them anyways but was wondering if anyone had ever noticed this?

 

 

 

 

 

It appears as if she's been trying to shed them as one pair is missing.

 

 

Then would she eat the other set? they are not in the test tube. 

 

 

 

Then she probably dropped them before you caught her.

 

 

Nope!! you were right they were laying up on and under the cotton. I looked really good after your post!

[TennesseeAnts]

Welcome to Team Castaneus!
You had one all along!

Never mind... The hairs on the malar region were just hard to find....

[Acutus]

 Update 6/11/19

 

So I decided to rob my C. castaneus Queenless colony today and try a Brood Boost in my Real C. castaneus colony! We'll see how it goes. They aren't attacking the brood at least not yet, so maybe that's a positive sign?

 

 

Of the 5 Queens I captured still only Queen #5 has laid eggs. But there are more than the original 6 for sure!

 

 

[akaant]

Camponotus americanus brood will also work if you happen to find them.

[Acutus]

Well the Boost went WAY BETTER than I expected. Shortly after postin I went back in and took this video!!

 

 

So I took the rest of the Brood and Larvae and put them in as well.

 

 

In less then 10 minutes the second cap pictured was already in the Test Tube! They still won't go into the nest area of the formicarium though! 

Edited by Acutus, June 11 2019 - 6:52 PM.

[CatsnAnts]

That’s great! ants can really be stubborn sometimes though

[Acutus]

Update 6/12

 

Well I'd say the Brood Boost went well!!   

 

 

You'd think they'd wanna move into the nest area of the formicarium. 

May have to rethink things a bit.

[Acutus]

Ok so I decided enough was enough! These ants simply won't move into the AntWorldUSA formicarium at all. I don't think there's a problem with the formicarium itself I just think the C. castaneus  are the wrong ants for it!

 

SO I purchased a Tar Heel Ants Mini Hearth XL. Mostly due to the reviews and opinions I got from this forum. It's a really nice formicarium for sure but will the C. castaneus agree? We'll see!

By this time there were actually 2 Test tubes in the Formicarium The old one with the Queen and ants refusing to move out and a new one inside the out world because the original ran out of water! 

 

So I took the Queens tube hooked it up to one side of the Mini Hearth XL and the ants and brood in the second tube were placed in the Out World!

 

 

 

 

 

About 2.5 Hours Later the ants were starting to move into the Mini Hearth XL

 

 

 

However true to form.................... No Queen movement. 

 

 

Hopefully I'll check tomorrow and they're all moved in. 

 

[Acutus]

So this morning I go in and everything is pretty much the way I left it. At this point there are about 30 workers still in the old formicarium as well. In the afternoon I decided that since most of the workers in the old formicarium were now in the test tube inside I'd move them into the new one!

I opened the other side of the Mini Hearth XL and connect the Test tube jiggling it a bit to get the workers to go into the Mini Hearth. It took a bit but they all eventually went in!

 

That's when I noticed it! There was NO Queen in the Right side Test Tube!! I quickly looked into the Mini Hearth XL and BAM!! There she was! 

So I quickly disconnected the tube with workers and brood in it, plugged the side, then dumped the workers and brood into the outworld!!   

Now the entire C. castaneus Colony is in the Mini Hearth XL!!! Woot Woot!!!!   

 

 

[ANTdrew]

Excellent! I should have done something like this. As it is, my colony finally moved under a rock last week. I’m kind of done with this species, though. I never see them do anything, and their taking up valuable space. I guess I prefer more voracious, active species.

[TennesseeAnts]

Excellent! I should have done something like this. As it is, my colony finally moved under a rock last week. I’m kind of done with this species, though. I never see them do anything, and their taking up valuable space. I guess I prefer more voracious, active species.

This is because they are a small colony and only forage at night for the most part.

[Acutus]

Excellent! I should have done something like this. As it is, my colony finally moved under a rock last week. I’m kind of done with this species, though. I never see them do anything, and their taking up valuable space. I guess I prefer more voracious, active species.

 

 

 

Excellent! I should have done something like this. As it is, my colony finally moved under a rock last week. I’m kind of done with this species, though. I never see them do anything, and their taking up valuable space. I guess I prefer more voracious, active species.

This is because they are a small colony and only forage at night for the most part.

 

 

They are definitely not as active as my C. chromaiodes or my A. fulva but they forage during the day when I put food in. Not near as many foragers as the others but a much smaller colony. These are definitely more nocturnal I don't see near as many of them during the day as I do at night in the wild and I know where some BIG colonies are.

 

I really like the Mini Hearth XL but the OutWorlds are just too small IMO. However there are plenty of ways to hook up a larger one so this is a very minor point. The one I got is also modular so I can hook others to it as needed!

 

I'm seriously thinking of getting a Mini Hearth type 1 to put my C. castaneus founding Queen in. She isn't thriving at all. Her first set of eggs died and she's on her second set and they don't appear to be growing.

Edited by Acutus, July 11 2019 - 8:09 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Your presence was acutely missed, btw. I figured you were busy doing real world stuff.
I just realized I can’t afford to spend money on formicariums as sad as that is. I’m going to try making my own. The terrarium route is ok, but it takes up too much space. It wasn’t a good idea for an ant that doesn’t do squat anyway.

Edited by ANTdrew, July 12 2019 - 2:55 AM.

[Acutus]

Yeah Summer is my busiest season. I'm gonna build some of my own formicariums too just when I get the time.

The Grout formicariums look nice and grout is easy to work with . I haven't used hydrostone yet. I a;so wanna try firebrick.