85 replies to this topic

[TennesseeAnts]

I. Want.

[Ferox_Formicae]

I. Want.

Don't worry. You may be able to find some. You may never know there's a nest around until you see a worker carrying a bit of frass back to the nest. They don't always build mounds, as is the case with my smaller colony, which was probably just founded last year. I suspect that the queen is actually one of the larger colonies alates, going off of location.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Here's a really nice article I found on caring for and collecting Attines.

 

https://www.research...rmicinae_Attini

Edited by CloudtheDinosaurKing, May 29 2019 - 8:19 AM.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Again, when I got home from school at around 4, there was no sign of Trachymyrmex activity in the large formicarium. I decided to mist the formicarium, and after a few minutes, a few ants came out to investigate. A few minutes after that, a whole bunch of ants were cutting up the flower petals from yesterday! They actually finished cutting a bunch this time and took the pieces back into the nest. They were cutting up leaves for about 4 hours before the activity was slowed and the only ants out were the ones clearing out dead bodies and the ones who were just kinda walking around (literally sees a worker carrying a flower petal while I'm writing this post  ). This colony seems to be settling in well, and they must have lots of fungus if they're bringing so many flower clippings into the nest! This colony is on the road to recovery! As for my other colony, they are doing great! They have finally picked a spot to start their fungus garden and have been bringing lots of flower clippings into the nest. Even better, the queen just laid a large clutch of eggs! They also seem to be a lot calmer and more contained, and less workers are going into the foraging area, although a few are digging in it for no apparent reason. I'm still not entirely sure what's up with that, but they should get all sorted out soon. Below is a video of one of the Trachymyrmex workers in my larger colony cutting a rose petal. It took her about 15 minutes to finish cutting the entire thing, so I sped it up by 4x. Enjoy!

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=H_TbFWt1tR4

[Ferox_Formicae]

The fungus in my smaller colony has grown by quite a bit overnight! It seems to be going through a stage of rapid growth at the moment.

[TennesseeAnts]

Pics?

[Ferox_Formicae]

Pics?

I'll try and get some later.

[Acutus]

I wanna try this species but I wanna do an open concept type formicarium so I can see the fungus. Like this!

 

Sorry I forget who's picture this was.

 

Edited by Acutus, May 30 2019 - 11:50 AM.

[Ferox_Formicae]

I wanna try this species but I wanna do an open concept type formicarium so I can see the fungus. Like this!

 

Sorry I forget who's picture this was.

 

This formicarium is very similar to the nest I have for mine. I'm actually gonna try and move them into something a bit bigger while their fungus is still small, and give the nest box I have for them currently to a colony of Cyphomyrmex rimosus, which I see fairly commonly around here and have much smaller fungus gardens.

[Ferox_Formicae]

I gave both of my colonies some crushed up Rice Crispy^TM Cereal, and they seemed to love it! Both colonies were instantly interested and started bringing pieces back into the nest. I should probably crush it up a bit more this time, as some of the pieces are far too big for them to carry, but they still try! 

[Ferox_Formicae]

I will be ordering some larger containers for my smaller Trachymyrmex colony soon. I need to get the before the fungus gets really big and they would not move it all out. Currently, their fungus is a inch in size, and getting bigger by the hour, so I need to get the containers soon, very soon. The reason they need a bigger container is because their fungus gardens are 5 times the size of the box I have then in currently, and they definitely need something much bigger, along with a bigger outworld as these ants will forage quite a bit from their nest. I will eventually hook up a second chamber once the colony gets big enough, so I will pre-drill a hole so I won't have to stress the ants out when they eventually do outgrow the first chamber.

[TennesseeAnts]

Buy one of Drew's fungus grower formicariums.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Buy one of Drew's fungus grower formicariums.

I'll have to check them out, but I did kind of want to build something myself.

[TennesseeAnts]

Model off of his fungus grower formicarium. His Acromyrmex did really well in them.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Model off of his fungus grower formicarium. His Acromyrmex did really well in them.

I definitely will.

[Ferox_Formicae]

I may do something similar, but it will definitely have less chambers, as the most chambers Trachymyrmex septentrionalis ever has is three. I'm probably gonna do something like the formicarium Acutus showed.

[TennesseeAnts]

Got any pics yet? I have to see these!

[Ferox_Formicae]

Got any pics yet? I have to see these!

Yeah, I'll get them up in just a bit.

[Ferox_Formicae]

The current nest.

The ants from a few days ago.

[Acutus]

Buy one of Drew's fungus grower formicariums.

 

Where can I see these?