120 replies to this topic

[NickAnter]

Supposedly they are attracted to the color. I imagine having many of them would be effective.

[ponerinecat]

I doubt a small pan of water would catch anything. 

It's the color, not the liquid.

[Swirlysnowflake]

 

I doubt a small pan of water would catch anything. 

It's the color, not the liquid.

 

Won't the queens drown, however?

So would hanging up a huge florescent yellow sheet of paper attract them as well?

[ponerinecat]

 

 

I doubt a small pan of water would catch anything. 

It's the color, not the liquid.

 

Won't the queens drown, however?

So would hanging up a huge florescent yellow sheet of paper attract them as well?

 

I would assume so, yellow pan traps are designed to trap and kill specimens. Like I said you can modify them so the queens don't die.

[NickAnter]

I bet a 12x12 yellow tarp with a moat on it's edges so nothing could get out would be excellent.

[NickAnter]

Here are a couple photos of the queen, she is still winged, and I have not seen her eat yet:

[antsandmore]

wait wait wait wait wait. so you're saying some ants are attracted to the yellow color during the day, or is this just a stupid question.

[NickAnter]

Well its been a very long time since this journal has been, updated, and that was because I was failing to catch live queens. I found about 5 queens in my pool this year, all dead(I definitely didn't find one and have it die the next day, back in June, no sir). However, a few days ago, I found a queen of the fall flying sp, which is very small. She was immediately placed in the same type of formicarium as my Solenopsis. She has been steadily munching on springtails since.

Today, I went to the Home Depot with my dad, to get some pieces of sod. We turned over a piece, and I saw a massive argentine colony. Oh, well, unsurprising I thought. Then, I see a large, black Hypoponera queen scrambling away! She is the large species, the same as the one I found last December. She is also a dealate, so I'm super happy. She too was placed in the same type of formicarium. Thankfully, my springtail culture is booming on a diet of dog kibbles. They mold excellently, and seem to be a perfect food for them. Hopefully, now that I have the resources to keep them, I can succeed in doing so.

 

The large queen is about twice the size of the small queen by the way, absolutely dwarfs her.

Edited by NickAnter, September 18 2021 - 10:41 AM.

[NickAnter]

I caught 2 more queens in the pool, around 4:30. They are of the small sp. I have put them together, and they seem to be cooperating well. One of them is trying very hard(and failing) to remove her wings. It turns out my entire front mulch bed is filled with Hypos, likely the small species, which I am thinking may be punctatissima. If I can find pupae, I may give it to them.

[NickAnter]

Well people, I've done it. I got them to lay eggs.

 

So one of the three small queens above died, and then I found a new one, and thus back to three. A few days ago, I noticed an egg. Over the past days they have been laying more and more of them, so that they are currently caring for about 10 eggs. They are being heated, and seem to be doing great. I'm going to have to make some sort of hydrating system for when I go on trips, since these setups dry out very fast. However, the are clearly quite effective, and ants seem to love them.

 

They have a very large pile of dead springtails, as I feed over 20 at a time. My springtail culture has been booming, so there is thankfully no shortage of food as of yet(knock on wood). I tried to feed a fruit fly, but they just covered it in sand. My guess is they will only accept them once they get larvae. All the queens are still cooperating, so hopefully they will stay that way. I thought along the same rationale as M_Ants in that the more queens the less slow they will grow. The heat really helps I think as well.

 

I will try to get pictures when they put the eggs in a place where they can be photographed.

 

The large queen has a bunch of mites on her gaster, and I have some pictures, I just need to upload them here. Not sure if these mites will kill her or not,I'm thinking not since I'm pretty sure she has had them since I first found her. She hasnt laid any eggs, but she is alone and not on the heat.

[Bigchungus2137]

Wow that's nice they laid eggs. And she's not lying eggs cause of mites probably .I would get rid of them.

[NickAnter]

I have successfully (I hope anyway) removed the mites. I grabbed the queen usig a cotton bal, dunked her abdomen in undiluted vinegar, and swiped at her gaster with a vinegar soaked cotton ball, and then dunked her in water. I checked, and I could not find any mites.

[Bigchungus2137]

That s goid . Hope she will lay some eggs

[NickAnter]

 

We have larvae! The trio must have had them for a few days, as one is fairly large. And all the 25 springtails I put in there are all gone. They go through them so very fast.

Here is an older picture of their eggs:

 

And the large queen back when she had mites (She is hiding under condensation now so I can't get a good picture of her):

 

Hopefully they don't die!

[NickAnter]

Larvae pictures!

, ,

They still have plenty of eggs too, which is pretty awesome.

[Bigchungus2137]

Nice hope they hatch in pupae and later workers

[NickAnter]

So.

These IDIOTS, I mean queens...

Decided that its a great idea to raise larvae to pupa, and then, as soon as they have been a pupa for 2 days, just eat them. And let the larva pile dwindle.

I'm pretty annoyed, since they were doing great, and had a bunch of larvae, and got a pupa about a week and a half ago, then ate it. Then, a couple days ago, they got another pupa. And proceeded to eat it also.

I did find a fourth queen of the small species in the pool a few minutes ago, and I introduced her to the trio with no issues, and she is now a member of the group. I also fed them some more springtails. They only have a couple larvae left, so they better not eat the pupae this time. I will try to not check on them and water them more often, IDK what their problem is.

[NickAnter]

:woohoo:

Turns out that was a false alarm. Found the newer pupa. New queen has also taken off 2 of her wings, and still seems to be cooperating well, so that's nice.

[NickAnter]

They have four pupae now! They laid a couple more eggs too. I was also able to get them to accept a baby mealworm, so maybe it just takes them some time to be able to accept different food sources. I can't wait until this colony gets a bunch of workers, watching them hunt will be so fun. Definitely not because unlike all my other colonies Ill never have to move them out of their current formicarium.

[NickAnter]

Worker!!!!!!!!!!

She eclosed yesterday: