1113 replies to this topic

[TennesseeAnts]

Contrary to what that paper states, dark form Camponotus chromaiodes does exist.

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Yeah, but even then they must have the crimson color on their first gastric tergite...?

Edited by Ant_Dude2908, January 11 2021 - 9:14 AM.

[madbiologist]

Contrary to what that paper states, dark form Camponotus chromaiodes does exist.

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Yeah, but even then they must have the crimson color on their first gastric tergite...?

No, minors (and even majors) can be indistinguishable in color when compared to pennsylvanicus. The best way to seperate them is gastral pubescence.

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[TennesseeAnts]

 

 

Contrary to what that paper states, dark form Camponotus chromaiodes does exist.

Sent from my moto g stylus using Tapatalk

Yeah, but even then they must have the crimson color on their first gastric tergite...?

No, minors (and even majors) can be indistinguishable in color when compared to pennsylvanicus. The best way to seperate them is gastral pubescence.

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Alright, I'll get some under a microscope today and key them out once and for all.

[Antkeeper01]

How do you record thru a microscope? Just by putting the camera up to it?

i have a digital microscope: https://inskam.com/p...ith-8-led-light

You can bring it on hikes to observe wild colonies and take videos with it and it can connect to a phones wifi

Edited by Antkeeper01, January 11 2021 - 10:48 AM.

[TennesseeAnts]

New vid: 

[TennesseeAnts]

Camponotus chromaiodes (Freya's colony)
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I took them out of hibernation on January 14th, and they've eaten a large superworm, 7 large mealworms and 6ml of sugar water so far. Some of their 600 or so microlarvae have already started growing, and they've got food in their stomachs again. I'm ecstatic to see them grow this year! Here's some pics of Freya in her favorite nest:




Camponotus chromaiodes (Freya's colony)
----------------------------------------------
I took them out of hibernation on January 14th, and they've eaten a large superworm, 7 large mealworms and 6ml of sugar water so far. Some of their 600 or so microlarvae have already started growing, and they've got food in their stomachs again. I'm ecstatic to see them grow this year! Here's some pics of Freya in her favorite nest:

[ANTdrew]

Frick yeah! Freya!
This is getting to be one of the best captive colonies of this species.

[TennesseeAnts]

Yeah, she's been very successful! She's actually becoming physiogastric now, which is something she's never done before!

[ANTdrew]

Pics!!!!

[TennesseeAnts]

I'll try this afternoon. Hopefully they haven't hid her away!

[TennesseeAnts]

Update: 1/18/21

 

Camponotus subbarbatus; Colony #2

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I was walking through some woods by my house yesterday, and saw a tangle of vines that had a dead, hollow stick resting between them, next to a thicket of invasive Amur Honeysuckle. I cracked the stick open, and inside there was a small colony of C. subbarbatus, containing a queen, 10 or so workers and a nanitic major. No visible brood, which is surprising, but not unheard of. The queen is quite slim, so I've been feeding them small amounts of sugar water every few hours to plump her up. 

[TennesseeAnts]

Update: 1/19/21

 

Aphaenogaster tennesseensis; Colony #2

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I found this queen out and about, looking for a host colony today. I'll grab her some pupae and workers from my A. cf. picea colony after I'm done writing this. I now have 2 colonies of A. tennesseensis. Lets hope this one is successful too!

[TennesseeAnts]

The first video Freya has starred in:

[TennesseeAnts]

Update: 1/23/21

 

Camponotus chromaiodes; Colony #1

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Freya and her colony are chugging along! Their larvae are now all out of hibernation, and have hit the 2nd instar already. There are a few larvae that are many times larger than the rest, and it looks like there's already a major larva, which would make sense, as I've been power-feeding them protein.

 

[ANTdrew]

Wait a minute! Who is this??

[TennesseeAnts]

Wait a minute! Who is this??

I honestly don't know anymore.

On a side note, I've found footage of Freya and her colony from both 2018 and 2019, so I'm making some videos out of that!

[TennesseeAnts]

Here's the video of Freya's colony from 2019: 

 

[TennesseeAnts]

And one of my old Brachyponera chinensis colony in the mini terrarium:

 

[ANTdrew]

How come you changed your username?

[TennesseeAnts]

How come you changed your username?

I just felt like it was time to change it to something a little easier to remember.