1113 replies to this topic

[ANTdrew]

I’d love to see a photo of the whole nest design, Dude.

[TennesseeAnts]

I'll take some later, but here's one I just got done carving:

[TennesseeAnts]

Here's a pic of the whole nest, as per ANTdrew's request: 

 

 

And a new video:

 

[antsandmore]

not as big as I thought, but still awesome!!!

[TennesseeAnts]

not as big as I thought, but still awesome!!!

Yeah, that nest isn't too big. I added it last year as a quick addition before hibernation, just so they'd have more room. I added a THA Discus to their setup last week, and they're currently working on setting up shop there, too. They're already out of room in their current setup, and workers are nesting in the outworld now, so once this next generation ecloses they'll have no choice but to expand into the Discus. After that, I really don't know what I'm going to do for housing this year. When I got the colony in 2018 I never expected them to get this large...

[TennesseeAnts]

Update: 2/4/21

 

Aphaenogaster cf. picea

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This colony is doing pretty well, actually. They've got about 35 workers now, with a considerable amount of brood. I'd have to guess about 45 eggs, larvae and pupae in total. All they've been taking recently is mealworms and fruit flies, with the occasional apple piece. I'm waiting for a worker to die so I can run her through a key, as I'm not so sure these are actually A. picea.

 

Aphaenogaster tennesseensis

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They've done extremely well this past week. For such a small queen, she really pumps out those eggs! They've got a large pile of about 65-70 eggs now, and none of her 50 or so hosts have died off yet. They've been polishing off an entire large mealworm every 2-3 days, and they show no signs of stopping. I saw all of the bio workers yesterday, and they're all still alive and fine. I'm just hoping the queen will stay this productive! She's really impressed me thus far. Still waiting for larvae, but it shouldn't be long now.

[TennesseeAnts]

Also, the last of the Formica integra died in hibernation. I'm actually starting to believe that I mis-identified them, as they never really did anything without hosts. I'm starting to think they were actually in the sanguinea-group, and that they were obligate slave-raiders. I'll run them through a different key this week, and I'll report back with my findings.

[ANTdrew]

Looks good, Dude. I just bought some Target food containers to make a big dirt nest for my Formica argentea. I’ll wake them up when I finish.

[TennesseeAnts]

Looks good, Dude. I just bought some Target food containers to make a big dirt nest for my Formica argentea. I’ll wake them up when I finish.

Thanks, and good luck!

[TennesseeAnts]

Update: 2/6/21

 

Camponotus chromaiodes | colony #1

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Freya continues to add to the ever-growing egg pile, and its now up to around 125 eggs. All the larvae are progressing nicely, most in the 3rd and 4th instar. More minor larvae have pupated, bringing the pupa count up to 20 or so, with an estimated 200 larvae still to go. Some of the larvae are twice the size of the others so far, and I suspect those to just be majors. If they produce alates, it will be later in the year from what I've read. Here's a pic of Freya herself trying to be an acrobat on the Fortress glass:

 

 

Camponotus chromaiodes | colony #2

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They've come out of hibernation with only one worker death (leaving them at 12 workers) and probably 10-15 larvae. I moved them into an experimental petri dish nest, and so far they seem to like it. I just need to make and outworld for them now, cause feeding them in the petri dish nest will be impossible.

 

Camponotus americanus | colony #1

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She's done a good job so far, and her latest batch of eggs are hatching into teeny larvae. She's currently got 4 larvae and 10 or so eggs, but for some reason the larva she hibernated with hasn't really grown at all. Perhaps she's using her resources on the fresh larvae first? Anyway, here's some okay pics of her:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TennesseeAnts]

Well, I suck. But not really.

 

So, I just spent the last 2 and a half hours digging out an enormous C. americanus colony. Mistakes were made. Among said mistakes are:

 

1. Collecting an enormous C. americanus colony.
2. Doing it on a cold early Spring day.
3. Not using featherweight forceps (you'll see why later).
4. Not bringing enough containers (under-estimating how huge the colony was).

Now, lets talk about how miserably I failed! 

the first 6 inches/1 foot went smoothly, and I was comfortable with how large I thought the colony was. The first dozen or so chambers were easy to dig out, and each contained a few dozen workers and some brood. Only when I got to the 1.5/2ft mark was when things went awry. I found the queen's chamber, and I left it alone til I finished digging out the rest of the workers, so I wouldn't squish her (mistake!). After about 2hrs of excavation, it got cold. And it was getting dark. So I decided to try to hurry things up. I then starting digging into huge chambers stuffed with ants (including dozens of angry majors that wanted me dead!). I ran back up the hill to my back porch to grab another collection vile, and came back to grab the rest of the ants. Well, this was all good and efficient so far. After I followed all the tunnels to the chambers at the end of each and collected the workers and brood, I broke into the queen's chamber. I saw her as soon as I pulled back the dirt clod, and I grabbed her with my forceps. Me, not realizing how cold and numb my hands were, accidentally killed the queen when I went to put her into the container by catching her head on the rim and decapitating her. 

This has been: "Ant_Dude's Fail of the Week!"

 

Anyway, the good news is I have that one founding C. americanus queen, which was actually one of the daughters of the late queen, so they'll accept her, I'm sure. Worst case I wait til flights next month and snag a queen then, as C. americanus are secondarily polygyne. I'll grab some pics of this actually impressive colony once my phone is done charging.

[NickAnter]

Ehh. Still not as bad as letting like 6 parasitic Formica go because you were too ignorant to realize they only need workers, not brood.

Edited by NickAnter, February 8 2021 - 3:56 PM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Ehh. Still not as bad as letting like 6 parasitic Formica go because you were too ignorant to realize they only need workers, not brood.

I suppose, but still, lol. I'm in the process of introducing the new queen, btw.

[TennesseeAnts]

Update: 2/9/21

 

Camponotus americanus | colony #3

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They're settling in nicely, but they've filled the Fortess with several hundred workers still in the outworld, so I'm going to attach a Discus as well. Under the advisement of Madbio, I will wait a few weeks to introduce the new queen, as the previous queen's scent still lingers in the colony.

[TennesseeAnts]

Also, ANTdrew, even though I won't introduce her for a few weeks, the queen needs a name!

[antsandmore]

Also, ANTdrew, even though I won't introduce her for a few weeks, the queen needs a name!

if the species if americanus, how about The mother or Americanus or is this a bad name

[TennesseeAnts]

Alright, so I went out to where I've been observing a decent colony of C. americanus for about 3 years now. Just last year, I got to witness them produce their first alates! Sure, they were in small numbers, but they were alates nonetheless! Anyway, today I went out and dug them out of their earthen nest, and within 3 hours I had the whole thing excavated, and every last ant collected. The nest design was simple, with a central shaft leading to the surface and smaller tunnels jutting out and ending in large chambers. In total there were probably 12-13 chambers, 500 workers, 3 female alates and 10 or so males. The colony is actually very close to the size of Freya's, and is probably around the same age, too. I bet if I hadn't run out of feeders in mid 2020 Freya's colony would also have alates already, but there's not much I could've done. Here's some pics from (in chronological order) the excavation! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ANTS_KL]

epic

[TennesseeAnts]

A video on the new C. americanus colony:

 

[TennesseeAnts]

Update: 2/19/21

 

Camponotus chromaiodes | colony #1

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They're doing wonderfully! Freya has been laying eggs 'round the clock, and they're up to about 200 in the pile now! Some of those big larvae have pupated, but they're too small to be males, so they're likely just majors. There are, however, a few huge larvae about 3/4 as large as Freya, so they're either huge majors or some alates! I've got pics here: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camponotus americanus | colony #2

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They've accepted the queen, and she seems to be fine with her new subjects, haha.