221 replies to this topic

[TennesseeAnts]

Picccccccccsssss.

[NickAnter]

They turn out crummy. They just never stop moving. I will try. Here you go:

Edited by NickAnter, October 5 2019 - 6:27 PM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Looks fine!

[NickAnter]

These things are insane. They are well over 100 workers, have about 200 eggs and small larvae, and about 45 pupae. Almost all workers are repletes, except about 10. They drgged a small mealworm into their nest, about 8 times the size of a worker. Within about 2 months, they will outgrow their large glass tube. I will move them into a petri dish setup by then. It will be expandable, as shown in The Ant Explorer by Miles a member on this forum. Mine will just use Drew's hydration system(using string as a wick), and have chambers. I hope that that will contain them permanently.

Edited by NickAnter, October 15 2019 - 6:10 PM.

[TennesseeAnts]

These colonies get over a thousand workers.

[NickAnter]

I know. I can attach, in theory, as many petri dishes I want. The ones I plan to use are 25mm deep, and 100 mm in diameter.

[TennesseeAnts]

That should be perfect!

[NickAnter]

They have about 400 eggs now.

[NickAnter]

Fed them the head of a drywood termite, and they are loving it! They dragged it into the nest entrance, about 60mm away from the spot I set it at. And remember, it is about 10 times their size. It just barely fits in the cork entrance. I did find the head on concrete in our backyard, near a painting site, but I see a thrivimg colony outside(probably at about 200 workers) that gets exhaust fumes, so I am not that worried. I think it is definitely their favorite food so far. Mealworms do not get that kind of reception. Here are some pics: Just a few more mms:
Pretty much there:

Edited by NickAnter, October 19 2019 - 9:47 AM.

[Kaelwizard]

I honestly like the basic looking ants like these and Lasius better than Camponotus and other species like that.

[NickAnter]

I like these, but Camponotus are still my favorites.

[NickAnter]

Well, I was wrong about them not having much reception towards a mealworm. Yesterday 40 workers swarmed out, and were spraying it with formic acid until it was still. Another thing I did yesterday, was give them some pink sugar water. I dyed the water with a homegrown blackberry. They have about 500 eggs, 100 small larvae, 30 medium larvae, and 25 large larvae/pupae. I witnessed a worker being eclosed today, and took video, but as I don't have a youtube, I can't post it. Hopefully, soon, I will be able to poat some videos I have taken.

Edited by NickAnter, March 16 2020 - 7:19 AM.

[NickAnter]

They have about 150 workers now, and pretty much refuse sugars. They never refuse protien though. Tons of eggs, pupae, and larvae of all sizes. Here is a photo dump:

Edited by NickAnter, March 16 2020 - 7:20 AM.

[NickAnter]

Well over 150 workers now, and tons of brood. They had their largest feeding response ever today, with a mealworm. One worker found it, laid some chemical trails, and within minutes, at least 40 workers were running everywhere around the outworld, and 20 of them were on the mealworm. Tempted to feed them a termite a little later, to see what happens. Next time I feed them, in three days, I will put a termite and mealworm in at the same time and see what happens. I put the mealworm in at about 7:30 am, and now, at 3:46, there are still ten workers on the mealworm, and ten more running around. They moved it a couple centimeters; one worker can pull the whole thing, which is pretty incredible in my opinion. Also, I did some testing on a wild colony, and I think I discovered the reason for their success against Argentines. Their insanely fast recruitment speed. Within a minute, ten Nylanderia workers were on a drop of honey, and so was 1 Argentine, and one Cardiocondyla. Even though the Argentines would temporarily chase them off, more would come. And, eventually, one worker had enough, and climbed on top of an Argentine, and sprayed it with formic acid. The Argentines never were able to take over the honey.

Edited by NickAnter, March 16 2020 - 7:24 AM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Nylanderia are also pretty fast. I miss my colony more than ever now...

Edit: Btw you should probably start daily protein feedings now. I feel like they're large enough. Mine loved every day protein when the 300 worker mark came around.

Edited by Ant_Dude2908, November 1 2019 - 2:06 PM.

[NickAnter]

I was doing that, but their reception went down. Only a few workers came to it. I also have them a termite yeasterday, so they should be good. I will give them some tomorrow. Thank you for the advice, and hopefully you can get some Nylanderia again.

[NickAnter]

200 workers now. Really need to make them a bigger setup. They have been loving sugar water soaked cotton. I am temped to just make a large firebrick nest. Also, they have about 200 larvae, 100 pupae, 20 large larvae, and 100 eggs.

Edited by NickAnter, March 16 2020 - 7:23 AM.

[antwall]

You should give them fruit flies. My colony is half the size of yours, and I just dump all the fruit flies I have into their jar, and they eat it. Their growth also took off when they got fruit flies everyday. Also, feed them live fruit flies for better reception.

Edited by antwall, November 10 2019 - 6:35 PM.

[NickAnter]

Well, I don't have access to fruit flies in a proper container. The ones at the petco nearby result in many escaped flies. I do feed them termites when ai find them though, they love that. I really want to try crickets, they would be really interesting. Also, they are over 200 workers, and still doing amazing. By far my best colony. And, the brood never stops coming. I never see the queen with a big gaster, bit eggs just never stop being produced. Will probably be able to hook up a large firebrick formicarium to the outworld next week. My dad has time then, so he can supervise me using a dremel. Ideally, I would be able to make something out of hydrostone, which I have, but do not have good molding materials, though, I might be able to make one out of wood. I will post on here again if anything else interesting happens, and/or, if a formicarium is built.

Edited by NickAnter, March 16 2020 - 7:23 AM.

[antwall]

Just dump all the flies in the jar into their setup.