86 replies to this topic

[TennesseeAnts]

 

Ah, yes, I re-read your post and AC Omni nests are horrible for retaining humidity. For future refrence, THA (although more expensive) are amazing nests, and Camponotus do great in them. I would go for Type III, as Camponotus can occasionally chew through the soft Ytong. I have a 400+ worker colony of C. chromaiodes in a Fortress, and they're doing great, and Freya (their queen) just laid a massive clutch of eggs containing about 200 eggs.

Yeah I'm dishing out the money for a Type-III Museum Glass Fortress. Good to hear that you can fit that many Camponotus workers into one of those, I was a little bit nervous about getting one and then having to buy a bigger nest soon after for more space.

 

Keep in mind how cramped Camponotus nests are in the wild. Their galleries are fairly narrow.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Camponotus colonies are like Chinese housing, they can hold a lot of people (or ants in this case) in a relativity confined space

[Nare]

Update 8 (29/02/20)

Just wanted to give a quick update on the Formica wheeleri.

 

One thing to note here is the very small worker that has appeared. It looks to be about 4 or 5 mm long, whereas most of the other biological workers have been 6 to 7 mm long, with some larger workers on the way. It should be noted that many of the very large workers in the images are host workers of Formica oreas. I speculate that this small worker might be part of some brood rearing caste, which would offer evidence suggesting that this colony of wheeleri are faculative slave-makers, which would be neat.

 

They've got lots of brood of all stages, and they love to eat. I'm excited to watch the colony grow, and can't wait to move them into a nicer nest.

 

That's it for now, until next time.
 

EDIT: Here's the imgur link for anyone who can't see the images in the post.

Edited by Nare, February 29 2020 - 3:50 PM.

[RushmoreAnts]

They look nice and healthy! I love parasites! 

[Nare]

Update 9 (05/03/20)

 

Just a quick update - my Formica aserva queen now has a little batch of eggs. We'll see if they develop as fast as my wheeleri's did.

[ForestDragon]

my subsericea has had 2 deaths and are now down to 2 workers and i believe they ate their one egg... they make me so mad

[Nare]

my subsericea has had 2 deaths and are now down to 2 workers and i believe they ate their one egg... they make me so mad

Formica can certainly be finicky. For example, I have two second-year colonies of fusca-group, and though both came out of hibernation with around 5 workers, one colony has around 10 or 15 pupae, and the other has maybe 5. Both are in the same type of setup, both are fed the same types and amounts of food, and both are heated. Ultimately it's just down to catching a good queen I think.

[madbiologist]

my subsericea has had 2 deaths and are now down to 2 workers and i believe they ate their one egg... they make me so mad

Formica can certainly be finicky. For example, I have two second-year colonies of fusca-group, and though both came out of hibernation with around 5 workers, one colony has around 10 or 15 pupae, and the other has maybe 5. Both are in the same type of setup, both are fed the same types and amounts of food, and both are heated. Ultimately it's just down to catching a good queen I think.

Plus subsearicea are super polygynous, so in the wild, they probably found in groups of queens too. It's likely much rarer they'd found as one queen.

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[TennesseeAnts]

my subsericea has had 2 deaths and are now down to 2 workers and i believe they ate their one egg... they make me so mad

Formica can certainly be finicky. For example, I have two second-year colonies of fusca-group, and though both came out of hibernation with around 5 workers, one colony has around 10 or 15 pupae, and the other has maybe 5. Both are in the same type of setup, both are fed the same types and amounts of food, and both are heated. Ultimately it's just down to catching a good queen I think.

Plus subsearicea are super polygynous, so in the wild, they probably found in groups of queens too. It's likely much rarer they'd found as one queen.
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Umm. To my knowledge, subsearicea aren't polygynous.

[Nare]

 

 

 

my subsericea has had 2 deaths and are now down to 2 workers and i believe they ate their one egg... they make me so mad

Formica can certainly be finicky. For example, I have two second-year colonies of fusca-group, and though both came out of hibernation with around 5 workers, one colony has around 10 or 15 pupae, and the other has maybe 5. Both are in the same type of setup, both are fed the same types and amounts of food, and both are heated. Ultimately it's just down to catching a good queen I think.

Plus subsearicea are super polygynous, so in the wild, they probably found in groups of queens too. It's likely much rarer they'd found as one queen.
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Umm. To my knowledge, subsearicea aren't polygynous.

 

I was under the impression that most fusca-group were polygynous, but I didn't combine my two queens cause I couldn't be bothered to ID them to species level, so I wasn't sure if they were the same species. Don't think they were. Tempted to try putting a couple of queens together this year, if I find any.

[madbiologist]

Picture and video from a guy I know of his subsearicea.

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[Nare]

Picture and video from a guy I know of his subsearicea.

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Damn, that's really impressive. A colony like that might actually work as a good feeder for parasitic colonies.

[TennesseeAnts]

Picture and video from a guy I know of his subsearicea.
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Again, Formica subsericea (most fusca group Formica actually) seem to be pleometrotic, not polygynous.

Edited by Ant_Dude2908, March 6 2020 - 12:46 PM.

[madbiologist]

Picture and video from a guy I know of his subsearicea.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Again, Formica subsericea (most fusca group Formica actually) are pleometrotic, not polygynous.

Check out the video, they are polygynous too. The colony is a year or 2 old now.

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Edited by madbiologist, March 6 2020 - 12:40 PM.

[TennesseeAnts]

 

 

Picture and video from a guy I know of his subsearicea.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Again, Formica subsericea (most fusca group Formica actually) are pleometrotic, not polygynous.

Check out the video, they are polygynous too. The colony is a year or 2 old now.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

It is also possible that these are not F. subsearicea, but I see what you mean... Maybe there are certain populations of F. subsearicea that exhibit polygyny, as is the case with many other species.

[madbiologist]

Picture and video from a guy I know of his subsearicea.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Again, Formica subsericea (most fusca group Formica actually) are pleometrotic, not polygynous.

Check out the video, they are polygynous too. The colony is a year or 2 old now.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

It is also possible that these are not F. subsearicea, but I see what you mean... Maybe there are certain populations of F. subsearicea that exhibit polygyny, as is the case with many other species.

I thought it was fairly well know that it was polygynous?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[TennesseeAnts]

Picture and video from a guy I know of his subsearicea.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Again, Formica subsericea (most fusca group Formica actually) are pleometrotic, not polygynous.

Check out the video, they are polygynous too. The colony is a year or 2 old now.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

It is also possible that these are not F. subsearicea, but I see what you mean... Maybe there are certain populations of F. subsearicea that exhibit polygyny, as is the case with many other species.

I thought it was fairly well know that it was polygynous?
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Well, lots of people like to call ants polygynous if the queens will get along, even if one ends up killing the other later on. We do know that Formica fusca is polygynous, but those are found in Europe.

[RushmoreAnts]

Yes. Polygyne varies from species to species, even in Formica. Half the species are probably pleometrophic.

[Ants_Dakota]

Didn't you try it, AntsDakota, and find out that they were not? I feel like you did.

[RushmoreAnts]

No, not that I recall.