387 replies to this topic

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The Temnothorax and Myrmica test tube portals are all nasty and filled with debris, I will replace/clean them now.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The Myrmica have 8 large larvae, one of which is about to pupate, and a massive pile of 20-30+ eggs. The larvae were caught with the colony but the eggs are all new. I will wait for the eggs to hatch before I hibernate them, though I do not know if they will overwinter larvae, or if I need to wait for them to develop into ants. I'm planning to buy an Aeacus Corinth nest for this colony, if you have not seen these already you should take a look. I cannot overstate how much I love this colony. I urge you to go out and look for this species in your local forest.

[ANTdrew]

I would love to find Myrmica somehow. How are the Pogonomyrmex? Any chance you could get more pictures? Just upload them to a gallery.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The Pogonomyrmex are fine. They have several eggs, though no larvae yet, and are eating seeds. I think Myrmica are mostly a northern genus (Ha!), so I don't know how easy they are to find in Virginia. Look in forests, they mostly get displaced from human areas by Tetramorium. 

Edited by Antennal_Scrobe, October 12 2019 - 9:20 AM.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The M. punctiventris eggs are hatching into larvae! They are also apparently killing that one ant with the injured middle leg - harsh and pretty horrible now that I think about it, but that's just nature I guess.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

No, wait, the Pogonomyrmex do have at least one tiny larva! Nice to see their colony growing. I have moved the Formica pallidefulva away from the heat cable, over to where I keep my Crematogaster and Lasius queens. 

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The Myrmica cf. americana queen from Pumpkin_Loves_Ants laid an egg! I don't know how long its been there, but we could be seeing workers before hibernation. I put her back in front of the heat cable, of course. The Pogonomyrmex brood are all larvae now, though there are only about 7 left compared to maybe 20 eggs originally. I caught part of a wild Ponera colony yesterday, and introduced it to my queens. I'll just let whatever happens happen this time. Sadly I believe the Lasius aphidicola queen to be unfertilized; her brood are still small larvae after several months.

[TennesseeAnts]

Nice! My Pogonomyrmex have 5 eggs, 2 pupae, 4 large larvae and 4 workers. They seem particularly interested in these tiny black seeds I've been giving them. They've established a grainery in their mini hearth, and it's packed full of seeds.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Nice! My Pogonomyrmex have 5 eggs, 2 pupae, 4 large larvae and 4 workers. They seem particularly interested in these tiny black seeds I've been giving them. They've established a grainery in their mini hearth, and it's packed full of seeds.

Mine like chia seeds the best, and also will eat flax. 

I fed the Tetramorium and their colony is COLOSSAL!

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The Myrmica punctiventris have their first pupa, and the larvae are growing like crazy!

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The Pogonomyrmex occidentalis have about 4 or 5 small larvae right now, which are clumped into a ball and carried by a worker at all times. Today I saw them feeding from the inside of a seed; I have pictures, and will upload them later.

[TennesseeAnts]

I caught my Pogonomyrmex colony's larvae eating the inside of a seed. It was kinda cute now the larvae had the seed sat on top of them.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The 5 Lasius brevicornis queens have an egg, possibly 2. I moved them back into the heated area.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The still winged Myrmica incompleta queen died today. A shame, but she had no brood and hadn't shed her wings, so it was probably predictable.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

I think the Pogonomyrmex might have eaten their brood, but they could have just hidden it under some seeds.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

I'm hoping that if they did eat the brood, it was because they were preparing fro hibernation.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

I estimate the Tetramorium colony to be about 400 workers strong. There are usually about 20 ants on the surface, and because at any given time only about 5% of workers forage, then the number of foragers times 20 equals the number of ants.

[NickAnter]

Ill be able to get my ants out of hibernation in January. As I put them in in September. If I were you, I would put the Lasius in the fridge.

[ANTdrew]

I estimate the Tetramorium colony to be about 400 workers strong. There are usually about 20 ants on the surface, and because at any given time only about 5% of workers forage, then the number of foragers times 20 equals the number of ants.

Cool formula!

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Ill be able to get my ants out of hibernation in January. As I put them in in September. If I were you, I would put the Lasius in the fridge.

I'll put mine in around November or December, and take them out around March or April. So they go in after a couple months of autumn and come out a couple months before spring (Which in Wisconsin is June.).