109 replies to this topic

[AntaholicAnonymous]

There will be a little less activity seen in the beginning of course but I have the same amount of workers in now that they'll be and they are always up to something

[Kaelwizard]

Ok. I didn’t really know how active these were. I had some C. nearcticus colony and I put them in a large jar and even at night I didn’t bet see them come out. I just didn’t want other people to have cool ants in a cool set up and not even see the ants ever.

[RushmoreAnts]

Ok. I didn’t really know how active these were. I had some C. nearcticus colony and I put them in a large jar and even at night I didn’t bet see them come out. I just didn’t want other people to have cool ants in a cool set up and not even see the ants ever.

Agreed. Most small colonies rarely come out where you can see them.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

Yea most small colonies chill in the nest and only come out when they have to.
Had that problem with camponotus I thought they escaped. lol

Every time I look into the tank no matter what time of day you'll always see some sort of construction going on that's why I got such a large setup for them.
They already have tunnels in every corner.
Had these in a char for transportation and after 2 hours the tunnels where collapsing cause they made Swiss cheese out of the soil. ^^

Needless to say they need tons of sugar cause they are large and are sprinting all day

[AntaholicAnonymous]

I also wanna try to boost the colony if that's possible with them and after a certain size introduce additional queens cause they most likely will take them.
I want them to be a massive colony

[AntaholicAnonymous]

I've been wondering about one thing on the top on the sand.
Beneath the rock they are building tunnels like always. What's weird to me is the black pebbles you can see cause that's active carbon its not beneath the sand so they carried it up there from beneath the soil and put it in front of and in their buildings. Either they like the texture or they use charcoal in nature idk.

I put that in cause it neutralizes the toxins and some bacteria and smells maybe they know what that's for

[AntaholicAnonymous]

Just came home and checked on my queen like every day and I saw her sorta squatting and I thought wtf did I just walk in on and then for the first time ever I witnessed a queen laying an egg.

I've seen many queens and many eggs but I never got to watch the whole process in front of me.
This species is very flexible so she bent the gaster to her face and just grabbed it with her mouth.

I thought she's preparing for hibernation cause she didn't take crickets but seems like I just fed her too much.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

The first worker should arrive shortly cause one pupae starts getting orange but I don't think there will be more then 3 this season cause they take for ever to develop.

I gonna boost them with wild collected brood as soon as hibernation is over I don't wanna stress the queen out with too much brood right now cause she ain't got no help yet

[AntaholicAnonymous]

I just noticed something weird as I looked around the big ant tank.
The picture you see here is at the cave side of the tank and I have many different creatures living in there along with the ants like centipedes, spiders, springtails and whatever was in the moss.

I also have isopods and I thought the ants might kill them but I laughed quite a bit as I spotted them living in the tunnels with the ants.

The ants just don't care. lol
The isopods have their own chamber and the ants know they are here but don't bother them. I've e never seen that before so I thought I might share it with you.

[RushmoreAnts]

I also have isopods and I thought the ants might kill them but I laughed quite a bit as I spotted them living in the tunnels with the ants.

The ants just don't care. lol
The isopods have their own chamber and the ants know they are here but don't bother them. I've e never seen that before so I thought I might share it with you.

I have noticed this with wild colonies of several species as well.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

That's perfect cause I want this tank to be shared with other insects so as long as I feed them enough it should be fine since there's a lot of space for everyone and it's not a battle for resources.

They benefit from each other.
The ants also made tunnels to the drainage layer so that's where I expect centipedes and some spiders to set up camp.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

Just a little update.
Now got 5 pupae 2 larvae and I'd say about 30 eggs. I don't know how long these damn pupae gonna take but it's been forever.
Entry 51 and still no worker. lol

But for that reason I got the wild caught test workers in the terrarium.
What I found out about them is that they hunt down springtails.
The wet dark cave you see in pics I posted here before is the perfect spot for masses of springtails.

The big ants charging them looks like sharks fighting a fish swarm.
Same tactics just on a way smaller scale.
That means the terrarium is partly self sustained cause the plants grow and die, the springtails eat the dead plants and the ants eat the springtails.

I got a food chain going already with the ants and spiders on top

[AntaholicAnonymous]

Guess who decided to pop into existence.

We have the very first worker walking around in the test tube.
The first of thousands. I know that this journal should be a full colony by the amount of posts but I'm just way to excited I have to share every detail.

I expect 2 more workers within the next 3 days.
Pictures will follow soon.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

Yesterday I panicked a little when I had a peak into the test tube.
Not only do I have 3 workers now but the queen was just laying there.

After tapping the tube she woke up and turns out she's preparing to hibernate and is not dying. lol

I'm happy she at least got some workers going for now cause next season I'll boost the colony a bit so I can move them into the big terrarium sooner.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

To a new antkeeper this could seem slow but in my opinion that is some good growth.

[DDD101DDD]

When they get moved to the big terrarium how would you hibernate them?

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

As soon as I got up today I went to check if the queen is still alive and it seems like she's completely fine.
Whatever made her twitch yesterday is gone now.
Her 5 larvae are growing at a good pace also and I'll keep feeding her as much protein as she will take so maybe she will lay a cluster of new eggs before her nanitics arrive.
And to reply to what yall are talking about.
I can only say what I observed.
there's a colony of them that I visit on the regular for months now.
They have a ongoing war for territory with myrmica rubra with set frontlines for weeks now but not in big numbers. They go hunting for queens on nuptial flights and carry them back in massive numbers but I have not observed them raiding nests so far. They eat crickets, super worms and pretty much everything they can kill. Of course they will carry back fallen enemies but from what I saw its more of a byproduct from war then their main source of protein.
I read a lot of stuff on them and it's hard to really find common ground among research about them I can only tell you what this one colony showed me of their way of life.
They never stop construction tho you'll always see them building something they are restless ants and I love that.

Kind of like me, once I get something done, I try to improve it! A interesting cycle

[AntaholicAnonymous]

To a new antkeeper this could seem slow but in my opinion that is some good growth.

Yea i think they're doing good.

I didn't expect them to grow like the lasius colony I had bigger ants take longer to develop but that's why I wanna boost them a little. I can't wait 2 years to put them in their setup. lol

[AntaholicAnonymous]

When they get moved to the big terrarium how would you hibernate them?

I can't really hibernate them but they will slow down in the winter anyways.
I had lasius and they hibernated at room temperature without any issues the ants know when to hibernate.

I like my place to be fairly cold and the tank is right next to a window so it won't be too warm anyways.
I'll also unplug the heating and shorten light cycles cause I have a system with timers.

Not perfect but Ill work with what I have.

[AntaholicAnonymous]