136 replies to this topic

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

I can see them, but you just have to click on the box I think

[Serafine]

Probably a temporary blackout on Imgur's side. Should work again soon.

[RushmoreAnts]

I can see them fine.

[Becky]

They got their favourite food again. Every time more ants show up now.

 

 

 

I tried to place a heat lamp above the outworld.

The ants became a bit faster and more active in the outworld but in the end I don't think it made much difference overall.

Summer is coming anyway, it's getting really warm here lately.  

 

 

 

 

I caught some very big flies with the electric fly swatter, they were interested but in the end the flies proved too big.

They prefer the smaller ones they can drag into the nest.

 

 

This fly was still alive a bit and made a crater into the sand before the ants could take her down.

 

 

 

 

The mealworms were carried into the nest.

 

 

 

They carried the brood back into the farm and now have a little guard post in the tube.

 

Yesterday they had only pupae on top of their nest, now they also brought smaller larvae up.

 

 

 

 

The farm from both sides.

 

 

 

The underground nest. It's hard to see the ants in the chambers, they are hiding well.

 

[Becky]

Many new yellow workers!

 

They dragged pieces of shrimp into the farm.

 

Here you can see how the larvae are arranged around the shrimp pieces to chew on them.

 

The pupae are now stored further away from the entrance.

 

Eggs, eggs, eggs! The queen really doesn't stop laying them.

 

[Becky]

Ants eating stuff.

 

I caught two big green bottle flies with an electric fly swatter and the ants where very excited.

 

Here is a single ant trying to pull a fly to the nest.

The other workers were just, um... providing moral support.

 

They placed the flies between some larvae.

 

 

 

The nest is really starting to swarm with workers.

 

They placed a pile of pupae on the tubing again.

 

 

This is the farm with a light source placed behind.

The two big shining chambers are not visible from the front.

 

 

[RushmoreAnts]

Nice! I just got a Myrmica sp colony yesterday. Will update my journal later today. https://www.formicul...20/#entry141002

[Ants_Dakota]

My myrmica LOVED green flies!

[Becky]

I gave them cherry jam and it wasn't a big hit. Some ants tried it but most of them weren't interested.

 

 

 

The first scout stumbled into the shrimps.

 

 

 

It didn't take long until the reinforcements arrived. The white things on the left side are bee brood.

 

 

 

 

Here are some close-ups of ants drinking from the shrimps. If you take a closer look you can see how fluffy they are.

 

 

 

 

Here's a very small worker with an exceptionally bright coloration.

She's also looking much smoother than the other workers and doesn't have such deep grooves on her head and thorax.

 

 

 

Half of the brood is stored in the tubing. They obviously don't care about the light.

 

 

 

 

I can't count them anymore, they are too many!

 

 

 

 

 

They built their tunnel entrance nicely around those small stones.

 

 

 

 

Look at this huge blob of eggs!

The workers care so well for them.

 

 

 

 

[RushmoreAnts]

Nice! Here's the colony I was telling you about: 

 

 

It has 18 queens (two can be seen in the picture). Definitely not as impressive as yours yet, but I'm hoping it'll get there someday...... 

[Ants_Dakota]

I have basically the same thing. Most of my 41 queens disappeared, so i have around maybe 20?

[Serafine]

Having too many queens can actually be detrimental.

Obviously it enables the colony to raise a large amount of first workers very quickly (although how practical this is with semi-claustral queens that have to forage for - usually limited - resources is debatable, it works much better for claustral queens that raise their first batch of workers from their stored resources) but then the colony hits a bottleneck where there aren't enough resources and enough workers to feed all the queens properly.

This can either lead to 2-3 dominant queens getting the lion share and the other queens pretty much not laying eggs at all or all queens being underfed and brood production coming to a screeching halt (and this can go on for quite a while, depending on the number of queens in the colony) - when the workers recognize this they may even cull queens until they get down to a sustainable workload (that's what I guess happened to your 21 missing queens and it's likely going to happen to half of the remaining ones as well).

People tend to underestimate just how many eggs a single queen can pump out when properly fed - Myrmica surely are no Solenopsis invicta and won't lay something like 11.000 eggs per week but they're still capable of a very impressive egg output.

 

Also there's primary and secondary polygyny and Myrmica have a strong tendency towards secondary polygyny by accepting some of their own alates back into the colony after nuptial flights. They are even known to inbreed in captivity.

Solenopsis fugax is even more extreme, dealate queens will more often than not murder each other when put into a tube together but will happily accept tons of their own offspring queens after a flight.

Edited by Serafine, May 16 2020 - 5:42 AM.

[RushmoreAnts]

Having too many queens can actually be detrimental.

Obviously it enables the colony to raise a large amount of first workers very quickly (although how practical this is with semi-claustral queens that have to forage for - usually limited - resources is debatable, it works much better for claustral queens that raise their first batch of workers from their stored resources) but then the colony hits a bottleneck where there aren't enough resources and enough workers to feed all the queens properly.

This can either lead to 2-3 dominant queens getting the lion share and the other queens pretty much not laying eggs at all or all queens being underfed and brood production coming to a screeching halt (and this can go on for quite a while, depending on the number of queens in the colony) - when the workers recognize this they may even cull queens until they get down to a sustainable workload (that's what I guess happened to your 21 missing queens and it's likely going to happen to half of the remaining ones as well).

People tend to underestimate just how many eggs a single queen can pump out when properly fed - Myrmica surely are no Solenopsis invicta and won't lay something like 11.000 eggs per week but they're still capable of a very impressive egg output.

 

Also there's primary and secondary polygyny and Myrmica have a strong tendency towards secondary polygyny by accepting some of their own alates back into the colony after nuptial flights. They are even known to inbreed in captivity.

Solenopsis fugax is even more extreme, dealate queens will more often than not murder each other when put into a tube together but will happily accept tons of their own offspring queens after a flight.

Well, I mean these colonies were wild-caught. Sure, we did fuse a couple together, but each colony had to have had a dozen or so queens to begin with. So a lot of those queens probably were the colonies' alates.

[Becky]

This time the update comes in video format, so you can see the ants in movement for the first time!

I hope you enjoy it.

 

 

 

p.s. In the second video you can see the queen!

[RushmoreAnts]

Nice videos! I hope to update my journal like this someday.

[Becky]

Today I gave them some cooked egg yolk. Looks like they like it.

Some ants were interested but it didn't get too crowded.

They were probably still filled up with the red mosquito larvae they got over the last days.

 

 

 

 

 

During the last 2-3 weeks more and more ants have gathered in the water test tube. Their water consumption probably has increased due to their increased colony size.

 

 

They are likely more than 1000 ants by now.

When you look closely you can see the yellow bits of egg yolk they carried into the nest.

Also it's getting a lot warmer here lately, my ants love it - I don't.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Canadant]

Becky, do you give comed shrimp or raw shrimp? Love the journal.

[Becky]

Thank you for you kind words.

I think it is raw shrimp.

[RushmoreAnts]

So, do you heat yours, or leave them at whatever temperature the room happens to be? I’ve been keeping mine at room temp, and their brood is developing extremely slowly.

[Becky]

I keep them at room temperature (mostly 22-24°C) but European Myrmica are probably very different from Northern Amercian Myrmica.