279 replies to this topic

[RushmoreAnts]

 

 

Guys guys, I'm sure that you're all forgetting that in South Carolina we have 4 species of Pseudomyrmex, 4 species of Neivamyrmex, Gnamptogenys triangularis, 12 species of Camponotus, 13 Aphaenogaster, 2 fungus-farming Attines, 12 species of Pheidole, the only dimorphic Pogonomyrmex in North America, 18 Strumigenys, and it's almost guaranteed we have at least 1 species of Odontomachus.

But what you don't have is 26 species of Formica.

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We have 12 though, though the only common species are anything in the Formica pallidefulva species group and ants of the Formica fusca-group further north. However, Formica aren't exactly the coolest ants out there. I mean, there's a reason Mark Deyrup refers to them as the "Classic Northern Ants". Sure they can make large mounds out of collected plant materials and can raid other species, steeling their brood to keep as their own, but can they snap their mandibles shut at nearly 200 mph? Can they farm fungus that grows nowhere else in the world? Do they have cultures of bacteria that grows on their prosternum that are used as a natural weed control for that fungus? Do they have a coloration that makes you think they're a tropical species at first sight? Do people freak out in jealousy when they find out you have them? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?????????

 

So you encourage idolizing exotics? Like a certain Air Conditioner character I know? Looks definitely are not everything.

[Ferox_Formicae]

 

 

 

Guys guys, I'm sure that you're all forgetting that in South Carolina we have 4 species of Pseudomyrmex, 4 species of Neivamyrmex, Gnamptogenys triangularis, 12 species of Camponotus, 13 Aphaenogaster, 2 fungus-farming Attines, 12 species of Pheidole, the only dimorphic Pogonomyrmex in North America, 18 Strumigenys, and it's almost guaranteed we have at least 1 species of Odontomachus.

But what you don't have is 26 species of Formica.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

We have 12 though, though the only common species are anything in the Formica pallidefulva species group and ants of the Formica fusca-group further north. However, Formica aren't exactly the coolest ants out there. I mean, there's a reason Mark Deyrup refers to them as the "Classic Northern Ants". Sure they can make large mounds out of collected plant materials and can raid other species, steeling their brood to keep as their own, but can they snap their mandibles shut at nearly 200 mph? Can they farm fungus that grows nowhere else in the world? Do they have cultures of bacteria that grows on their prosternum that are used as a natural weed control for that fungus? Do they have a coloration that makes you think they're a tropical species at first sight? Do people freak out in jealousy when they find out you have them? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?????????

 

So you encourage idolizing exotics? Like a certain Air Conditioner character I know? Looks definitely are not everything.

 

I mean, I don't really see anything wrong with having an interest in exotic ants. I mean yeah, be thankful for what you have in your location, but my study group of ants are Dacetines, which are most prevalent in the tropics, and those are the species I focus on. And I am fully aware that looks are not everything, though if I had a choice over keeping Linepithema humile, which have nothing unique about them look-wise (except maybe their silky appearance similar to that of fusca-group Formica) but have enormous colonies that span entire continents and have managed to make themselves so genetically similar to the point that most no longer fight, or Discothyrea testacea, which have been described by Mark Deyrup as "Tiny roly-poly ants with an endearing infantile appearance." But don't really have too much unique about them as far as ecology goes, except for maybe the fact that they eat arthropod eggs, I'd choose Discothyrea hands down. Probably just because of their rarity though. I could think of a lot more examples though. Even some of the cooler looking ants though I'm not too inclined to keep. For example, I don't like to keep Pseudomyrmex. Sure, I try it, but I can just never do it properly to the point that I'm proud of the colony. Or Myrmecina. Sure they look interesting, but they don't do too much, though I still have my colony because I want to see where the colony get to and if I can produce alates from them, or just see if I can sell them. I wasn't trying to be mean or anything with that post or be a jerk about living in a more tropical area (barely), I was just trying to go along with the trend of everyone giving examples of why where they live is the best, if that makes any sense.

[ponerinecat]

I like exotics a lot. But I still keep my natives. Heck, yes, I idolize exotics. But I can't keep em.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Camponotus chromaiodes Queens

 

I've managed to collect two more queens during flights, and all 4 of the queens I've collected now have eggs. Due to the cooler temperature that will be occurring during the next few days, I don't believe they'll fly again until Wednesday, the night after some heavy rains and storms that will be rolling through on Tuesday, and I believe other species will be flying on Wednesday too. Stay tuned for updates.

 

Crematogaster minutissima Colony C

 

I've collected a third colony from within a hickory nut buried in the leaf litter. The colony contains 4 dealates, around 60 workers and a small amount of young brood, mostly L1 larvae.

 

Nylanderia cf. vividula

 

Once again from a buried hickory nut comes a very large colony of Nylanderia cf. vividula! The colony contains a single dealate, about 10 alate females, over 150 workers and a large amount of brood. I currently have them in a test tube setup, but they will have to be moved into something a bit larger, as currently feeding will be nearly impossible without a whole bunch of workers getting out. I'll probably move them into one of my lab-style setups, similar to the test tube-based formicarium my Tapinoma sessile colony is currently nesting in.

 

Camponotus castaneus Colony A

 

There is no way this colony was ready for such a large formicarium, and I will be moving them back into a test tube setup until the year's first workers eclose in late May. They're not doing bad or anything, I just need to free up some space, as I plan to move my Pheidole crassicornis into the formicarium they are currently nesting in, as they do not seem to like how moist their current formicarium is.

 

Camponotus castaneus Colony B

 

Still no eggs and the queen is still really thin. I'm starting to get worried about how they're doing, as all of my other castaneus colonies have come out of hibernation and now have eggs. Maybe the formicarium just isn't warm enough. I will be attempting to warm the formicarium, but I'm not exactly sure how. They're not really eating anything either. The only good thing is that no worker in this colony has died since their collection in October, but no new workers have been produced either. I may try and brood boost them with some wild larvae and see how they do with that.

 

Tapinoma sessile Colony B

 

From the same area Colony A was collected and from another hickory nut comes a founding colony with a single queen, 10-15 workers, and a decent amount of brood for the colony's size.

 

Temnothorax curvispinosus Colonies

 

I've collected a whole bunch of Temnothorax curvispinosus colonies, 3 with queens and 2 without. I have some really cool plans for the queenless colonies, and for those of you who know a fair bit about the biology of this very interesting species, you probably know what experiments I have in mind, but it involves worker reproduction and a bit of incest (though not really, as male ants are genetically unrelated to their siblings in most cases including with this species).

 

 

And now for the big finale of this very special journal entry...

 

 

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis

 

I've finally managed to find a very large population of this species, and I have very easy access to them too! I only collected a single colony though, as collecting this one very large colony took me two hours. The colony had 4 chambers, but the 2nd chamber was the largest. The queen was actually in the first chamber, which was the last chamber I found. The colony is monogynous (as most large colonies are) with around 400 workers, no brood, and a very small amount of fungus, which is to be expected, as colonies only just came out of hibernation. In the area I found this colony, there were about 20 more in the same immediate area, one very large and active one that was right beside this one. I put one of each colony's workers beside each other though and they fought. They were definitely not related, which is odd, as the colonies were only about a foot apart. The area also had many colonies of Dorymyrmex bureni, Nylanderia sp. (presumably vividula or concina), Lasius neoniger, and Pheidole bicarinata & dentata. And the great part about it is that whenever I need colonies of any of those species (I'll definitely need more Trachymyrmex), I'll have easy access to them. I managed to keep the Trachymyrmex alive for several hour in a pill bottle with a cotton ball and soil from their collection area while I went fishing and some more collecting, and very few deaths occurred, around 10 due to me handling the individual ants too roughly. I moved the colony into an Attine-style lab formicarium with two chambers as opposed to the usual one chamber I keep my Cyphomyrmex in. As of yet, I see very little fungus, but knowing Trachymyrmex, that fungus will grow very quickly. However, if it doesn't I always have access to more of it.

[madbiologist]

Camponotus chromaiodes Queens

I've managed to collect two more queens during flights, and all 4 of the queens I've collected now have eggs. Due to the cooler temperature that will be occurring during the next few days, I don't believe they'll fly again until Wednesday, the night after some heavy rains and storms that will be rolling through on Tuesday, and I believe other species will be flying on Wednesday too. Stay tuned for updates.

Crematogaster minutissima Colony C

I've collected a third colony from within a hickory nut buried in the leaf litter. The colony contains 4 dealates, around 60 workers and a small amount of young brood, mostly L1 larvae.

Nylanderia cf. vividula

Once again from a buried hickory nut comes a very large colony of Nylanderia cf. vividula! The colony contains a single dealate, about 10 alate females, over 150 workers and a large amount of brood. I currently have them in a test tube setup, but they will have to be moved into something a bit larger, as currently feeding will be nearly impossible without a whole bunch of workers getting out. I'll probably move them into one of my lab-style setups, similar to the test tube-based formicarium my Tapinoma sessile colony is currently nesting in.

Camponotus castaneus Colony A

There is no way this colony was ready for such a large formicarium, and I will be moving them back into a test tube setup until the year's first workers eclose in late May. They're not doing bad or anything, I just need to free up some space, as I plan to move my Pheidole crassicornis into the formicarium they are currently nesting in, as they do not seem to like how moist their current formicarium is.

Camponotus castaneus Colony B

Still no eggs and the queen is still really thin. I'm starting to get worried about how they're doing, as all of my other castaneus colonies have come out of hibernation and now have eggs. Maybe the formicarium just isn't warm enough. I will be attempting to warm the formicarium, but I'm not exactly sure how. They're not really eating anything either. The only good thing is that no worker in this colony has died since their collection in October, but no new workers have been produced either. I may try and brood boost them with some wild larvae and see how they do with that.

Tapinoma sessile Colony B

From the same area Colony A was collected and from another hickory nut comes a founding colony with a single queen, 10-15 workers, and a decent amount of brood for the colony's size.

Temnothorax curvispinosus Colonies

I've collected a whole bunch of Temnothorax curvispinosus colonies, 3 with queens and 2 without. I have some really cool plans for the queenless colonies, and for those of you who know a fair bit about the biology of this very interesting species, you probably know what experiments I have in mind, but it involves worker reproduction and a bit of incest (though not really, as male ants are genetically unrelated to their siblings in most cases including with this species).


And now for the big finale of this very special journal entry...


Trachymyrmex septentrionalis

I've finally managed to find a very large population of this species, and I have very easy access to them too! I only collected a single colony though, as collecting this one very large colony took me two hours. The colony had 4 chambers, but the 2nd chamber was the largest. The queen was actually in the first chamber, which was the last chamber I found. The colony is monogynous (as most large colonies are) with around 400 workers, no brood, and a very small amount of fungus, which is to be expected, as colonies only just came out of hibernation. In the area I found this colony, there were about 20 more in the same immediate area, one very large and active one that was right beside this one. I put one of each colony's workers beside each other though and they fought. They were definitely not related, which is odd, as the colonies were only about a foot apart. The area also had many colonies of Dorymyrmex bureni, Nylanderia sp. (presumably vividula or concina), Lasius neoniger, and Pheidole bicarinata & dentata. And the great part about it is that whenever I need colonies of any of those species (I'll definitely need more Trachymyrmex), I'll have easy access to them. I managed to keep the Trachymyrmex alive for several hour in a pill bottle with a cotton ball and soil from their collection area while I went fishing and some more collecting, and very few deaths occurred, around 10 due to me handling the individual ants too roughly. I moved the colony into an Attine-style lab formicarium with two chambers as opposed to the usual one chamber I keep my Cyphomyrmex in. As of yet, I see very little fungus, but knowing Trachymyrmex, that fungus will grow very quickly. However, if it doesn't I always have access to more of it.

How do you crack the hickory nuts? I've never found a very good way to do it.

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[Ferox_Formicae]

 

Camponotus chromaiodes Queens

I've managed to collect two more queens during flights, and all 4 of the queens I've collected now have eggs. Due to the cooler temperature that will be occurring during the next few days, I don't believe they'll fly again until Wednesday, the night after some heavy rains and storms that will be rolling through on Tuesday, and I believe other species will be flying on Wednesday too. Stay tuned for updates.

Crematogaster minutissima Colony C

I've collected a third colony from within a hickory nut buried in the leaf litter. The colony contains 4 dealates, around 60 workers and a small amount of young brood, mostly L1 larvae.

Nylanderia cf. vividula

Once again from a buried hickory nut comes a very large colony of Nylanderia cf. vividula! The colony contains a single dealate, about 10 alate females, over 150 workers and a large amount of brood. I currently have them in a test tube setup, but they will have to be moved into something a bit larger, as currently feeding will be nearly impossible without a whole bunch of workers getting out. I'll probably move them into one of my lab-style setups, similar to the test tube-based formicarium my Tapinoma sessile colony is currently nesting in.

Camponotus castaneus Colony A

There is no way this colony was ready for such a large formicarium, and I will be moving them back into a test tube setup until the year's first workers eclose in late May. They're not doing bad or anything, I just need to free up some space, as I plan to move my Pheidole crassicornis into the formicarium they are currently nesting in, as they do not seem to like how moist their current formicarium is.

Camponotus castaneus Colony B

Still no eggs and the queen is still really thin. I'm starting to get worried about how they're doing, as all of my other castaneus colonies have come out of hibernation and now have eggs. Maybe the formicarium just isn't warm enough. I will be attempting to warm the formicarium, but I'm not exactly sure how. They're not really eating anything either. The only good thing is that no worker in this colony has died since their collection in October, but no new workers have been produced either. I may try and brood boost them with some wild larvae and see how they do with that.

Tapinoma sessile Colony B

From the same area Colony A was collected and from another hickory nut comes a founding colony with a single queen, 10-15 workers, and a decent amount of brood for the colony's size.

Temnothorax curvispinosus Colonies

I've collected a whole bunch of Temnothorax curvispinosus colonies, 3 with queens and 2 without. I have some really cool plans for the queenless colonies, and for those of you who know a fair bit about the biology of this very interesting species, you probably know what experiments I have in mind, but it involves worker reproduction and a bit of incest (though not really, as male ants are genetically unrelated to their siblings in most cases including with this species).


And now for the big finale of this very special journal entry...


Trachymyrmex septentrionalis

I've finally managed to find a very large population of this species, and I have very easy access to them too! I only collected a single colony though, as collecting this one very large colony took me two hours. The colony had 4 chambers, but the 2nd chamber was the largest. The queen was actually in the first chamber, which was the last chamber I found. The colony is monogynous (as most large colonies are) with around 400 workers, no brood, and a very small amount of fungus, which is to be expected, as colonies only just came out of hibernation. In the area I found this colony, there were about 20 more in the same immediate area, one very large and active one that was right beside this one. I put one of each colony's workers beside each other though and they fought. They were definitely not related, which is odd, as the colonies were only about a foot apart. The area also had many colonies of Dorymyrmex bureni, Nylanderia sp. (presumably vividula or concina), Lasius neoniger, and Pheidole bicarinata & dentata. And the great part about it is that whenever I need colonies of any of those species (I'll definitely need more Trachymyrmex), I'll have easy access to them. I managed to keep the Trachymyrmex alive for several hour in a pill bottle with a cotton ball and soil from their collection area while I went fishing and some more collecting, and very few deaths occurred, around 10 due to me handling the individual ants too roughly. I moved the colony into an Attine-style lab formicarium with two chambers as opposed to the usual one chamber I keep my Cyphomyrmex in. As of yet, I see very little fungus, but knowing Trachymyrmex, that fungus will grow very quickly. However, if it doesn't I always have access to more of it.

How do you crack the hickory nuts? I've never found a very good way to do it.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

They're malformed ones that have a very soft shell. I just crack them open with my fingers.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Nylanderia faisonensis

 

So these have been reidentified from N. vividula as N. faisonensis due to the white meso and metacoxae. As well as the ID being changed, I've also decided to move them into a proper formicarium. For them, I've constructed a tube-based laboratory formicarium, similar to the one housing my largest Tapinoma sessile colony. As of yet though, they have yet to move in, but I did only move them in about an hour ago, so they will probably be moving in soon, as some workers are investigating one of the attached test tubes.

 

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis

 

As the ants become more and more comfortable with their new formicarium, they're becoming more active and are beginning to explore the second outworld, the one that food is placed in. This is also due to the fact that I put some flower petals and cereal crumbs into the food outworld. There are still a lot of ants in the garbage outword however, which is where the ants were introduced through. I'm not sure why though. Maybe they're looking for more bits to their fungus they may have missed. Anyways, while the ants have neglected to cut up any of the flower petals I gave them, mostly due to the fact that their fungus is still very small (even though I can't see any as they're formed a large clump around it and the queen), they have taken a few of the cereal crumbs and are now coating the crumbs in saliva.

 

Cyphomyrmex rimosus

 

Due to the colony always hiding in their nest and due to their nesting area quickly growing rancid due to all of the stuff they've left around in it to mold, I've decided to move them into a test tube setup. It does work out a bit better too, as the colony is still very small, only containing maybe 15 workers. They don't have too much yeast, but what they do have can certainly contain a small colony of their size. Since I've last seen them out in the open (about a month ago), the colony has been producing lots of new eggs, though none of the older ones have hatched yet, which is certainly odd. I guess Cyphomyrmex eggs take a while to hatch, which is strange as even Trachymyrmex eggs hatch faster than this, and the small Trachymyrmex colony I had last year had new workers within 2 months of the queen laying eggs. I don't know though, maybe the eggs have a faster incubation time, but the larvae and pupae grow faster. I'm certainly excited to watch the brood grow though, as I love it's fuzzy appearance due to its fungus coating.

 

Solenopsis (molesta complex) sp.

 

More eggs! Just more and more eggs! Jeez can this queen lay! This definitely isn't the case of a smaller species having smaller colonies, as the queens lay as much as a larger Solenopsis species, and she's still physogastric! I'm probably going to have to custom design something for these, as I can no longer feed them without at least 10 workers escaping, which certainly isn't as big a deal as if they were a larger Solenopsis species. Also, I'm starting to doubt whether these are actually molesta, as for one, molesta tends to be a darker, northerly oriented species, and for two, I've ran some workers and females from a local colony from about a quarter mile away from this colony's location through Pacheco & Mackay's 2013 key to the Solenopsis molesta species complex, and they keyed to S. carolinensis. I will definitely have to see what these interesting ants key to, as Solenopsis identification is no easy feat, believe me, and I have a powerful, high-quality dissection microscope!

 

Tapinoma sessile Colony A

 

It seems as if callows are eclosing in batches, with around 15 to 20 workers eclosing all at once during a single day. It's odd, but certainly interesting. Also, this colony is growing way faster than I had originally anticipated, and they are going to have to move into their second test tube soon as the water in the first one has dried up, and on top of that, they have already outgrown it, with many workers now having to stay in the outworld. They do seem to like the nest though, as I still haven't fixed the issue that allowed them to move out that first time, and they have stayed in the nest! In fact, I rarely even see workers foraging on the outside of the nest anymore, which is certainly a helpful thought.

 

Pheidole crassicornis

 

I've finally moved them into one of my lab-style formicariums as Ant_Dude's Attine formicarium was not working for them. They happily accepted the move, and within only a few hours, were completely moved in, though I did have to help a few workers along. As a warm-up meal for the colony, as they hadn't eaten in a while, I decided to give them half of a large, recently deceased Lucanus elaphus grub, which they seemed to enjoy. I also gave them a dermestid beetle I found scouting around my pinned ant collection, but as I didn't crush it or anything, just giving it to them live, they seemed to not know what to do with such a thing. Even the majors couldn't seen to find out how to find a kink in the tiny beetle's exoskeleton. However, while I wasn't watching, they eventually managed to figure it out as I knew they would. These ants sure seem to love their beetles!

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

I would be interested how someone can seal with keeping Solenopsis in general...I'm good with Lasius and Formica lol

[Ferox_Formicae]

I would be interested how someone can seal with keeping Solenopsis in general...I'm good with Lasius and Formica lol

I'm decent with Camponotus, but I specialize in more of the rare and cryptic species, mostly Myrmicines.

[madbiologist]

Camponotus are either my specialty, or I just suck at other species.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

 

I would be interested how someone can seal with keeping Solenopsis in general...I'm good with Lasius and Formica lol

I'm decent with Camponotus, but I specialize in more of the rare and cryptic species, mostly Myrmicines.

 

that's cool! 

[RushmoreAnts]

I’ve had the most luck with Tetramorium and Lasius.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Aphaenogaster carolinensis

 

After pinning and getting a worker under the scope, I am now certain that these are A. carolinensis due to the longer head (compare with miamiana and rudis) and conspicuously striated mandibles (compare with texana). The brood pile has been growing, and within the next few days, I am probably going to have to move them into an actual formicarium, as I suspect many of the pupa will be eclosing within the next few days, as they are beginning to darken up quite a bit.

 

Camponotus castaneus Colony B

 

I have no idea what to do with these. They are still deep in hibernation, though they do seem to be coming out of it. I've given them a dead grub, and they have still yet to touch it. The queen is still the thinnest ant in the colony. Does anyone have any idea what's going on with these and what I can do to get them out of this state they've been in for over 5 months?

 

Camponotus castaneus Colony C

 

The first new worker of the year has eclosed, bringing the worker total up to 20! I suspect the population will exceed 30 the end of next month. The queen has also laid some new eggs, which is always nice.

 

Nylanderia faisonensis

 

I've confirmed their ID as N. faisonensis, easily separated from the similar wojciki by the medium-deep brown color throughout with a slightly darker gaster, compared with wojciki which has a bicolored coloration, a medium brown head and gaster with a lighter mesosoma. faisonensis also has 5 or more macrosetae on the scapes, as opposed to wojciki which has less than 5. Anyways, they have moved into one of the nest tubes, with a few workers moving into the other tube for some reason. They've moved a few dead workers into the main nesting tube, which is certainly odd. They'll probably take the dead workers into the outworld soon though.

 

Solenopsis molesta

 

So I was wrong about these ants not being molesta, as I have confirmed the ID as S. molesta due to the very small, inconspicuous clypeal teeth in combination with the larger size in comparison to carolinensis and texana, which are scarcely larger than a millimeter. The brood pile has been growing quite a bit and now contains around 100 eggs, with dozens more being laid every day. The queen is still highly physogastric. Come to thing of it, I don't think I've ever seen a thin Solenopsis (molesta complex) sp. dealate.

 

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis

 

I'm still not seeing any fungus showing up, which is certainly odd. However, they are still clumped up quite a bit, which may hold some fungus pellets. I'm really hoping they have at least a bit of fungus. I mean, I did see some fungus upon collection, and I kept all of it in very humid conditions, so it couldn't have dried out and died. It'll show up eventually as the ants continue to bring in substrate for it, mostly just cereal crumbs, as they still haven't started cutting up the flower petals, although they have dried up quite a bit. I may go ahead and give them a few more different kinds of substrate such as oak catkins and caterpillar frass, if I can manage to find some. There have been a few worker deaths, but other than that they've been doing pretty good. The pile around the queen has also started to diffuse, and I actually saw her in the open (sort of) yesterday!

[TheAntGuy]

Have you tried heating Colony B?

[Ferox_Formicae]

Have you tried heating Colony B?

I honestly don't have any way to. I mean, I could maybe put a light over the nest and try that.

[TheAntGuy]

There are some pretty cheap heating cables you can get at most pet stores, only about 10$ and they are super versatile

[RushmoreAnts]

Really? The cheapest one at PetSmart was a 20 dollar heat mat.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Same here lol

[TheAntGuy]

I meant moreso small petstores, petco and petsmart are way expensive lol

[Ferox_Formicae]

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis Colony A

 

The colony is doing very well, and very few worker deaths have been observed, even though for their first week in captivity, they didn't have any fungus. However, I did boost them with some from Colony B (information following), and they have already grown it to twice it's original size in not even 24 hours! It was actually really funny seeing their reaction whenever I dropped the fungus in. When the workers sensed it, they immediately seized it and pulled at it from all angles, breaking it into 3 different pieces. You could almost hear the ants screaming, "Fungus, fungus fungus!!!" Anyways, the fungus has been growing bigger, and it won't be long before it takes up the entire chamber, forcing them to move some of it into the second chamber.

 

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis Colony B

 

Another population, another colony. This population was found in West Columbia at a run down old park. It's a bit of a smaller population, and in the hour-and-a-half I was at the area (most of that time was spent excavating the colony) I was only able to find two colonies. The second colony I found was actually a lot larger and had an enormous mound and dozens of workers boiling out of the center. It's probably a good thing I started collecting from the other side of the park with the smaller colony. The colony contained a single queen, around 100 workers and a small amount of fungus, but still enough for me to boost Colony A with. Around this colony were colonies of Dorymyrmex bureni, Prenolepis imparis, and Pheidole metallescens, a new species for me! I didn't collect them though, as I was far too invested in collecting the Trachymyrmex colony. I've moved them into one of my Attine-style formicaria, and they've taken to it very well.

 

Camponotus castaneus Colony A

 

The first larvae have hatched and are already L2's! I'm actually pretty surprised that the eggs have hatched so soon, as they seem to have been laid very recently, which they kind of have.

 

Camponotus castaneus Colony B

 

I've moved these into one of my laboratory-style nests, and they seem to like it. Still no eggs, but I think they're getting there, as they seem to be more active now, which it certainly good. I've also confirmed the worker count at 68.

 

Camponotus chromaiodes Queens

 

I've collected another queen, bringing the total up to 5.

 

Solenopsis carolinensis

 

Since I've confirmed my Solenopsis molesta colony are not carolinensis, I've decided to collect some workers and dealates from my local Solenopsis carolinensis colony, just so I can have some and see how their behavior differs from that of S. molesta. The colony has 2 queens, around 150 workers, and a small amount of brood, mostly small larvae and some recently laid eggs. Both queens are physogastric.

 

Camponotus nearcticus Queen

 

During flights, I managed to collect a single dealate from the base of a Loblolly Pine near a large, mature colony of nearcticus. She was actually injured by this colony a bit, missing some tarsi and half of her right front leg (from the tibia down), but she should be fine.

 

Camponotus decipiens Queen

 

Finally, I saw a decipiens flights! I saw three queens, caught two, but the other one died for unknown reasons. The surviving queen is gorgeous and her ovaries appear to be at least somewhat swollen with eggs.

 

Camponotus nearcticus

 

I was surprised to find a decent-size Camponotus nearcticus colony under a log under an Eastern Redcedar tree I check under all of the time. The colony took longer to collect than it probably should've to be honest. The colony contains a single dealate, 50-75 workers and a few young brood items, mostly eggs and young larvae. I will have to move these into a laboratory-style formicarium tomorrow once I get my materials all ready.