279 replies to this topic

[RushmoreAnts]

However there is not such a thing as too many Trachys (I'm just kidding), but yes, don't keep too many ants is my favorite line to ant by.

Well, do Trachymyrmex colonies even get that big? I wouldn’t think they would be as much of a problem as multiple large Camponotus colonies, each with thousands of workers.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

 

However there is not such a thing as too many Trachys (I'm just kidding), but yes, don't keep too many ants is my favorite line to ant by.

Well, do Trachymyrmex colonies even get that big? I wouldn’t think they would be as much of a problem as multiple large Camponotus colonies, each with thousands of workers.

 

They can get to 100,000+ workers I believe. I may be mistaken and Ferox would need to be the judge, but they do get rather large 

[RushmoreAnts]

In that case............

[TennesseeAnts]

However there is not such a thing as too many Trachys (I'm just kidding), but yes, don't keep too many ants is my favorite line to ant by.

Well, do Trachymyrmex colonies even get that big? I wouldn’t think they would be as much of a problem as multiple large Camponotus colonies, each with thousands of workers.

They can get to 100,000+ workers I believe. I may be mistaken and Ferox would need to be the judge, but they do get rather large

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis colonies never exceed 1,000 workers.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

oh my bad, I got the numbers mixed up lol

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Atta can exceed 100,000,000

Acromyrmex can exceed 200,000 

Edited by Da_NewAntOnTheBlock, April 14 2020 - 6:50 AM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Atta exceeds 100,000,000

Acromyrmex exceeds 200,000 

I believe they CAN exceed said numbers.

Edited by Ant_Dude2908, April 14 2020 - 6:49 AM.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Editing here I come

[Ferox_Formicae]

Atta can exceed 100,000,000

Acromyrmex can exceed 200,000 

Atta colonies can reach an upward of 8,000,000 workers, Acromyrmex at 17,000-270,000, and Trachymyrmex (septentrionalis clade) at 100-1,000 workers. Colonies of Trachymyrmex septentrionalis are typically small and easy to maintain. I also collect colonies to sell, as I suspect there will be a high demand for them in the future. I will also need large colonies in the future for my Attine breeding program.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis Colony A

 

As always, they're doing just amazing. I gave them an entire rose and they finished it in a single day, though I think I'll just stick to giving them 5 petals every few hours as to not take up the entire outworld. The fungus has continued to grow and now takes up about 3/4th's of the first chamber, though the growth has slowed by quite a bit. They will probably start growing it up even more once the brood grows up more and once alates appear, as I assume they'll get alates this year that I'll be able to breed later in the season, and if they don't produce alates, I can excavate some wild colonies that have them once alates start to appear in the nests, which probably won't be until June or July.

 

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis Colony B

 

I've decided to merge these with another colony I caught, in which I accidentally killed the queen. They accepted each other very quickly, even without removing their pheromones. I've moved them into a bit of a different formicarium, in which the nesting chamber is filled with soil so they can do some digging, as Trachymyrmex seem to really enjoy digging. Even Colony A has made a mound with some of the cotton they've pulled out of their nest. Anyways, they've been doing pretty good, and the fungus has grown substantially, though they have still yet to more it into the nest, as Trachies seem to be really lazy with moving their fungus, even when their life depends on it, which it doesn't right now, as I have the fungus on a wet piece of cotton.

 

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis Colony C

 

I've decided to release these in my yard, as my yard could really use some Trachies, cause what yard doesn't? They haven't actually started digging yet, but they should start soon, and until then, their fungus is on a wet piece of cotton with a petri dish over it, so they can move in whenever they choose. They're still getting used to their new environment, though they've already taken some grasses for their fungus.

 

Camponotus castaneus Colony B

 

Finally!!! They have eggs!!!

 

Camponotus castaneus Colony C

 

The clutch of eggs the queen laid is about 30 strong, which is not bad for a 2nd-year queen. I did boost her though, so that is probably why. About 2 new workers eclose a week now, and new pupa are appearing pretty frequently. These ants are certainly good eaters, too. They eat pretty much whatever I give them, though they don't eat as much as they used to due to them having repletes at the moment, so I don't usually see them in the outworld.

 

Cyphomyrmex rimosus

 

They're down to only 4 workers now. I've decided to move them into a more naturalistic formicarium, just one of my Attine formicaria, but with more naturalistic features. They actually seem to like it too, and have moved in well. I know of a very large colony at my park I could boost them with that just moved in, so I have about a month to collect from them before they move out again, or whenever the Solenopsis invicta they're living with move out in a few months. I may just collect the entire colony and merge the two, as I know it's possible.

 

Crematogaster minutissima Colony C

 

They have alate male brood that's getting ready to eclose! It should only be a week now until the colony gets their males.

 

Temnothorax curvispinosus Colonies

 

At this point, most of the colonies have pupa, either workers, females, or both. Some of the pupa have been darkening nicely, too.

[RushmoreAnts]

I've decided to merge these with another colony I caught, in which I accidentally killed the queen. They accepted each other very quickly, even without removing their pheromones.

I've experimented with this with quite a few species, and surprisingly the majority will accept. I've successfully tried with Lasius, Formica, Solenopsis molesta, Ponera pennsylvanica, just to name a few. The only one that didn't work (understandably) was Tetramorium sp.

[TennesseeAnts]

 

I've decided to merge these with another colony I caught, in which I accidentally killed the queen. They accepted each other very quickly, even without removing their pheromones.

I've experimented with this with quite a few species, and surprisingly the majority will accept. I've successfully tried with Lasius, Formica, Solenopsis molesta, Ponera pennsylvanica, just to name a few. The only one that didn't work (understandably) was Tetramorium sp.

 

Many Camponotus spp. (especially from the Myrmentoma subgenus) accept foreign workers as well. 

[Ferox_Formicae]

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis Colony A

 

Just as I had suspected, the fungus has completely taken up the entire first chamber of the nest and have begun to grow more fungus in the second chamber. My prediction was right! Anyways, the colony is, as always, doing great. They're constantly harvesting substrate for their fungus, including liquid food like sugar water. Because the sugar water I gave them was blue, the fungus now has many green stains on it, just because the fungus was originally a yellowish color in most areas due to the way the rose petal age when wedged into the fungus. The fungus does still have a few centimeters of growing space left in the first chamber, but I doubt they're going to utilize the entire chamber, as they still need somewhere to walk, put their brood (which will likely develop into larger alates), and grow new ants.

 

Colobopsis impressa

 

While at a pond, I decided to check out some dead River Cane to see if I could find anything, as I had seen some Crematogaster laeviuscula foragers in that area, and I still need a colony of those. Low and behold, I managed to turn up a small colony of Colobopsis impressa, likely on its second or third year of development. The colony contains a single queen, around 30 workers (1/3 of them majors), and a small amount of brood in all stages, though they only just got their first pupa a few hours ago. I've moved the colony into a custom wood nest I carved and painted, and it actually looks really good! I've carved a hole in the acrylic just small enough for the majors to perfectly jam the nest entrance. They seem to be getting used the their new nest, though in hindsight the chambers may be a bit large for their liking. I tell you though, a Cephalotes colony would be beautiful in that nest, though until I get my permit in a few weeks, I suppose Colobopsis will do.

 

Crematogaster ashmeadi Colonies

 

All of them have workers now!

 

Aphaenogaster lamellidens

 

The colony has been recovering very well from their die-off, and I've decided to move them back into a proper formicarium, though a smaller and more naturalistic one. They seem to be taking quite the liking to it, and have already accepted plenty of dying insects and some cereal crumbs. The colony has plenty of brood too which they have been feeding very readily.

 

Cyphomyrmex rimosus

 

A single worker left and no more fungus. I've put the queen and her last remaining worker into a test tube setup with some Trachymyrmex fungus, just to see what they would do with it. And, well, they accepted it? The queen and her worker have been tending to the fungus I gave them and the fungus has yet to develop any bacterial infection. I mean, Cyphomyrmex do have Actinomyces, so it makes sense. I think this fungus-farming behavior is a trait leftover from some of the less-derived Cyphomyrmex species such as wheeleri and longiscapus. I suppose it does make sense for them to still be able to tend to Leucoagris fungus like their relatives do. I just find it odd that a Cyphomyrmex in the C. rimosus-group is still capable of such a feat, as the group split off from the lower level Cyphomyrmex quite a while ago in order to farm Tyridiomyces formicarum yeast. I'll continue to check on their progress and see what they do.

 

Camponotus snellingi Queens

 

I've caught another, darker queen and the queens I had before now have larvae. The new queen has laid eggs, too.

 

Camponotus decipiens Queens

 

I caught another queen and the older queen has larvae. She also finally decided to lay another egg, bringing the total brood-count up to a mind-boggling 3! Jeez, decipiens are slow to produce.

 

Camponotus caryae

 

So apparently caryae does live in my area and they're far bigger than I had originally thought! Anyways, I had caught an injured queen missing half of both antennae. I knew she was doomed from the start, and sure enough, she ended up dying only a few days after her capture. Makes for a nice specimen, though!

[AntsExodus]

I think your cyphomyrmex will adapt to the fungus because cyphomyrmex usually farm attine type fungus but some species like cyphomyrmex rimosus farms yeast but I think it is in their nature to farm ordinary fungus. Good luck with them!

[Ferox_Formicae]

Cyphomyrmex rimosus

 

So yeah, they weren't farming that fungus. They ended up dying, so there goes the Cypho's, again...

 

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis Colony A

 

As always, this colony is doing just great, with the fungus taking up all of one chamber and half of the other. They have tons of brood too, and I'd assume they have pupa by now, as I've seen plenty of very large larvae recently. The queen is also laying a ton of eggs all of the time, so that's great!

 

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis Colony B

 

So yeah, this colony is doing pretty well too, with the fungus taking up half of the chamber. They appear to have a good amount of brood too from what I've seen.

 

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis Colony C

 

Yet another colony, one I did not plan on collecting, but kind of had to. So while I was searching for my lifer Pogonomyrmex badius further southeast in St. Matthews (I succeeded by the way and also got my lifer Dorymyrmex smithi), I had seen a large mound on the surface, but it was very irregular in shape, so I didn't know what it was. I dug my shovel in just to see what was in the mound and, low-and-behold, there was a colony of Trachymyrmex septentrionalis. I didn't want to get another colony, but I saw the queen, so I decided to get it, as it's another population, so why not? I started getting the rest of the colony, and I found another queen, then another, then another, and pretty soon I had 16 queens! The colony has 50 workers in total, so a pretty young colony, but 16 queens!? I have no clue why they would have 16 queens! I've heard that occasionally colonies are polygynous while they're still young, but never to this degree, more like 2 or 3. So yeah, this colony is confusing me.

 

Camponotus chromaiodes Colony A

 

So one of my queens finally got her first worker a few days ago, two months and a day after her original capture. I've given them a Dubia roach, and they were pretty quick to take it. I'm going to end up moving them into a 160 millimeter test tube, which will certainly be an upgrade from their current 100 mm tube. The other 4 queens should be getting their first workers in a few days too, though a few of them should've gotten them like a week ago, as it's been well over 2 months.

 

Brachymyrmex patagonicus Queens

 

I got a few of these queens during their flights, though I don't really have any use for them. Eh, whatever.

 

Nylanderia sp. Queens

 

Got some of these too, and all of them have eggs, some a significant amount. I'd say these are likely N. faisonensis, as it's the most common species in my area, though I'm not entirely certain. I'll wait until workers arrive so I can get a proper ID on them.

 

Solenopsis invicta Queens

 

Got some more of these just cause they tend to sell pretty quickly.

 

Strumigenys louisianae

 

Finally got another Strumigenys colony! I've moved them into a test tube setup for the time being until I can get them into something better. The colony has around 20 workers, a single queen, plus some alate brood, which is neat.

 

Aphaenogaster fulva

 

Well it's been quite a while since I've had a colony of these, since November of 2018. But finally I have another. It's a younger colony, a single queen, around 50 workers, and a pretty nice amount of brood. They're currently nesting in one of my more naturalistic lab nests, and they seem to be taking to it well.

 

Pheidole bicarinata

 

So apparently they're already flying? In May? Anyways, I got 2 queens, and they're doing pretty good, both already having eggs.

 

Aphaenogaster lamellidens

 

They're recovering from their die-off nicely, and are up to around 30 or so workers with a ton of brood. I gave them some chia seeds too, and they took a few, so at least I know they're eating well.

[RushmoreAnts]

 I started getting the rest of the colony, and I found another queen, then another, then another, and pretty soon I had 16 queens! The colony has 50 workers in total, so a pretty young colony, but 16 queens!? I have no clue why they would have 16 queens! I've heard that occasionally colonies are polygynous while they're still young, but never to this degree, more like 2 or 3. So yeah, this colony is confusing me.

Might be surprising for Trachymyrmex, but around here, this sort of polygyne is very common (Solenopsis molesta, Ponera pennsylvanica, Tapinoma sessile, Myrmica, etc.)

[ANTdrew]

What times and conditions do you find Pheidole bicarinata flying?

[madbiologist]

I started getting the rest of the colony, and I found another queen, then another, then another, and pretty soon I had 16 queens! The colony has 50 workers in total, so a pretty young colony, but 16 queens!? I have no clue why they would have 16 queens! I've heard that occasionally colonies are polygynous while they're still young, but never to this degree, more like 2 or 3. So yeah, this colony is confusing me.

Might be surprising for Trachymyrmex, but around here, this sort of polygyne is very common (Solenopsis molesta, Ponera pennsylvanica, Tapinoma sessile, Myrmica, etc.)

Tapinoma sessile is cheating lol.

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What times and conditions do you find Pheidole bicarinata flying?

June and July, morning and evening. You need to be in an area with sandy soil.

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[ANTdrew]

Ahhhh, that may be why they’re pretty uncommon because our soil here is straight up brick-making clay.

[Ferox_Formicae]

 

 I started getting the rest of the colony, and I found another queen, then another, then another, and pretty soon I had 16 queens! The colony has 50 workers in total, so a pretty young colony, but 16 queens!? I have no clue why they would have 16 queens! I've heard that occasionally colonies are polygynous while they're still young, but never to this degree, more like 2 or 3. So yeah, this colony is confusing me.

Might be surprising for Trachymyrmex, but around here, this sort of polygyne is very common (Solenopsis molesta, Ponera pennsylvanica, Tapinoma sessile, Myrmica, etc.)

 

Yes, I am fully aware of the normally polygynous species around here. Pretty much all of our Solenopsis are polygynous in this area, though our Tapinoma tend to be monogynous or at the most moderately polygynous. And of course then we've got Linepithema humile, but I'm sure we all know the degree of their polygyny.

 

What times and conditions do you find Pheidole bicarinata flying?

They tend to fly just after sunset. I find them flying in temperatures 75+, and they can typically be found in areas with fairly sandy soil, though I've also seen them in straight clay.