31 replies to this topic

[Kalidas]

So it's like the cool new thing to do in SoCal to keep CA-02 colonies. So yeah I'm jumpin' on the bandwagon.

So got these beautiful ladies from Dspdrew yesterday

So far the queen stays mostly still, with roughly 3 workers staying inside the nest tending to her and the eggs. While the other four run around outside scavenging.

I will be setting up an outworld for them soon so they won't be dumping their trash and feces so close to the nest.

The first thing I noticed is the large variation in colors these queens have. All the pictures I saw has shown the queens to have bright orange gasters. But this queens gaster is a kind of muted orange, almost like caramel color.

Well that's about it for now. So far they're just truckin' along.

[ANTdrew]

Awesome man! You finally have a colony of your own. I look forward to seeing their progress.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Awesome man! You finally have a colony of your own. I look forward to seeing their progress.

Yeah, now I can really see the bread development of some Camponotous species! Awesome man, you are lucky to live in Cali!

[Kalidas]

Awesome man! You finally have a colony of your own. I look forward to seeing their progress.

Yeah, now I can really see the bread development of some Camponotous species! Awesome man, you are lucky to live in Cali!

Yup ANTdrew just required someone else doing the early work and me just paying money lol.

It is nice sometimes to live in Cali.
Kinda wish I lived in Australia so I could get those aweosme spider ants

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

the only bad thing is that some of Cali's Camponotous species are getting pushed out because of Army Ants invading

[Kalidas]

the only bad thing is that some of Cali's Camponotous species are getting pushed out because of Army Ants invading

Not army ants, Argentine ants. And that was my biggest draw to get a Cali Camp colony going. Do my part to help keep Californias native species alive

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

 

the only bad thing is that some of Cali's Camponotous species are getting pushed out because of Army Ants invading

Not army ants, Argentine ants. And that was my biggest draw to get a Cali Camp colony going. Do my part to help keep Californias native species alive

 

1. I can't name invasive species

2. You are a good person

3. You are a lucky and good person

[Kalidas]

the only bad thing is that some of Cali's Camponotous species are getting pushed out because of Army Ants invading

Not army ants, Argentine ants. And that was my biggest draw to get a Cali Camp colony going. Do my part to help keep Californias native species alive

1. I can't name invasive species
2. You are a good person
3. You are a lucky and good person

That's okay Kurzgizart did an episode on it.

I'm not sure if I'm a good person for keeping ants lol. But maybe I am for other reasons. Either way thanks

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

No problem

[ANTdrew]

We need more photos of the gals...

[Kalidas]

We need more photos of the gals...

Lol maybe later. I stopped taking pictures when they started getting upset. The queen started trying to leave her little nesting spot and one of the workers was trying to pick up the eggs and leave so I figured it was a good time to give them a rest.

Debating if I should even set up their outworld tonight or not. I really don't want to stress them out too much but I know setting up the outworld is important

[Kalidas]

I actually have an interesting update. I decided I would do the outworld maybe Friday. Gonna be taking the girls to work Thursday for the kids. Give them a lesson in ants and ant colonies. So don't want to stress them out tonight attaching the outworld, breaking it down wednesday night, and then more stress again Thursday.

So the interesting part. I was giving my son a bath and noticed I had essentially drowned a termite elate(do they have elates? Or is it another name?) So wrapped it up in a paper towel and was gonna give it to the girls for some protein for the week.


So I unwrapped the termite, no movement good dead. Stuck her in and watched the workers a bit in dim light to not stress them. First worker investigates, oh snap the termite is not dead and it's not happy becoming lunch. Worker takes a bite at the termite and runs off to inform her sisters of the invader.

I sit here wondering what I should do. Open the formicarium again and take the termite out or leave it be and see what happens. Decide to leave it be for now, if an emergency starts I will remove it then.

This is where things get pretty neat. The workers start a kind of two man team work attack. One worker harasses from the front while the other one takes nasty bites from the back at the termites wings and legs.

The duo take turns doing the different jobs while the rest of the nest stand by the entrance of the nest in case the termite tries to get in.

A couple times a worker gets on the termite pins the termite down and sprays with formic acid. The termite gets cornered by the liquid feeder and that's where her doom happens. One really aggressive worker gets ahold of the termites wings and pins it down hard and begins applying formic acid. The termite stops fighting, the workers walk away and let it die alone.

Slowly the workers make their way back and begin biting pieces off to take to the nest for food.

Sadly I have no pictures or video, my phone was in my room and I didn't want to leave to go get it.

This was a total accident and next time I plan on making sure prey is dead 100% by crushing it or lancing it with a toothpick. But when given lemons make lemonade right? It did give me a look into their defense strategies and how they handle hunting and killing prey.

I was downright amazed at their team work, and how they even had rotating shifts. It was surprisingly intelligent of them.

Edited by Kalidas, October 21 2019 - 8:56 PM.

[Ants-Irvine]

I actually have an interesting update. I decided I would do the outworld maybe Friday. Gonna be taking the girls to work Thursday for the kids. Give them a lesson in ants and ant colonies. So don't want to stress them out tonight attaching the outworld, breaking it down wednesday night, and then more stress again Thursday.

So the interesting part. I was giving my son a bath and noticed I had essentially drowned a termite elate(do they have elates? Or is it another name?) So wrapped it up in a paper towel and was gonna give it to the girls for some protein for the week.


So I unwrapped the termite, no movement good dead. Stuck her in and watched the workers a bit in dim light to not stress them. First worker investigates, oh snap the termite is not dead and it's not happy becoming lunch. Worker takes a bite at the termite and runs off to inform her sisters of the invader.

I sit here wondering what I should do. Open the formicarium again and take the termite out or leave it be and see what happens. Decide to leave it be for now, if an emergency starts I will remove it then.

This is where things get pretty neat. The workers start a kind of two man team work attack. One worker harasses from the front while the other one takes nasty bites from the back at the termites wings and legs.

The duo take turns doing the different jobs while the rest of the nest stand by the entrance of the nest in case the termite tries to get in.

A couple times a worker gets on the termite pins the termite down and sprays with formic acid. The termite gets cornered by the liquid feeder and that's where her doom happens. One really aggressive worker gets ahold of the termites wings and pins it down hard and begins applying formic acid. The termite stops fighting, the workers walk away and let it die alone.

Slowly the workers make their way back and begin biting pieces off to take to the nest for food.

Sadly I have no pictures or video, my phone was in my room and I didn't want to leave to go get it.

This was a total accident and next time I plan on making sure prey is dead 100% by crushing it or lancing it with a toothpick. But when given lemons make lemonade right? It did give me a look into their defense strategies and how they handle hunting and killing prey.

I was downright amazed at their team work, and how they even had rotating shifts. It was surprisingly intelligent of them.

 

Woah! Awesome, I also picked up some Camponotus's from Drew, C. Semitestaceus though, with around 14 workers and some brood, I definitely want to observe this now, but I'm gonna wait till they get some more workers. Hopefully I can take some tips from this journal though, i'm a beginner.

[Kalidas]

Honestly don't recommend it. This was a total accident and could have been very bad. I got lucky that the workers were very competent and were able to handle the threat. But it could have spelled disaster.

Edited by Kalidas, October 22 2019 - 6:33 AM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Live prey is not a great idea until the colony is either over 20 workers strong, or has full sized workers.

[Kalidas]

Live prey is not a great idea until the colony is either over 20 workers strong, or has full sized workers.

Exactly. But I am happy and lucky the girls were able to deal with it. And it did give me (and by extension all of you) a look into how they catch live prey and deal with external threats

[TennesseeAnts]

Live prey is not a great idea until the colony is either over 20 workers strong, or has full sized workers.

Exactly. But I am happy and lucky the girls were able to deal with it. And it did give me (and by extension all of you) a look into how they catch live prey and deal with external threats

Also, if you're willing to take the risk, I've found that live prey items help promote earlier majors. My Camponotus nearcticus colony of 32 workers (founded in April of this year) has two full sized majors already. But live feeding didn't start until they hit 10 workers.

[Kalidas]

Live prey is not a great idea until the colony is either over 20 workers strong, or has full sized workers.

Exactly. But I am happy and lucky the girls were able to deal with it. And it did give me (and by extension all of you) a look into how they catch live prey and deal with external threats

Also, if you're willing to take the risk, I've found that live prey items help promote earlier majors. My Camponotus nearcticus colony of 32 workers (founded in April of this year) has two full sized majors already. But live feeding didn't start until they hit 10 workers.

Really? That's interesting. I may consider that option

[Kalidas]

Update time! 10/25/19

So I finally attached the outworld for the girls. I took an old creature carrier I had and taped the holes in the lid(I added air holes). I then drilled a hole in the side and added the tubing and stuffed the gaps with cotton, then added the sand I got from a pet store. Next I went outside and grabbed a piece of wood from my grandparents backyard, cleaned it up, broke some pieces off and viola!



The outworld itself



The sugar feeder is now out of the nest.



Our first little explorer. She ran around the container for well over an hour. She ran pretty quick and all around looked very excited at their new space.



Entrance to the nest



Getting a view of the log



Another ant joins the expedition



The nest. Sadly if you look to the bottom left corner of the main chamber you will see a very depressing sight. One of the workers died . I have no idea when or how it happened, I wonder if it happened when I was moving the ants from the school back home? Either way I was very sad to have lost my first worker so early.





Ants eye view



"Hhmmm what's this?"



"Could it be?"



"YES, sugar!"

Well that's all for now. I saw this morning one of the ants carrying her dead sister out into the outworld and then placed her on one of the sand hills. So it would appear they have chosen a graveyard. Still very upset at the loss of the worker.

Otherwise the colony looks good, and happy to have a place to run around in

Edited by Kalidas, October 25 2019 - 9:04 AM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Camponotus nanitics don't live more than a few months. Mine have also had their first deaths.