145 replies to this topic

[CANant]

So sorry to hear this. so strange they just turned on each other??? My question is if you introduce a new queen will they not kill her?

I'll be introducing a parasitic queen, so hopefully not. However, if I waited a few months, I could probably introduce a regular queen, assuming I had one. After a while, colonies missing queens will accept new ones.

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Oh interesting! I’m not familiar with this species. I have heard with Argentinian ants you can mix colonies and queens from other Argentinian colonies without issues. Cool!

Edited by CANant, February 2 2020 - 5:30 AM.

[Kaelwizard]

Something like what happened to your aphaenogaster colony happened to my Lasius colony. Except in my case it was 2 or more workers who decided to spray the queen with Formica acid.

[madbiologist]

Hibernation check 2/2/19

All seems well, my Camponotus novaeborascensis seemed a little more active than normal. Do they have a shorter hibernation time than most Camponotus?

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[NickAnter]

Something like what happened to your aphaenogaster colony happened to my Lasius colony. Except in my case it was 2 or more workers who decided to spray the queen with Formica acid.

Just a heads up, it is formic acid, not Formica acid, though, Formica do use it.

Edited by NickAnter, March 31 2020 - 6:14 PM.

[madbiologist]

Update 2/9/20

The Crematogaster colony has moved into their new formicarium! Pics below.

Myrmecina americana queen has 4 larvae! I can't wait till they turn into pupae, does anyone here know their egg to worker time?

Tetramorium are chugging along as usual, not much to say about them at the moment.

Going to do a tube change on my Myrmica colony, hopefully they'll begin laying again.

(Now queenless) Aphaenogaster colony will be traded to the person with Aphaenogaster tenniseensis queen in the next week or so.

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[madbiologist]

Update 2/20/19

I've traded the (queenless) Aphaenogaster colony to Forest Dragon for a founding Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony, so there's some pics of them below. No pics of my Camponotus, because they won't be coming out for a week or so.

I've decided to wake up my ants in waves, on the basis that it's a little less hectic and stressful for me, starting with Tapinoma and Lasius, and ending with Camponotus. The next wave this weekend will be waking up all of my Formica, and possibly Camponotus nearcticus.

My Tapinoma sessile colony is looking great after diapause. They've got ~100 eggs at the moment, and even more larvae! I've taken some pictures of them highlighting the insane amount of brood they have!

My Lasius americanus founding colony is doing fine after diapause as well, with a small amount of brood, but also no worker deaths. They were struggling last year due to being test subjects for a failed diy nest experiment. Luckily, they managed to survive the molding nest, and are now bouncing back. Pictures below as always.

My small Myrmica colony has moved into their new tube, but has yet to lay. Any tips on getting them to lay would be appreciated. Pics below.

My Crematogaster are still doing fine, I didn't take any nest pictures since I didn't want to bother them, but I do have some pictures of a dead worker for trying to ID them. I've spent more time than I'd like to admit, and I just can't narrow it down at all. If anyone would like to take a shot, the three species of crematogaster in Ohio are cerasi, lineolata, and pilosa. I'll put pics in a later post if anyone can help.

My Tetramorium have plenty of brood, but are still living in the water area of their old tube. No pictures right now.

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[RushmoreAnts]

Your species inventory seems very similar to our own..... anyways, best of luck to them all. 

[madbiologist]

Your species inventory seems very similar to our own..... anyways, best of luck to them all.

Just wait till all my cool species come out of diapause! That's when things get fun. The one thing you guys have that we don't is Formica bradleyi, I wish I could get those so bad.

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[RushmoreAnts]

Unfortunately, they're uncommon, so as far as I'm concerned, we don't have them either.   Although P. occidentalis is native here, but can be kept anywhere now.

[madbiologist]

Unfortunately, they're uncommon, so as far as I'm concerned, we don't have them either. Although P. occidentalis is native here, but can be kept anywhere now.

Yeah, I may cave in and buy a small colony/queen this season.

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[RushmoreAnts]

So will I. I don't have time to go out looking in the middle of nowhere. And besides- the ones here hibernate. 

[madbiologist]

2/27/20

Short update, any colony not mentioned is still in diapause or doing fine but nothing to update really.

Pictured:

The Camponotus pennsylvanicus founding colony is bursting with eggs! I've taken some pictures, counted the eggs, and there's at least 20!

The boosted Formica subanescens queen has a very large gaster, just waiting on eggs now.

The Crematogaster that refuse to be identified have a steadily growing brood pile.

My Camponotus subbarbatus have had their first pictures while in my care!

Not pictured:

My Formica pallidefulva have no pictures simple because I can't get good enough light into their mini hearth. Actually, I might be able to, but they'd freak out and manage to hurt themselves.

My Camponotus nearcticus queen lost her two workers over diapause, but she's got two larvae I'm hoping she can get to worker. This will be her third "nanitic" generation so far.

My Formica subsearicea queen came out fine, any idea when they lay after hibernation?

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[CANant]

Sorry to hear about the Camponotus nearcticus nanitics not surviving the diapause but it’s good she has 2 larvae along the way. 
Glad all the others are doing well. Thank you for the update.
I took my C. Pennsylvanicus colony out of diapause on the 23rd. All seem good. What a relief!

Edited by CANant, February 27 2020 - 7:20 PM.

[madbiologist]

Sorry to hear about the Camponotus nearcticus nanitics not surviving the diapause but it’s good she has 2 larvae along the way.
Glad all the others are doing well. Thank you for the update.
I took my C. Pennsylvanicus colony out of diapause on the 23rd. All seem good. What a relief!

Most of my Camponotus are still in, I'm taking them out this weekend. Still waiting on a herculeanus, a novaeborascensis, 2 chromaiodes, and a pennsylvanicus. Just wait till you guys see what I've got planned for the herculeanus, I've been plotting.

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Edited by madbiologist, February 27 2020 - 7:25 PM.

[CANant]

Not sure why my post is coming out all squished and different font size. I wrote:

Sorry to hear about the Camponotus nearcticus nanitics not surviving the diapause but it’s good she has 2 larvae along the way. 

Glad all the others are doing well. Thank you for the update.
I took my C. Pennsylvanicus colony out of diapause on the 23rd. All seem good. What a relief!

 

Oooo looking forward to the update after they come out of diapause and the surprise!!! 

Edited by CANant, February 27 2020 - 7:33 PM.

[madbiologist]

Accidentally put this in antdude's journal, so here's take 2.

Update 2/29/20

I took 2 Camponotus colonies in test tubes out last night, and the final 3 in mini hearths out today. I'm very happy to say that all 5 are doing well! The C. novaeborascensis have a nice bundle of larvae going into their 2nd year, so do both chromaiodes, as well as the pennsylvanicus. The C. herculeanus have a meager amount of overwintered brood for their size, but still more than the other colonies, and I'm expecting them to lay more soon, so it should be ok. I have pictures of everything except for one chromaiodes colony, because it was too difficult to get lighting in the mini hearth.

Now for the surprise! I knew that the herculeanus would be growing out of their mini hearth soon, so I've built them a nest out of AAC, along with a large outworld. Pictures of the setup, plus their massive amount of workers below.

Chromaiodes pictures are in the test tube, and so are the pennsylvanicus.

Novaeborascensis pics are in the mini hearth.

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[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

everything in the right place now? lmao

[DDD101DDD]

If you don't mind me asking, in the last picture why is there a car?

[madbiologist]

If you don't mind me asking, in the last picture why is there a car?

Oh, forgot to mention that, the mini hearth was tipping and making a gap the ants would get through, so I weighed it down with what I had on hand.

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[madbiologist]

Ok, since I've got a little time at the moment, I'm going to do a post hibernation updated census, along with approximate worker counts. If no queen numbers are listed, assume one. Just a heads-up, this isn't what normal updates will look like, I'll do a couple of these every year once I have enough new ants/enough have died or been sold/traded

Colonies:

Camponotus herculeanus 50-70 workers, small amount of brood

Camponotus subbarbatus ~30 workers, a couple larvae

Tetramorium immigrans 50-70 workers, many larvae

Tapinoma sessile many queens, 100+ workers, medium amount of brood

Founding colonies:

Camponotus chromaiodes x2 c1: 10-15 workers, large larvae batch c2: 13-15 workers, medium larvae

Camponotus novaeborascensis 3-6 workers, huge amount of larvae

Camponotus pennsylvanicus x2 c1: 10-11 workers, large batch of brood c2: 2 workers, 20+ eggs/larvae

Crematogaster sp 18 workers, decent batch of larvae/eggs

Formica pallidefulva (moved due to large worker loss) 5-10 workers, possibly brood

Formica subanescens 5 workers, no brood

Myrmica sp 5 queens, 1 worker, no brood

Lasius americanus 5 workers, 3 larvae

Founding queens

Camponotus nearcticus (moved due to loss of workers to diapause) 2 larvae

Formica subsearicea no brood



Post-diapause colony/founding queen count is 16. 4 colonies, 10 founding colonies, and 2 queens. Total species count is 14. 6 Camponotus, 3 Formica, 1 Tetramorium, 1 Tapinoma, 1 Crematogaster, 1 Myrmica, 1 Lasius.

Most deaths during hibernation were founding queens, leaving only 2 left. There were no founding colony deaths, but there was one colony death, my Aphaenogaster rudis colony. There was one non diapause related death so far, my Myrmecina americana queen, for unknown reasons.

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Edited by madbiologist, March 1 2020 - 6:35 PM.