145 replies to this topic

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

[Deleted]

Edited by Da_NewAntOnTheBlock, March 1 2020 - 6:00 PM.

[CANant]

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 17. 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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How do you manage looking after so many colonies/queens?! Wow!

[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 17. 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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How do you manage looking after so many colonies/queens?! Wow!

It's not too bad, they only take up a square meter or so of space.

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[CANant]

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 17. 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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How do you manage looking after so many colonies/queens?! Wow!

It's not too bad, they only take up a square meter or so of space.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I meant more time wise 😉 seriously though it’s got to be awesome to be able to keep so many and to be able to experience that. I’m just in awe! I’m grateful I can read all about them (and others on the forum). Thanks for sharing.

[madbiologist]

3/2/20

Quick update for my Formica subanescens, along with some history. Last year, I caught some parasitic Formica queens. I didn't know anywhere to find brood for them at the time, so I traded for some. I put the brood in with them, but sadly they died. I ended up putting the brood in the Formica subanescens queen I had also caught. Because of this, she didn't lay at all that year, probably assuming those 5 workers were her nanitics. I was a little worried she wouldn't lay at all, as she didn't lay anything to overwinter, but today I peeked in on them, and I saw a small clump of 4 eggs!!! I'm sure there will be more shortly!

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[RushmoreAnts]

Formica develop insanely fast for their size. However, they are very sensitive about when they lay.

[madbiologist]

Formica develop insanely fast for their size. However, they are very sensitive about when they lay.

What do you mean by sensitive?

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[RushmoreAnts]

Queens often take breaks in laying. It also has to be not too close to winter. Queens of young colonies often don’t lay shortly after being disturbed. This, of course, is the case with most ants, yet it seems to be more so with Formica.

[madbiologist]

Update 3/4/20

It was nearly 50 today and basically t shirt weather here, so I went out and dug some bark off logs. I ended up catching 5 Lasius cf. aphidicola within inches of each other! I could have had more than double that probably, but I only brought 5 tubes out with me. I may go back to get more another time, but getting hosts for these 5 will already be a challenge. Plus a couple pictures because it's fun:)

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[CANant]

Nicely done! Congratulations!

[Mdrogun]

It was nearly 50 today and basically t shirt weather here

I have never related to someone on here more  . Good luck catching Prenolepis imparis soon, my Midwestern brother.

[ANTdrew]

Winter didn’t even happen in VA this year. We’ve been in the 50s since November.

[RushmoreAnts]

Lucky..... we’re looking forward to 60s this weekend.

[ForestDragon]

Winter didn’t even happen in VA this year. We’ve been in the 50s since November.

ikr I'm in ohio and like it was 50s and 60s for a week or two and then like 20s for 2 days than back to 50s and 60s... quite a warm winter. i wonder if it will affect flights this year

[madbiologist]

Winter didn’t even happen in VA this year. We’ve been in the 50s since November.

ikr I'm in ohio and like it was 50s and 60s for a week or two and then like 20s for 2 days than back to 50s and 60s... quite a warm winter. i wonder if it will affect flights this year

We haven't had any 60s yet this year as far as I know? 50 ish is the warmest it has been. But last year in the first week of January it was 70 for a few days. We went to our school turf to play soccer every day.

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[ANTdrew]

Lucky..... we’re looking forward to 60s this weekend.

Egh, not really when you realize the sickness of the planet causing the warmth, plus NO snowdays.

[madbiologist]

3/11/20

Huge Update on one colony coming Friday or Saturday probably! Can you guess which colony? Sadly, today will just be a small update on 2 colonies.

Ok, I'll start with my Crematogaster which-shall-not-be-named. Their brood has finally began to pupate, it seems like it's been ages. Not too many coming out this time, probably less than 10. However, it will still be a big boost for them.

Now, on to Subbarbatus colony 1.
No typos there, they aren't just the Subbarbatus anymore. I've never seen Subbarbatus eggs before, and this queen has been kind enough to lay 20 or so! The surprising part about it, is that subbarbatus apparently lay orange eggs! Pics below! (Last pic is before the eggs).

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[madbiologist]

3/14/20

I'll leave the big reveal for last, but don't get too impatient, I've only got a couple of small updates.

I'll start with my Tapinoma sessile, because it seems like most of the colony has escaped. I'm not sure where they went, but they'll come back eventually, or they'll die off, there aren't any good food sources or nesting spots other than their tube.

My Camponotus novaeborascensis are my first Camponotus to reach pupae! They've focused on getting 10 or so larvae to pupate, while the rest are still small. They've still got about 10 larvae that will probably be growing quickly to pupate soon now that the rest have.

Now it's time for the big reveal. Normally I wouldn't try to capture medium to large colonies, but I do have an exception. If the colony is going to die, I may as well try to capture them to keep that from happening. So Wednesday I was looking for small Camponotus subbarbatus colonies, and I accidentally stepped on a large stick. The stick broke, and I saw a large amount of subbarbatus workers. I had just stumbled upon what looked to be a large (by my standards) colony of them. I would have just let them hide, but they were still hibernating, and thus, would be eaten by animals. So I sacrificed the rest of my evening for a good cause, and I've now got a 100-150 worker Camponotus subbarbatus colony, with 2 drones, and maybe a queen! They've also got 100 plus overwintered larvae! I'm not sure if I have a queen or not, because she still has her wings, but she is also very physogastric, the most physogastric I've ever seen subbarbatus. I'll have to wait for eggs to find out I guess. I dropped workers out of their stick into a tub, and instead of using all e tubes I provided, they've stuffed the whole colony into one. All the better for pictures I guess!

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[madbiologist]

3/16/20

My C. herculeanus have finally moved into their new nest I made them! I waited weeks, then today I gave up and put the mini hearth into their outworld, and they move in a few hours. The queen is looking fairly skinny, so I'll be overfeeding them for a good while to fatten her up so she starts laying, as they only have a couple larvae from hibernation.

My Crematogaster sp has a lot more larvae developing into pupae, soon they'll be up by 10 or so workers and she'll lay more eggs.

My Lasius americanus queen has begun laying, and they have a nice little brood pile. Hopefully this is the beginning of their recovery from being my guinea pigs.

My novaeborascensis and chromaiodes in the mini hearths have both began to lay eggs, I've given them plenty of protein and I'm hoping for a worker explosion shortly.

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[RushmoreAnts]

Looking good!