145 replies to this topic

[madbiologist]

Also, I am not sure as to why my Imgur links aren't appearing as images, since they did before. If anyone knows how to help with this, please do.

[ANTdrew]

With all the cool species you have, why bother with Tapinoma?

[ForestDragon]

With all the cool species you have, why bother with Tapinoma?

cuz tapinoma are just fun to showboat and say you have a giant colony lol

[RushmoreAnts]

Also, I am not sure as to why my Imgur links aren't appearing as images, since they did before. If anyone knows how to help with this, please do.

You can click and drag them over to FC if you have the two sites in two separate tabs.

[RushmoreAnts]

 

With all the cool species you have, why bother with Tapinoma?

cuz tapinoma are just fun to showboat and say you have a giant colony lol

 

I prefer S. molesta, mostly because I can catch hundreds of queens to showboat. 

[madbiologist]

Also, I am not sure as to why my Imgur links aren't appearing as images, since they did before. If anyone knows how to help with this, please do.

You can click and drag them over to FC if you have the two sites in two separate tabs.

Thanks, I'll try that today.

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With all the cool species you have, why bother with Tapinoma?

Tapinoma inbreed, and I'd like to be able to give buds to other people in Ohio.

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Edited by madbiologist, April 23 2020 - 6:47 AM.

[RushmoreAnts]

Solenopsis molesta inbreed too. Solenopsis molesta inbreeding

[madbiologist]

From what I have seen, that is a rare occurrence

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[RushmoreAnts]

Perhaps captivity triggers it. And also, it could be influenced by region. Illinois and South Dakota are slightly different (not that much, but slightly) than Ohio.

Edited by AntsDakota, April 23 2020 - 7:13 AM.

[madbiologist]

21/5/20

Ok, so it's been a little while. I'll have an update on most/all of the colonies within a few days, maybe tonight. It depends when I get around to taking pictures.

I've got 2 queens over the weekend, a Stenamma queen which hitchhiked in on my dad as he mowed Saturday, and a Camponotus cf. caryae queen my mom spotted Sunday. I spent hours looking after the caryae queen was found, but to no avail. Sadly for me, they both still have wings, and aren't acting like fertile queens, so I have little hope for them.

In other news, Camponotus flights should (finally) begin this weekend, meaning I'll have more queens soon!

Caryae pics, then Stenamma.

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[madbiologist]

29/5/20

 

General:

This update is going to seem a little short and non-detailed, since it was deleted

while halfway complete, and I'm a little miffed about it. Sorry about the lack of pictures

in this update, I'll make it up with more pictures next time

I've sourced some host colonies for Lasius pupae and callows, so my parasitics

will have hosts soon. This will be incredibly useful for future parasitic Lasius too.

I'm still debating on whether to journal them here, since there's a lot of them

and I'll mix them up.

 

Camponotus chromaiodes 1:

Currently attempting to move them into a fallen fortress.

They still have plenty of brood in every stage.

 

Camponotus chromaiodes 2:

Turns out the major pupa was just a large worker:(

However, they are growing quite fast, and have lots of brood in every stage.

 

Camponotus herculeanus:

The queen still hasn't laid yet this season, I'll be moving them to a mini hearth

in a few day in the hopes that they lay.

 

Camponotus nearcticus:

The pupae have progressed, and she seems to have lost the ability

to open them, I'll be doing that tonight.

 

Camponotus novaeborascensis:

Really pleased with them, after only coming out of diapause with 6-10 workers,

they've gotten up to 20-30, plus a couple of small

majors, and they still have plenty of brood.

 

Camponotus pennsylvanicus 1:

These have surpassed chromaiodes no 2, with

lots of large, new workers.

 

Camponotus pennsylvanicus 2:

Seems to be doing ok for now. The queen can't seem to stop

laying, so they've already got 10-20 new eggs.

 

Camponotus subbarbatus:

They recently had their pupae eclose, and some larvae pupate.

Lots of brood of all stages.

 

Camponotus subbarbatus satellite:

I released these a few hours ago, since I don't need them for boosting anymore.

 

Formica pallidefulva:

They've begun laying again, and if it wasn't updated before, they

eclosed two very grey callows recently.

 

Formica subaenescens:

Biological workers are beginning to eclose, and there's eggs and larvae.

 

Lasius americanus:

Still only at 3 workers. They have a semi-large brood pile, but I'm not sure

its developing since I don't see any larvae.

 

Tapinoma sessile:

It seems that the colony only produced female alates this year, which is a little

bit of an issue, so I'm not sure how this is going to go. On the other hand, lots of

worker pupae beginning to eclose!

 

Tetramorium immigrans:

They continue to, grow! Grow! Grow!

 

New queens:

I caught a nearcticus queen and a novaeborascensis queen Sunday,

but blacklighting has been terribly disappointing so far.

[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.

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

Autocorrected to Formica because I use that word a lot.

Also, Mad, those are some amazing pictures.

Edited by Kaelwizard, May 30 2020 - 11:33 AM.

[madbiologist]

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.

Autocorrected to Formica because I use that word a lot.

Also, Mad, those are some amazing pictures.

It's just some cheap extension tubes and a ring light really, anyone could do it!

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[madbiologist]

26/6/20

 

On Saturday, I went on a large anting trip to collect a few small colonies,

and to recieve a few from friends, so this update will mostly be about them.

 

New Colonies:

 

Apaenogaster rudis x2:

2 of the collected colonies were Aphaenogaster rudis, the smallest has

about 15 workers, and the largest about 25. the smallest had no brood upon collection,

but was already laying eggs a few days after collection. The larger colony

already had plenty of brood, but they also began laying soon after collection.

Although others have seen inexplicable infighting eventually leading to death

between Aphaenogaster colonies that have been aspirated, I have seen no signs

of this with any collected colony. (Not pictured)

 

Aphaenogaster fulva x2:

The other two collected colonies were Aphaenogaster fulva, one of the main goals for the trip.

At first i believed the smaller of the two was Aphaenogaster picea,

however fulva and picea look nearly identical under poor lighting, and after I got them under

some better lighting, it became clear that both were fulva. The smaller

colony has a bit of brood, as well as 7-15 workers. The larger colony has

plenty of brood, and 30-40 workers.

 

The other 4 new colonies are from trades and/or gifts from other Ohioans.

 

Camponotus americanus x2:

These two colonies were collected by an Ohioan in the south of Ohio,

and were dropped of to another Ohioan for me to get whenever I next saw them.

Both are doing absolutely amazing! The smaller of the two has 20-30 workers,

and the larger of the two has 30-40, both have lots of brood! 

After only a few days of keeping these colonies, I absolutely love them!

First two pics are of the larger colony, last two are of the smaller.

 

Crematogaster cf. lineolata:

This small bud comprising of two queens, 20 or so workers, and a similar

amount of pupae was traded for with the friend who helped me collect the Aphaenogaster.

He collected a colony of 9 queens and about 250 workers from a supercolony

in the far north of Ohio, and was gracious enough to split off a small bud for me.

The two queens have already laid new eggs, and I can't wait to see what this

colony has in store for me!

 

Temnothorax curvispinosus:

I also received a small colony of Temnothorax curvispinosus, made up of

about 30 workers, some brood, and one queen.

 

 

 

Here's a small photo dump of Camponotus novaeborascensis, Prenolepis imparis, and Camponotus subbarbatus.

[CatsnAnts]

Those pictures are stunning!

[RushmoreAnts]

Yeah, what camera did you use?

[madbiologist]

Yeah, what camera did you use?

I used a Canon rebel DSLR.

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[madbiologist]

4/7/20

Currently waiting for tetra to show up at the blacklight while I type this at 5 am. Figured I've got time to do a quick update haha.

Over 2-4 days of blacklighting, I've caught about 50 Temnothorax species queens. One tube has 21 curvispinosus, the second has 13-17 undetermined species (more on them in a sec), third has 9-13 undetermined species, 4th has 6-7 undetirmined species, 5th has 2 Temnothorax ambiguus, and 6th has 2 Temnothorax smithi/schaumii (haven't gotten a full ID yet). Previously cf. curvispinosus, I'm not sure the undetirmined species is anymore. All the typical dark headed curvispinosus were combined into one tube, while I put these similar, but light headed queens into other groups. While they seem like they could just be color morphs of the same species, I grouped 2 together for a short while, and then had to seperate them because they fought. I find this behavior odd if they're the same species, considering there is no aggression between those with the same colored heads. I'm certain the light ones aren't ambiguus due to their larger size and different proportions when compared to the 2 ambiguus queens. Light vs dark comparison pics below.



I have also found host Lasius brood and workers, and begun the process of introducing callows and pupae to my 4 Lasius aphidicola queens. So far it has gone great, and all of them are getting along fine! I've put in a few male pupae by accident, but I doubt it will cause much harm. Photos coming soon!

Edited by madbiologist, July 4 2020 - 1:08 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Next year I’ll try combining a bunch of Temnothorax queens. I had no idea how easy these are to attract with black-lights.

[madbiologist]

7/7/20

 

Just a quick update on the Formica pallidefulva which also shows

off what I've been working on for the past month or two assuming you can see it .

 

The Formica pallidefulva are doing well, with lots of brood of all stages,

and 15 or so workers, so it's time for a setup move! (The picture with them in it is old). 

Edited by madbiologist, July 7 2020 - 9:47 AM.