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Advice On Test-tube Setups, Water Depletion

Started By kgollehon , Jan 30 2020 6:52 PM
testtube polygynous help water ant keeping troubleshooting humidity care

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#1 Offline kgollehon - Posted January 30 2020 - 6:52 PM

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Hey all, wanted to reach out really quick and talk a bit about an issue I'm having with one of my test-tube setups. I've been rearing a colony of polygynous queens for some time now, I won't attempt to definitively label them but I believe them to be Solonopsis sp.. Anyway, I have had them in a setup connected to a small formicarium for some time (they never chose to move in but that's another story). My issue has been that the test tube water has evaporated a long while ago and I wish to move the queens and their brood to a new test-tube, standard tape-two-tubes-together approach. I have been getting by by hydrating the formicarium and hoping the colony will use it as an outworld to their tube but I'd rather them have the proper humidity. Since the colony never truly got established there are no more developed workers to initiate the moving process. Will the queens transport the brood themselves to a new home, or is that wishful thinking? I currently have a light over their current setup to try and coax them but so far nothing. Any advice would be appreciated! 

 

Here's the setup and a closeup of my queens! 

 

Switching setups
Queens in test-tube

 

 


Colonies: Tetramorium sp., Solenopsis xyloni

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#2 Offline NickAnter - Posted January 31 2020 - 8:14 AM

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Dump them out into a new tube. They don't appear to have too much brood to damage. And I don't think that these are Solenopsis.
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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#3 Offline kgollehon - Posted January 31 2020 - 8:54 AM

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Dump them out into a new tube. They don't appear to have too much brood to damage. And I don't think that these are Solenopsis.

 

Thanks for the input, was a little eventful but managed to get them switched over. It will be good to see them re-establish a sizable colony in the future. I don't know why but I have had this issue in the past where my young colonies loose their initial workers before new workers come around. Not sure if that's common. I'll have to post an ID request on the other forum, would make sense that it's not Solonopsis, this colony refused all food offerings when it did have workers. 


Colonies: Tetramorium sp., Solenopsis xyloni

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#4 Offline Serafine - Posted January 31 2020 - 10:50 AM

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Test tubes with front cotton plug and straw. Last for 6-10 months.

ppw5pZS.jpg

Edited by Serafine, January 31 2020 - 10:50 AM.

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We should respect all forms of consciousness. The body is just a vessel, a mere hull.

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#5 Offline kgollehon - Posted January 31 2020 - 1:31 PM

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Test tubes with front cotton plug and straw. Last for 6-10 months.ppw5pZS.jpg


Great tip! I may just use that in the future!
Colonies: Tetramorium sp., Solenopsis xyloni

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#6 Offline kgollehon - Posted January 31 2020 - 7:55 PM

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So a new issue has come up haha. Now that the queens and brood are in the new test-tube, the queens are staying at the entrance cotton-ball and not with the brood. Hoping they eventually reclaim the brood. Anyone want to weigh in on this?


Colonies: Tetramorium sp., Solenopsis xyloni

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Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: testtube, polygynous, help, water, ant keeping, troubleshooting, humidity, care

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