60 replies to this topic

[TheAntGuy]

Yeah, don't get me wrong I do love having them. Part of it too is just because the colony is so small right now, and not much has changed in the last few weeks. They are actually about to have a little population boom, about 20-30 pupae are formed and some are darkening. I expect them to break 100 workers this year, maybe even 200 if I am lucky.

[TheAntGuy]

5/5/2020

"Dirt/Growth"

 

Current Species:
Myrmecocystus navajo - Queen and 2 workers
Myrmecocystus testaceous - Several founding queens

Myrmecocystus tenuinodus - Several founding queens

Myrmecocystus sp. cf. mendax - 2 founding queens

Myrmecocystus sp. - 2 founding queens
Camponotus us-ca02 - Queen and 5 workers
Camponotus modoc - Queen and 4 workers
Camponotus fragilis - Queen and 4 workers
Camponotus cf. hyatti - Founding queen
Crematogaster sp. - Queen and 30 workers
Camponotus sansabeanus - 9 founding queens

Camponotus cf. laevigatus - 5 founding queens
Veromessor pergandei - Queens and colonies
Dorymyrmex insanus - Queen and about 8 workers
Camponotus cf. anthrax - Some queens
Formica cf. moki - Queen and 2 workers

Pogonomyrmex cf. californicus - Queen and 8 workers

Brachymyrmex patagonicus - 6 founding queens

Dorymyrmex bicolor - 1 founding queen

 

Updates:

 

All colonies:

-They were fed a mealworm piece (Crematogaster got 2) yesterday

-I have taken all of the ByFormica feeders out of the colonies except the Pogonomyrmex. I believe that having feeders with such small colonies may have been causing some of my issues.

-I am feeding them small drops of ByFormica Summer Honeysuckle Sunburst Ant Nectar twice weekly.

-I've been leaving a window open in my room 24/7. This has raised the ambient temp in my room significantly, so expect more growth.

 

Myrmecocystus navajo:

-They are down to 2 workers, with some cocoons. I am not sure what they are doing with their cocoons but it seems some of them may have been torn up or squished. I am not sure.

 

Myrmecocystus cf. mendax:

-I still am not sure if these are mendax but my gut tells me they are. The coloring and size is just so uncanny, it is hard to believe they aren't. Regardless, I decided that because I want these to do well, and after reading Drew's journal on them, I am going to put them into dirt so they can dig their own nests. I may add a drop of sunburst on a foil plate inside each one so that they can drink some, for an added boost. May also hydrate a single bloodworm. The dirt containers are about 4 inches deep, and I intend to move them into something deeper if they make it to workers, or I may move them into my now empty mini hearths.

 

Myrmecocystus sp.:

-These look very similar to M. wheeleri although I don't believe they are. I will also be moving these into the same kind of dirt containers as the previous ones.

 

Myrmecocystus cf. testaceus:

-There was one queen that I thought was testaceus which had some weird reddish coloring. It may just be a weird testaceus but I am going to add it to a dirt box just in case it turns out to be something else. The rest will stay in TTs with fine quartz sand.

 

Pogonomyrmex californicus:

-At this point their nest is pretty much fully dug. Something strange I noticed is that the opening with the largest dirt semicircle has been closed up, and they actually dug a 3rd hole up to the surface sometime last night. I took some cool videos which will be linked at the bottom as per usual. I haven't seen the queen since they went underground but I also haven't moved it too much so there may be chambers on the back of it. I saw one small chamber where they stored their brood temporarily. I keep these gals on heat during the day, about 85 F on a third of the nest. I turn the pad down low but not off during the night. I am going to be getting a heating cable very soon and these will no doubt be near it.

 

Crematogaster sp.:

-I actually noticed a decent growth in this colony. After a quick recount they seem to be just over 30 workers, with probably more than 10 more on the way. I fed them 2 pieces of mealworm, and they pretty much cleaned them out. Hopefully I can reach that 200 worker goal by the end of the year.

 

Dorymyrmex insanus:

-Pupae in their nest may be darkening, its hard to tell because the nest container is dark as it is. Either way, they should pass 10 workers fairly soon.

 

Camponotus modoc:

-I did do a complete look through their setup, the 3rd worker did die. I believe this was actually the original worker, as she was probably almost a year old at that point. She was probably holding out to the very end and then when her sisters finally eclosed, she could finally rest. It's almost poetic. Anyway, they still have 2 workers as of writing this, but within 24h, there should be 4. Their cocoons are really easy to tell when they eclose, as they get extremely dark. There are 2 that look like they will eclose today, and maybe even a 3rd that will eclose tomorrow. Last count of their brood I saw 13 cocoons, 11 larvae of varying sizes, and about 15-20 eggs. This could be a very prolific colony in the coming months, they have exceeded my expectations by a long shot. Side note: The photos are a few days old.

 

Camponotus us-ca02:

-This morning I witnessed a worker acting very strange, it is still alive but it hasn't entered the nest in several hours. I expect to see it dead very soon. If anyone has any idea why this has happened to not only this colony but also the fragilis, help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Camponotus fragilis:

- They are staying at 4 workers, I haven't noticed any odd behavior, and their brood is developing again. I don't want to get my hopes up too early, but I hope they can make it again. It would be the comeback story of the decade.

 

Formica moki:

-They have a larger brood pile than last update, mostly eggs but some may have hatched to small larvae by now. Still pretty excited about these gals.

 

Veromessor pergandei:

-The first workers in the single queen colonies have begun to eclose, I will likely be selling or trading most of these. If the polygynous colonies work out, then I will be keeping one of them for myself.

 

Media:

 

P. Californicus:

Digging the Nest

Visible Chamber

 

C. modoc:

 

 

Camponotus us-ca02:

Edited by Theantguy14, May 5 2020 - 7:38 PM.

[TheAntGuy]

Just curious, i havent posted here in ages. Does anyone want to see this continue?

If so, i can make an update tonight.

Edited by Theantguy14, August 14 2020 - 9:54 AM.

[Kaelwizard]

Just curious, i havent posted here in ages. Does anyone want to see this continue?

If so, i can make an update tonight.

Yes please.

[Antkid12]

I wanna see this continue too.

[ANTdrew]

Why not?

[TheAntGuy]

Cool ill get on the update shortly

[TheAntGuy]

Ran out of time, will do one today for sure lol

[TheAntGuy]

Went anting the 15th, been catching up on sleep and chores, update tonight unless i go anting.

[Antkid12]

update?

Edited by Antkid12, August 18 2020 - 3:55 PM.

[TheAntGuy]

Went anting, big huge gigantic update tomorrow either morning or afternoon

[TheAntGuy]

20/8/2020

"Been a While"

 

Current Species:

Myrmecocystus sp. cf. mendax - 1 founding queen

Camponotus fragilis - Queen and 2 workers, 2 founding queens
Camponotus cf. hyatti - Queen and 6 workers
Crematogaster sp. - Queen and 120+ workers

Camponotus cf. laevigatus - 1 Queen and 2 workers
Veromessor pergandei - 4 queen colony with 40+ workers
Camponotus cf. anthrax - Some colonies
Formica cf. moki - Queen and 4 workers

Pogonomyrmex cf. californicus - Queen and 20+ workers

Dorymyrmex insanus - Some queens

Myrmecocystus mexicanus - Lots of queens, most will die

Liometopim occidentale - Queen and 20+ workers

Veromessor andrei - 1 founding queen

Crematogaster spp. - Some queens of 2 or 3 species

Pheidole cf. gilvescens - 2 queens

Camponotus anthrax (s) - Queen with 4 yellow and 3 black workers

Camponotus sansabeanus - Queen and 10ish workers

 

Anting:

- I've been on 3 anting trips since last update, one to Lake Gregory, where I caught the Liometopum and Formica queens which now have workers. The other 2 have been within the last week and this is where I caught all the M. mexicanus, Crematogaster, C. fragilis, and the Veromessor andrei.

 

Updates:

 

All colonies:

-They will be fed today after i get out of zoom school.

-Apparently my mom bought 2 of those subsonic pest/spider repellant things that plug into the wall, I read on someone else's journal that they had problems with their ants because of those. Apparently they've been plugged in since late 2019 or so, roughly... Which is about exactly when my fragilis started giving me issues and when they had their massive die off. If anything is the culprit, I think its that. So i got permission to unplug them because she didn't even notice a difference in spiders so they were basically just torturing and killing my ants. My fragilis still haven't died so I'm hoping they can still get that epic recovery. Some other colony deaths i bet could be at least partly because of that as well.

-I haven't been able to leave the window open for weeks because the temp is just too much. The other day it was 117 for 2 hours outside. Ambient temp is still warm though, so there should be good growth until fall.

-Getting heating cables in the mail tomorrow.

 

Myrmecocystus navajo:

-The queen died. Workers died later.

 

Myrmecocystus cf. mendax:

-Had them in dirt boxes, one died and I dug the other one out this weekend. It had no brood and no workers. I put it in one of xanuri's nests and am treating it like a semi claustral queen. Hoping she makes it. Edit: she died this morning

 

Myrmecocystus sp.:

-They died.

 

Myrmecocystus cf. testaceus:

-Died

 

Pogonomyrmex californicus:

-Doing spiffingly, they have tons of chambers and tunnels, and I estimate around 20 workers, with 10 pupae and lots of other brood. They will need a larger setup likely in a month or two at this growth rate. I am going to purchase an aspirator so I can make sure all their brood makes it into the new nest that I am already getting prepared. Once its moving day, expect loads of pictures.

 

Crematogaster sp.:

- Looks like they are going to blow past that 200 worker end of the year goal, they may even have double that by december. I see at least 100 workers, probably 120 or more. I will get an accurate count by next update in a week. These gals can eat most things I give them now. Might have to start experimenting with foods now that they accept almost anything

 

Dorymyrmex insanus:

-They died, I think I forgot to water them, oh well.

 

Camponotus modoc:

-Unfortunately these gals also died, I don't really know why but it was very sudden. It may have been too dry because we had a week where the average humidity was below 20% so stuff dried out quick.

 

Camponotus us-ca02:

-They died, so sad.

 

Camponotus fragilis:

- They still haven't done super well but they are still alive somehow. I am hoping that the aforementioned possible reasoning for their doing so poorly is correct, anyway. I hope they can do well. They had eggs before I unplugged the pest things, but they were spread out like is typical of infertile founding queens. Since i unplugged, they are more piled up, which I hope is a good sign. Last night I caught what I just confirmed today are 2 winged fragilis queens with very very atypical caramel coloring. Hoping these are fertile so that if the OG colony does unfortunately not recover, I can restart immediately. If all 3 make it, I think I will keep all 3, at least until 20 workers or so, so I know that they are doing well. Then I might sell off the 2nd caramel colored one. I really hope the color translates to the workers because the queens are so frickin' pretty, like seriously beautiful. Even if it is just the queens, it would still be really cool. Edit: There may be some small larvae which are visible in the picture of their brood.

 

Formica moki:

-The original colony died but then I found another queen of what I think is these, might be Formica francoeuri, but the workers kinda look like moki, anyway they are doing way better than the original colony, with double the workers and lots of brood. Edit: They have 4 workers.

 

Veromessor pergandei:

-i sold off most of these already, and am trading some soon for a 5 queen Pogonomyrmex subnitidus colony. I kept a 4 queen colony that are doing well. They are in a tubs and tubes with my seed mix piled up in the outworld for them to forage from.

 

Veromessor andrei:

-I caught this queen last night (18/8/2020) thinking it was a cool worker I could get ID'd, turns out its a queen. It's the first time I've ever caught or even kept this species, super stoked. I love seed eaters and their requirements even long term are very simple and minimal. This means it should be pretty feasible that I could keep these, the pergandei, the californicus, and the subnitidus I am soon to acquire for long term. I think it would be cool to have a self built wooden rack with 4 20 gallon tanks that each have a different species of harvester in it, but that is a project for years from now lol.

 

Liometopum cf. occidentale:

-This is also my first colony of this genus even, and I caught it myself. Found her in a rotted log next to a termite colony and a Camponotus vicinus colony. I doubt she would have made it past founding in that log. Anyway she already has 20 nanitics, looks like nobody was lying about how prolific these are. I don't really intend to keep these long term, but they are nice to have for now. The reason I put cf. was because there were also L. luctosum colonies nearby, so idk if this is luctosum or not.

 

Crematogaster spp.:

-I don't intend to keep any of these, just gonna sell most as queens and some as colonies, DM me if you want.

 

Myrmecocystus mexicanus:

-FINALLY, I finally caught a bunch of my own. I got quite a bit more than I really need, but I can sell them off to help pay for the inevitable THA products I will have to cut off an arm and a leg for  . Seriously though, I already have mini hearths ready for when they get ready for repletes, but once I get my own colony going, I am going to need a fortress, then eventually a nucleus or bigger. So stoked for these. I have 5 in dirt boxes, and 1 in a 20mm tube with a genesis insert. The rest are mostly in 20mm tubes with fine quartz sand. Some are in 16mm tubes because I ran out of the 20mm tubes, oh well, it shouldn't make too much of a difference. These will definitely be a long term species, along with the mendax if she makes it.

 

Camponotus hyatti:

-Colony is doing well but I don't really want these so I am selling them.

 

Camponotus laevigatus (laevissimus?):

- I heard that the species name of these got changed to laevissimus? Idk. Anyway I don't really want these long term either, so I will also likely sell them soon.

 

Camponotus sansabeanus:

-I am still deciding if I want these long term or not, right now I don't really think so since they are basically slower growing but bigger fraggles. Plus they need semi hibernation which is boring. Idk yet. If I do sell then they will probably be in one of xanuri's nests still. So if anyone is interested in one of those with some ants that come with it, I might do that. The hyatti are also being sold in one, but I may change that since I really do like these nests  .

 

Camponotus anthrax:

- I saved these for last because something happened I didn't expect. I have 2 of these I am currently keeping near my personal colonies. One was one that i founded from the beginning in one of xanuri's nests, and she has workers now. The other one I found while checking the rest of them. Her first nanitics looked like either sansabeanus or semitestaceus. I am still very confused, because as far as I can remember, I put them all in brand new tubes straight out of the LCM labs bag. Plus I don't even think I had any sansabeanus queens when i caught these. I will have to look back because I do not remember. I guess it was possible that somehow I tubed just one up in a tube where a sansabeanus had laid some eggs and then died, but I don't think that happened. If that isn't the case, then there are only 2 logical answers that I can think of. Either A: Before catching the queen, she had either wandered into a nest of sansabeanus, or a worker carrying eggs, and the eggs got stuck to her, then stayed on from the whole time since i caught her until when she got home and into a clean tube, at which point they fell off and she treated them as her own. This seems like a one in a million chance. The other, more likely possibility, but still rare, is that she mated with both species, and is interbred between C. anthrax + C. sansabeanus or C. semitestaceus. I can almost rule out the brood boost or stuck eggs theories, confirming the interbred one. She has 3 workers of her species, and 3 of the yellow ones, with 1 more yellow worker cocoon. All the other brood is new and not from founding. She has eggs and larvae. If any of the new brood develops into the yellow workers, as well as the black ones, then I think that confirms that I have an interbred queen. If there is some other theory anyone has, I'd love to hear it. Anyway I think I am going to end up selling all but this colony off, because even if these workers are the only different ones, If I decide to keep them, then this is the only colony I want.

 

Media:

-Here we go, its been a bit so lots of photos.

 

Camponotus fragilis caramel colored:

 

 

 

Veromessor andrei queen:

 

 

Camponotus anthrax with 2 different workers:

 

 

Formica cf. moki:

 

 

 

 

Camponotus fragilis OG colony:

 

 

 

 

Veromessor pergandei 4 queen colony:

 

 

 

Liometopum occidentale colony:

 

 

Camponotus anthrax colony:

 

 

Camponotus hyatti colony:

 

 

Camponotus laevigatus colony:

 

 

Camponotus sansabeanus colony:

 

 

 

Now dead Myrmecocystus cf. mendax queen.

 

 

Pogonomyrmex californicus dirtbox:

 

 

 

Edited by Theantguy14, August 20 2020 - 12:16 PM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

WOW! What an intriguing update. So many mysteries!! Keep us posted!!

[TheAntGuy]

Yup, update in a week from now, next thursday probably.

[TheAntGuy]

Edited for grammar, spelling, and added images.

[EthanNgo678]

Love the camponotus!

[Kaelwizard]

I really like the Camponotus sansabeanus.

[TheAntGuy]

Thanks! I don't know if I'll keep any of these long term, but I'm dead set on having a large fragilis colony, a M. Mexicanus colony, and at least 2 or 3 harvester colonies

[RushmoreAnts]

What happened to all the Myrmecocystus........ 

[TheAntGuy]

I think what happened is I moved them into the mini hearths too soon. I am gonna wait a bit longer this time.