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Pogoculture

Started By RushmoreAnts , Feb 28 2020 4:12 PM
pogonomyrmex harvester ants

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32 replies to this topic

#21 Offline ponerinecat - Posted March 1 2020 - 7:53 PM

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Coconut may not be liked fresh. i'ts juicy and wet, one of the things harvesters seem to universally despise. Dried coconut may work, though.


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#22 Offline Ferox_Formicae - Posted March 1 2020 - 8:12 PM

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no I've not tried coconut. If I ever happen to have one I'll try it. Although its not often I get whole mature coconuts. The only coconut I usually buy are young green coconut. Though I suppose I coudl try that as well. 

 

It really fun watching them process the broccoli its like a poor mans leaf cutter experience, lol. 

Wait, aren't Trachymyrmex the poor-man's leafcutter? I mean, they basically are leafcutters, except for the fact that they use other substrate for their fungus as well. I mean, occasionally Atta and Acromyrmex occasionally do that too...


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#23 Offline ponerinecat - Posted March 1 2020 - 8:18 PM

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no I've not tried coconut. If I ever happen to have one I'll try it. Although its not often I get whole mature coconuts. The only coconut I usually buy are young green coconut. Though I suppose I coudl try that as well. 

 

It really fun watching them process the broccoli its like a poor mans leaf cutter experience, lol. 

Wait, aren't Trachymyrmex the poor-man's leafcutter? I mean, they basically are leafcutters, except for the fact that they use other substrate for their fungus as well. I mean, occasionally Atta and Acromyrmex occasionally do that too...

 

Trachymyrmex are for you southeastern peeps.


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#24 Offline ponerinecat - Posted March 1 2020 - 8:20 PM

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Oh wait no, all the southern people except us. Why does California always seem to lack what the other southern states have? Is it the mountains?


#25 Offline FSTP - Posted March 1 2020 - 8:42 PM

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no I've not tried coconut. If I ever happen to have one I'll try it. Although its not often I get whole mature coconuts. The only coconut I usually buy are young green coconut. Though I suppose I coudl try that as well. 

 

It really fun watching them process the broccoli its like a poor mans leaf cutter experience, lol. 

Wait, aren't Trachymyrmex the poor-man's leafcutter? I mean, they basically are leafcutters, except for the fact that they use other substrate for their fungus as well. I mean, occasionally Atta and Acromyrmex occasionally do that too...

 

 

 

I was being some what facetious when I refered to them processing broccoli as a poor mans leaf cutter experience. As obviously they're not growing any fungus or anything like that. I was strictly referring to the fact that they were cutting up fresh leafy broccoli and watching them do that is loosely similar to watching any of the other numerous leaf cutting ants do the same with whatever their target foliage maybe. Its just that it was entertaining to watch them do something you don't typically think harvester ants would be doing, which is cutting up fresh greens and feeding it to their larvae (which they did do. I was able to observe larvae with green bellies).


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#26 Offline OhNoNotAgain - Posted March 2 2020 - 10:13 AM

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I should try that out. I'm just worried about residual pesticides even though it's organic, etc etc.

(I did used to find organic broccoli with cabbage butterfly larvae on it a few years ago... one time a caterpillar I didn't even notice crawled off the broccoli I'd given to a bird, up a curtain, and pupated there.)


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#27 Offline RushmoreAnts - Posted March 2 2020 - 2:22 PM

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Would occidentalis like these as well?


"God made..... all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds (including ants). And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NIV version

 

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Myrmica sp.

Lasius neoniger, brevicornis

#28 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted March 6 2020 - 5:54 PM

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I should try that out. I'm just worried about residual pesticides even though it's organic, etc etc.

(I did used to find organic broccoli with cabbage butterfly larvae on it a few years ago... one time a caterpillar I didn't even notice crawled off the broccoli I'd given to a bird, up a curtain, and pupated there.)

When I used to grow broccoli, there was so many cabbage butterfly caterpillars that i wished i liked ants at the time so i could feed them. I did feed them to a wild colony, though, because i did like watching ants back then, just not keeping them.


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#29 Offline OhNoNotAgain - Posted March 7 2020 - 8:53 AM

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Actually I think my Pogonomyrmex californicus colony has crashed. I need to dump them out and find out if there's still a queen.

If so, then try to figure out if I should put them back in the DirtBox or into a tube or try a mini-hearth (which people apparently don't recommend, but THA talks about their Pogonomyrmex occi queens doing fine in mini-hearths so I dunno).


Formiculture Journals::

Veromessor pergandei, andrei; Novomessor cockerelli

Camponotus fragilis; also separate journal: Camponotus sansabeanus (inactive), vicinus, laevigatus/quercicola

Liometopum occidentale;  Prenolepis imparis; Myrmecocystus mexicanus (inactive)

Pogonomyrmex subnitidus and californicus (inactive)

Tetramorium sp.

Termites: Zootermopsis angusticollis

 

Isopods: A. gestroi, granulatum, kluugi, maculatum, vulgare; C. murina; P. hoffmannseggi, P. haasi, P. ornatus; V. parvus

Spoods: Phidippus sp.

#30 Offline CheetoLord02 - Posted April 2 2020 - 5:27 PM

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don't mind me, just flexing the fact that I have a Pogonomyrmex pima queen. ha.

also, I made a post on this, but she's the only Pogonomyrmex i've ever had, so any general Pogonomyrmex tips would be great, especially regarding how to found them and diet


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#31 Offline Nare - Posted April 2 2020 - 5:43 PM

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don't mind me, just flexing the fact that I have a Pogonomyrmex pima queen. ha.

also, I made a post on this, but she's the only Pogonomyrmex i've ever had, so any general Pogonomyrmex tips would be great, especially regarding how to found them and diet

I've managed to get a P. occidentalis queen going, and I'd recommend the following: ensure there is no air in the water reservoir of the test tube (this ensures that the cotton and thus the test tube remains well hydrated, which seems to be crucial to brood development), offer an outworld from day one (tubs and tubes works just fine), offer seeds, sugar water and protein regularly (just in case, these queens aren't fully claustral from what I understand. Mine foraged from time to time in the founding stage), and finally make sure she's being heated. Oh, and don't forget to fill the test tube with sand / substrate. Other than that, I'd just let her be. These queens aren't the most competent, but if you get the conditions right, they can handle the rest on their own. Most Canadian P. occidentalis seem to really take off after a few months, P. pima might do the same, not sure. Mine really started thriving when I offered them a THA mini hearth, which is probably also a good way to found your queen, if not a little big.


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#32 Offline PogoQueen - Posted April 6 2020 - 7:26 PM

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For founding Pogonomyrmex I use dirt boxes. I feed regularly during founding since they will forage, and 85f is optimal ambient temperature for brood development. Lots of other things but those are the biggies. Good luck!

#33 Offline Da_NewAntOnTheBlock - Posted April 11 2020 - 7:21 AM

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Hey, I am new to Pogonomyrmex, can I get some pointers? I think I'll keep them this mid to late summer, so no rush, but any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance

EDIT: Didn't see Nare's guide, so you can kinda ignore this post now lol


Edited by Da_NewAntOnTheBlock, April 11 2020 - 7:22 AM.

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