73 replies to this topic

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

nice

[RushmoreAnts]

UPDATE #0003
Tuesday, April 14th, 2020
 
Prenolepis imparis
First Appearance on Update #0001
 
No eggs, but I managed to get a few new photos in:
 
 

 

 
Instead of spreading out through the tube or on the cotton, the queens will willingly sit on top of each other. 

 

 

 
Imgur link: Prenolepis imparis - Album on Imgur

[RushmoreAnts]

UPDATE #0004 

Tuesday, April 21st, 2020

 

Prenolepis imparis

First Appearance on Update #0001

 

Ants_Dakota's queen has her first egg! She lovingly holds it in her mandibles.   One of my queens also laid one egg, but no one seems to take any notice of it...........

 

 

[RushmoreAnts]

UPDATE #0005

Friday, May 1st, 2020

 

Prenolepis imparis

First Appearance on Update #0001

 

I introduced a couple hundred workers to these, and they accepted very smoothly. I attempted this since I read somewhere that colonies naturally accept new queens into the nest. This apparently is back-up evidence. Unfortunately, however, one of the queens died of unknown reasons (she was not attacked). She sat in a very unnatural position and flailed her legs slowly and aimlessly. Fortunately, all the other queens are fine, though. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW!!!

Lasius brevicornis

 

Ants_Dakota captured a colony of these under a stone, and sold them to me. I was super exited, as this is my favorite species of Lasius. The colony originally had 3 queens and several hundred workers, yet we found 3 more dealates under a different stone, which I introduced to the colony. They were accepted perfectly. 

 

Here's their original nest. As you can see, it was a bit open:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then moved them into a THA test tube with a Genesis insert. They seem to like it:

 

 

 

 

 

NEW!!!

Myrmica sp.

 

We captured a few colonies of these, two of which I kept. I merged them successfully, and now have a whopping 18 queens! I fed them some mealworms, and the queens have already laid 20-30 eggs! Currently there are 300-400 workers. I moved them from one of Ants_Dakota's open nests I had my Lasius in to a tubs and tubes setup. I gave them two tubes, but they just crammed themselves into one! 

 

Here's their original setup:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's them in their test tube:

 

 

 

 

 

NEW!!!

Lasius aphidicola

 

On the same day of collecting the Myrmica colony, we found a Lasius aphidicola queen. I took it and introduced her to some neoniger hosts, which she is cooperating fine with (after killing around ten of them, and much aggression  ).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW!!!

Ponera pennsylvanica

 

We also found a small colony of these, with a queen and around a dozen workers. I fed them a few fruit flies:

 

 

 

 

 

NEW!!!

Pogonomyrmex occidentalis

 

After my two founding queens died, I ordered a colony from THA, which arrived today, along with a Palladium formicarium. Unfortunately, however, the nest itself (not the outworld) came without a lid.    The colony currently has 40-50 workers, and 10-20 large larvae/pupae. Due to the nest incident, they will be staying in their test tube for now. However, that doesn't mean I won't take advantage of the outworld.   So, I then fed them a few sunflower seeds, which they are busy feeding from.

 

 

 

 

[TennesseeAnts]

Congrats on the L. brevicornis! I've wanted those for a while. My Pogonomyrmex colony has several dozen larvae and pupae and 20-30 eggs, so it's strange how that colony only has a handful of larvae. Mine doesn't have as many workers, which is strange. They only have 40 ish.

[NickAnter]

I sure hope I get some brevicornis this year. Such a beautiful species! As well as any parasite as well.

[RushmoreAnts]

Congrats on the L. brevicornis! I've wanted those for a while. My Pogonomyrmex colony has several dozen larvae and pupae and 20-30 eggs, so it's strange how that colony only has a handful of larvae. Mine doesn't have as many workers, which is strange. They only have 40 ish.

There could be more brood that I can’t see, as they’re in a covered insert. I myself prefer the normal inserts, and don’t see the point of the covered ones. The only thing they do is limit visibility.

[RushmoreAnts]

The Myrmica laid more eggs during the night. The count’s now between 70 and 100 roughly.

[RushmoreAnts]

 My Pogonomyrmex colony has several dozen larvae and pupae and 20-30 eggs, so it's strange how that colony only has a handful of larvae. Mine doesn't have as many workers, which is strange. They only have 40 ish.

Actually, I just peeked into their tube, and saw a worker carrying a batch of 20-30 eggs as well! So yeah, there's probably more brood in there than meets the eye.

Edited by AntsDakota, May 2 2020 - 11:35 AM.

[RushmoreAnts]

My Pogonomyrmex colony has several dozen larvae and pupae and 20-30 eggs, so it's strange how that colony only has a handful of larvae. Mine doesn't have as many workers, which is strange. They only have 40 ish.

I moved them into the nest, where I can see them better. It turns out they actually do only have 10 or so larvae. That's it.

[RushmoreAnts]

UPDATE #0006

Thursday, May 7th, 2020

 

 

Prenolepis imparis

First Appearance on Update #0001

 

Ever since I moved them into the nest shown in the photos from Update #0005, workers have been dying. It looked awful similar to when my Camponotus pennsylvanicus died, and this was the same nest. I didn't think it would be a problem, as I cleaned it before giving it to the Prenolepis, but maybe it has something to do with the nest material? Anyways, I moved them into a test tube, which flooded, and then the Lasius brevicornis' old nest. However, workers continued to die, and I accidentally caused another flood, which killed most of the workers and a queen. After that, pretty much all the workers died out, and the queens died one by one. I kept a remnant of one queen and five or so healthy workers in a test tube, but they ended up dying as well. Though I believe it may have been the same disease that killed all my ants a while back, which I nicknamed the Gold Death, after the accompanying Aspergillus fungus which would grow on the deceased queens. Too bad, as I was looking forward to keeping this species this year. I guess I'll have to wait until next year.....................

 

Lasius brevicornis

First Appearance on Update #0005

 

As you may have heard in Ants4fun's Journal, I traded the colony with him for a couple new colonies mentioned at the end of this update. I did keep one queen with a few workers for myself, yet it seems the workers killed her just hours after being separated from the main colony. Anyways, Ants_Dakota found three more queens, which I might be interested in. The reason I traded the colony was because they were not eating, and I was having a difficult time caring for them. I figured that Ants4Fun would have a better chance of caring for them, and let him have the colony. I was thinking that if I started from the beginning and founded the queens, I could learn from his experience with them, and mimic the conditions he sets up if he's successful. Anyways, I will still keep updating on these if I get those queens, so this segment of my journal has not ended.

 

 

Myrmica sp.

First Appearance on Update #0005

 

These gals have been super productive lately! The queens continue to pump out eggs, and the larvae seem to be a tad bit larger. I moved them into a TarHeelAnts test tube, as they were beginning to dig into the substrate in the outworld, as I accidentally got it a little wet. I managed to get a decent shot of some of the brood, yet since then the queens have laid many more eggs:

 

 

Here's a couple queens:

 

 

 

Lasius aphidicola

First Appearance on Update #0005

 

Nothing new on these guys. No eggs, around 20 or so hosts.

 

 

Ponera pennsylvanica

First Appearance on Update #0005

 

Unfortunately their queen drowned, stuck to the ceiling in some condensation. I will probably release the workers.

 

 

Pogonomyrmex occidentalis

First Appeareance on Update #0005

 

Mac sent the missing lid, and I moved them right in. I was able to get a shot of the queen and brood pile:

 

 

 

NEW!!!

Aphaenogaster picea

 

As mentioned above, I traded my Lasius brevicornis colony to Ants4Fun, and this is one of the colonies I got in return. They have around 200 workers, a couple dozen larvae, and a few dozen eggs, and are currently housed in an old ByFormica nest. They were fed a mealworm and some sunflower seeds, which they brought into the nest. They chewed the seeds into some sort of lumpy paste (many of the white clumps the ants are holding are not eggs but sunflower paste), which they surrounded their larvae with. I also made a large outworld for them, which they originally explored readily, yet currently are not hungry, and staying in the nest. 

 

 

 

 

The ants surrounding their larvae with the paste:

 

 

 

 

 

NEW!!!

Formica subsericea

 

Got these in the trade with Ants4Fun as well. There are currently 11 workers. They had some eggs, which they ate, yet the queen laid a couple more. I moved them into a THA test tube with a Genesis Insert, too. 

 

Here's their original setup with the eggs:

 

 

And here's their new test tube:

 

Edited by AntsDakota, May 7 2020 - 1:29 PM.

[Ants_Dakota]

I have a ponera colony with 2 queens if you are interested

[RushmoreAnts]

I have a ponera colony with 2 queens if you are interested

Really? You found them with the L. brevicornis too? Yes, I am interested.

[Canadant]

Thanks for your journal. Good pics.

[RushmoreAnts]

Actually may be getting more Ponera (or maybe they're Hypoponera, I'm not sure) soon.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Lasius Aphicola are wonderful ants, good luck. Also I'm so jealous that you got Breivncornsis ( I think that's how you spell it)

[RushmoreAnts]

Lasius Aphicola are wonderful ants, good luck. Also I'm so jealous that you got Breivncornsis ( I think that's how you spell it)

I think Lasius is one of the most misunderstood and needlessly overlooked genera. It's also brevicornis, btw.

Edited by AntsDakota, May 8 2020 - 7:29 AM.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

 

Lasius Aphicola are wonderful ants, good luck. Also I'm so jealous that you got Breivncornsis ( I think that's how you spell it)

I think Lasius is one of the most misunderstood and needlessly overlooked genera. It's also brevicornis, btw.

 

lol, I do like lasius tho, they are underrated!

[Ants_Dakota]

Hmmm... Does anyone know if you can combine workers with queens for brevicornis? 

[RushmoreAnts]

Hmmm... Does anyone know if you can combine workers with queens for brevicornis? 

Yes, you can.