30 replies to this topic

[AntaholicAnonymous]

The title of this topic is pretty optimistic cause I just got them an hour ago and they are still 20 workers with a beautiful queen but I know what I have planned for them and it'll be epic.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

So here we go I ordered a queen with 12 workers and I just counted 30 so shout out to antstore.de lol

I heared that messor tend to arrive dead but they are doing great.
I'm a big fan of natural setups so I made a small one to get them started.
No decoration just a good variety of substrate cause I have to be able to see exactly what they are doing above ground.

They are pretty small for now but I have 3 or 4 that start to look a bit more beefy.
I placed the test tube in along side with oats, fruit and fruit flies.

They took all 7 fruit flies right away and they are getting the oats as well but they don't care about the fruit I guess they get carbohydrates from oats and seeds.
I'm very excited cause I got big plans ahead for them and you'll see what I mean very soon.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

I wanna tell you my rough plan for them.

They are gonna stay in their smaller setup for one to three months depending on how fast they grow.

I've been working on a massive setup for quite a while now and it'll be one of a kind for sure. I expect it to be done within a week from now.
A huge natural setup not just with dirt and rocks but you'll see what I came up with.

I actually got the idea to get them from yall cause I hade a topic where I asked what I should keep and you convinced me to get messor. I did read up on them but tips about their care are still appreciated I never had any type of harvester ants.

[ANTdrew]

The title of this topic is pretty optimistic cause I just got them an hour ago and they are still 20 workers with a beautiful queen but I know what I have planned for them and it'll be epic.

I have no doubt. Can’t wait to see it!

[skocko76]

Messors are pretty easy. Give them sufficient seeds and they're happy. Make sure you provide small seeds, grass or dandelion seeds, while they have no major workers. Otherwise they won't be able to crack them open. In a natural setup, they will burrow a lot, so they'll need a lot of water. They are terrible swimmers, so either use byformica gallileo feeders or wet cotton (testtube with water). They are terrible climbers but do decorate glass with poop Once the colony grows large, they become very aggressive. Your natural setup will likely get redecorated, so much you won't be able to recognize it. Hope it helps, and have fun!

[skocko76]

Oh, and one more thing. While the colony is still small, it is not unusual for Messor queens to go out to forage. So if you see her in the outworld, it is no cause for concern.

 

Here's a link to my M. barbarus journal that may help you gauge the colony growth trend and other stuff: https://www.formicul...rbarus-journal/

And here's one to my M. capitatus journal - the same observations apply to M. barbarus as well: https://www.formicul...itatus-journal/

 

Hope it helps!

[AntaholicAnonymous]

Yea thank you that helps a lot.
I gave them chia seeds I hope they're able to crack those they do have 2 medium sized workers with fairly big heads.

The way I hydrate them is by just watering the setup. Parts of it are always pretty moist so they can drink right from the wet sand or soil. Never needed a test tube besides the founding stage in my ant keeping.

I do give them pre killed fruit flies and they love them especially the queen is snacking on them all day. lol

[AntaholicAnonymous]

I counted 31 workers today.
A little less than half are in the tube and the rest are doing digging and foraging. There largest one is dragging small stones into the test tube all day long he completely filled it and buried most of their resources. lol

They switched over to dragging food into the soil nest they are working on so I expect them to move within the next 48 hours.

I do know they will modify my big setup in the future but I calculated that in the build I just set the scene and watch them do their thing. But it's so big that they won't make it unrecognizable they'll have at least 80 liters of substrate to build with

[AntaholicAnonymous]

They make good progress and they are way easier to handle than I expected.

They don't like mango or fruit in general wich is weird to look at.
Ants walking past a Mongo is a first for me for sure but other than that they take absolutely everything I throw at them.

No need to ask them. If it's a seed or an insect the answer will be yes please and they are pretty efficient too.

I just started heating up the room I keep them in and I hope they'll explode in numbers I'll do my best to assist them.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

Not much time has passed but still a lot has happened they are hella busy.

They moved out of the tube completely and finished their ground nest.
They are now carrying back seeds like crazy I gave them more chia seeds, 25 fruit flies and 2 smaller crickets.

I watched them for 1,5 hours and they are almost finished with everything.
I have decent vision inside the nest cause fortunately they built against the glass.
There are 15 ants outside on average and they already form those nice trails.

I watched one very small ant that's likely a nanitic just picking up sand at one spot and dropping it at what seems to be their garbage site. He's not digging but it's right through the trail and that ground is very smooth I think he might be making the roads more efficient at least it looks like he has a plan cause he's sprinting back and forth. lol

Very interesting species I'm glad I have them

Edited by AntaholicAnonymous, May 13 2020 - 10:04 PM.

[skocko76]

I have observed the "road paving" behaviour as well. They are clumsy walkers, and they seem to use dug out substrate, in small granules, to make roads easier to walk on. They only do it very close to nest entrance though. But they do take care in considering where to place each load.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

Yea I think they are clumsy cause they are so top heavy.

They fall over but flip right back up without even dropping the seed I guess that just comes with the way they are built.
A heavy body with narrow legs pretty high off the ground. They are super strong because of that but not very balanced.

I felt like 20°C is too cold so I placed a heating mat against the tank and they made a new nest right up to it you can even see the queen pressing herself right up to the glass it should be fairly toasty now.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

It's been a couple days and they are not as active above ground anymore.

They have seeds for quite a while and they gather the daily fruit flies I throw in.
They are very busy under ground tho.
The queen has layed some eggs and I start to see some larger pupae.
They are also enjoying the heat mat I gave them that should speed up their development quite a bit.

That's necessary cause I want them to go towards the hundreds asap.
They have a large setup waiting for them but I don't wanna move them too early.
I think between 150 and 200 but I'll base that on how active they are above ground and how patient I'll be.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

I almost drowned some of them yesterday.

I watered the soil and water ran down one of the holes and put them under water.
I heared they drown very easily so I freaked out but quickly elevated the side that was water logged and it managed to run off pretty quick.

Dry compact soil takes a bit until it takes water I put more sand on the surface cause that soaks it up right away.
They are doing great brood wise tho.
They have a large pile of larvae and even 3 pretty big ones.

I think they are around 40 to 45 ants currently and they are picking up speed.
They are super efficient above ground too very well organized and they take every insect I give them.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

[AntaholicAnonymous]

They are growing quick I have no idea how many they are but probably around 60 to 70 workers. They have a heating mat and made a chamber right up to it.

It's getting too hot for the queen but it's perfect for the brood. There are new workers every day and as you can see I'm starting to get larger ants very soon.

[AntaholicAnonymous]

I installed a light and put in some plants I got a lot to do so I take my time with this.

I also established all kinds of soil creatures already like springtails and many springtail sized things I don't know the name of. lol

The important thing is that they eat ant trash I took trash piles from both colonies and put some in here to get the ecosystem running.

If I'd add a 200 worker colony without doing that their trash will most likely cause a major mold outbreak and that's a good way to prevent that

[AntaholicAnonymous]

I haven't updated in a while because there's not too much to talk about yet.


They are in a massive setup as a young colony and besides picking up seeds every once in a while I can't see much for now.
They are either in hybernation or dying. lol

That's the issue with those big setups they are made for larger colonies so it'll pay off next season when their numbers will shoot up hopefully into the thousands one day. While they sleep during the winter I can work on the setup tho so it'll look a little different by the time they get back to work.

Next update will most likely be in the spring where I hope to get some of those massive majors running around.

[KitsAntVa]

I really like the set up I hope these do well.

[Ants_Dakota]

I installed a light and put in some plants I got a lot to do so I take my time with this.

I also established all kinds of soil creatures already like springtails and many springtail sized things I don't know the name of. lol

The important thing is that they eat ant trash I took trash piles from both colonies and put some in here to get the ecosystem running.

If I'd add a 200 worker colony without doing that their trash will most likely cause a major mold outbreak and that's a good way to prevent that

how did you get the dirt to stay up! i want to do something similar for my camponotus.