4 replies to this topic

[PurdueEntomology]

20.5 minutes reduced to 4 min 6 seconds.  This is a video I shot today of the Neivamyrmex opacithorax colony I am currently housing at feeding time. I had prepared 8 grams of Solenopsis invicta brood for them to partake placing it in Container B (there being four containers A, B, C and D).  It starts out slow as they first have to find the food then deal with a few Solenopsis workers but it quickly picks up speed.   The colony is  entering principally from the right from Container A where the queen and their brood are then taking them back to  Container A.  They had already been out foraging all the way to Container D before I put this food-brood out for them, that is why some are coming and going to the left, in the end though they figure it out.   Following scent trails can be confusing, even for a super organism.    Keep in mind these S. invicta brood are mostly reproductive so they are large and not as easily manageable as worker brood.    I used an iPhone XR and  Osmo Pro 3 gimbal to make this video. Enjoy!

 

Edited by PurdueEntomology, May 18 2020 - 6:02 PM.

[Vendayn]

The cool part for me is you can see their trails dug into the dirt from all the workers traveling. That looks really cool.

Edited by Vendayn, May 18 2020 - 7:12 PM.

[PurdueEntomology]

The cool part for me is you can see their trails dug into the dirt from all the workers traveling. That looks really cool.

Yes, I stir up the dirt after every morning just to make sure no residual chemical trails are left so when they resume in the evening the space is new for them.

[FeedTheAnts]

Pardon me for not following, but how long have you had this colony? I had thought you were raising a colony that died, is this a new one, or am I mistaken?

[PurdueEntomology]

Pardon me for not following, but how long have you had this colony? I had thought you were raising a colony that died, is this a new one, or am I mistaken?

Yes, you are correct.  I had initially tried to house a colony in 2018 and had it from July - Nov when the queen expired which led the death of the colony.  This colony was collected on April 18th.