24 replies to this topic

[Ants4fun]

I caught this queen along with four workers a little less than a week ago. I assume she had her nuptial flight last year. I found her in a rotten log. They had no brood, and we're really slow from hibernation.
Since then she has laid five eggs. I am keeping her in a tarheelants' talus. They are voracious eaters, and enjoy fruit flies and mealworms. I hope they do well!

The colony



The eggs

Edited by Ants4fun, February 28 2016 - 7:01 AM.

[Pulliamj]

That's cool. Mine don't seem to be too interested in food at the moment. One of them ate a mosquito. And I've provided some honey.

[Ants4fun]

     Although the queen laid about 15 eggs, mold was growing on all the food the brought into the talus. Eventually it got so bad, that I had to move them... BTW these ants would not budge an inch! I said to myself, "I'll just move them in the morning." Well I unfortunately left the top open! Where was the queen? In my Tapinoma sessile outworld! Fortunately there where no ants out at the time, and all the workers were inside the talus.

     But... I still needed to move them. So I had to drill holes in the glass to try to get the workers out. Didn't budge. I then had to literally tear it apart, and even then all the workers hid... Finally a just put them in a plaster plexi glass container to keep them in. Unfortunately all the brood was lost. It also seemed that my queen was a bit off. I originally had them in a test tube, but she kept tearing at the cotton.

 

   Today I found her upside down and spazzing out. Her faster looked small, even when I tried to feed them... Oh well, I hope I can at least find one during their supposed big nuptial flight in the northern area... She probably had bad genetics anyways, as she only produced 4 workers her first year... 

Edited by Ants4fun, February 1 2016 - 5:53 AM.

[dspdrew]

What a terrible chain of events. Did you completely destroy that formicarium?

[Ants4fun]

Yes, to get them out.

[Crystals]

Sorry to hear that.

 

I find wild colonies of Camponotus herculeanus rarely have more than 2-4 workers just before hibernation in their first year.

In captivity they usually have 4-10 workers just before their first hibernation.  Not sure how they compare to Camponotus pennsylvanicus though.

 

Small colonies can be tough to move.  I usually move them in "spring" when they all migrate to a heat source.  Camponotus are fairly bad for storing food in the nest.  I usually put a pin through larger food items and tie the pin up so they can't take it into the nest.

I find that if I let the nest dry out a bit, I can carefully tilt the nest so the food falls out (the camponotus just hold on).  I do this over a container so if any run out and fall they aren't on the loose. Ensure there is water in the outworld for the ants to drink while you are letting the nest dry out a bit..

 

I hope your next queen/colony will do better.

[drtrmiller]

Although the queen laid about 15 eggs, mold was growing on all the food the brought into the talus.

 

I had to drill holes in the glass to try to get the workers out.  I then had to literally tear it apart, and even then all the workers hid.

 

If only there were a small formicarium that lets you take the whole thing apart in emergencies such as this...

 

...better luck next time!

[Ants4fun]

...

Edited by Ants4fun, June 4 2015 - 7:00 AM.

[Ants4fun]

I just found  small colonies, and 3 queens. I will add an update soon.

[dspdrew]

What are you planning to put them in?

[Ants4fun]

So far they are just in test tubes, however I plan on putting one of the colonies in the THA inception chamber, and one in a homemade nest. One has 6 workers, and another has 3. They aren't very big colonies.

[Ants4fun]

One week ago I found this queen under a box in Sioux Falls, SD.

 

 

Here you can clearly see she has five eggs

 

 

I found this queen in the Split Rock Creek State Park in Ihllen, MN

http://tinypic.com/u...Xwo/4h4l5k2TGxc

 

She has 2 larvae that are pupating as I speak, and 1 other larvae, along with 3 recently laid eggs

 

 

 

I found this colony In Split Rock as well. I couldn't get all of the workers, however I got most of them

 

This colony has 6 workers, 1 recently eclosed pupae, 4 larvae, and 6 recently laid eggs.

 

 

 

This queen was found in Palisades State Park

 

 

She doesn't have any brood yet, but was found inside her founding chamber, so I believe she is fertile.

This colony was found in Palisades as well.

 

 

They have 3 workers, 1 pupae, one large larvae, and 3 recently laid eggs.

 

 

This poor worker only has one antennae... 

 

http://tinypic.com/u...xc#.Vq69ZfkrLIU

The queens/colonies found in Split Rock Creek Palisades where found 3 days ago. I ordered a large inception chamber from THA, and I think I will put the largest colony in there until I get my hands on something else. So far everybody accepted meal worms and honey. I have high hopes for them.

 

Edit: Ugh, my pictures aren't loading... Hold on for a sec guys...

 

Edit: Ok, fixed up.

Edited by Ants4fun, January 31 2016 - 6:05 PM.

[Ants4fun]

Update!

 

All queens/colonies have tons of brood. They are ,so far, my favorite ants here in SD.

 

The largest colony (I will call them colony 1 from now on) now has eight workers, with a couple pupae, a couple medium larvae, and lots of small larvae, a long with a couple eggs. They are in a nest I made from firebrick. I think that I might move them into a smaller setup later however.

 

 

 

 

The next colony that formerly had 3 workers( I will call them colony 2 from now on) now has 5 workers, with a couple pupae, a couple larvae, and lots of eggs. They are in the Grotube XL version 2.1 and I believe they like it.

 

 

 

 

The queen that I found under a box in my yard (I will call her colony 3 from now on) now has 7 pupae as well as some medium sized larvae, and a few eggs. She is very prolific.

 

 

 

The queen I found in Ihlen that had 3 larvae ( I will call her colony 4 from now on) now has 2 workers, 4 pupae, a few larvae, and a few eggs.

 

 

 

The lone queen without any eggs (I will call her colony 5 from now on) has been a bit of a slow poke, but is coming in strong with a few medium sized larvae, and a couple eggs. The picture lies a bit, she has some more brood in the shadows.

 

[Ants4fun]

I have let colony 1 and what I believe to be colony 3 out of hibernation. They have several larvae. I have noticed that when the larvae come out of hibernation they where yellow, but a few days later they turned back to white. Colony 1 has 16 workers and colony 3 has twelve. Colony 5 and colony 2 sadly died. Colony 3 has had some issues, many which where my part, but is now in hibernation. I will take them out in a month. So far the larvae are growing rapidly.

Edited by Ants4fun, January 31 2016 - 6:06 PM.

[Ants4fun]

 

 

 

Edited by Ants4fun, January 31 2016 - 5:22 PM.

[Ants4fun]

Edit: Fixed previously broken links

Edited by Ants4fun, January 31 2016 - 6:06 PM.

[Ants4fun]

I am continuing this journal as I could not keep track of my colonies well when they were all bunched up. 

 

One month later, and most have pupae. The one in the firebrick formicariums was moved into a grey grotube as they had trouble foraging and putting trash in their nest. A couple workers have died, currently leaving them with eleven. They have a couple pupae, some large larvae and a few eggs.

 

 

The colony in the plaster nest was relocated to a blue grotube. They are doing well and now have 14 workers over their previous 11. They have about 5 pupae, a few more larvae, and some eggs.

 

 

My smallest colony which was in hibernation, had most of the workers die, leaving me with three. They used to be my largest colony, but due to my fault they only have three. At first they were acting strange and I thought they where going to die. They where stumbling around and disoriented even a few days after I took them out of hibernation. I found out that they were dehydrated. I gave them some water and now they are acting normal. The Queen has even laid some eggs.

[Ants4fun]

As you can see, they have a lot of brood. They loved the crickets I gave them and took it in their formicarium. I am thinking about moving this colony to a hydrostone formicarium.

Edited by Ants4fun, March 2 2016 - 4:33 PM.

[Mdrogun]

As you can see, they have a lot of brood. They loved the crickets I gave them and took it in their formicarium. I am thinking about moving this colony to a hydrastone formicarium.

My Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony seems to LOVE TarheelAnts products. If you can afford a nest from them I would recommend it. I gave you a shoutout on my channel. btw 

[Ants4fun]

Awesome, I really appreciate it! On my personal channel I watched most of your other videos as well. I am so jealous of your pogonomyrmex colony. I do have a couple TarHeelAnts products and I am thinking of getting one.