14 replies to this topic

[drtrmiller]

I caught two queens on 6/12/15, per my flight observation, here.

 

I immediately put each in a GroTube XL.  They took a few days to settle in, but eventually started laying eggs less than a week later.

 

On 6/27, two weeks after introduction, I took the following photo with my cell phone and strap-on macro lens:

 

 

The brood is virtually microscopic.  They're tinier than the grains of sand, so the only way to observe them is with magnification.

 

The queen in the other GroTube has formed a miniscule barricade with loose substrate, and is unable to be seen, currently.  Both are somewhat more sensitive to light than I would like, but after the past few weeks, they are less sensitive now, since I leave them in a room which is dimly lit, 24/7.

 

 

[kellakk]

Why do you have it as Brachymyrmex sp.? Isn't B. patagonicus the only dark species in the US?

[drtrmiller]

Probably, I just haven't taken time to ID workers.

[Lamarr]

I have this species as well and they indeed are very small for the human eye.

[drtrmiller]

The first workers started eclosing yesterday, 30 days after introducing the queens to the GroTube XL.  I imagine developement took just over 3 weeks, considering how long it took the queens to get comfy in the nest.

 

 

[HolycowIappeared]

The first workers started eclosing yesterday, 30 days after introducing the queens to the GroTube XL.  I imagine developement took just over 3 weeks, considering how long it took the queens to get comfy in the nest.

 

 

It's been two months and a half and my brachy queens brood still hasn't pupated (though they are growing to a reasonable size). Don't know why the latency. ;_;

[drtrmiller]

The temperature should be 26-30 C (80-85 F), and there should be sufficient humidity.

 

Development will stall if the temperature is too low or the brood dry out.

[AntsAreUs]

How do you maintain your temperature?

[drtrmiller]

By blocking the central AC vent in a room in Georgia :~P

 

I've been talking and thinking of designing a transparent incubator box for ants for ages.  Maybe in a year or two I'll find the time to make it.

[dspdrew]

By blocking the central AC vent in a room in Georgia :~P

 

I've been talking and thinking of designing a transparent incubator box for ants for ages.  Maybe in a year or two I'll find the time to make it.

 

A lot of people need something like that. Heating the air around the test tube is the way to do it.

[Tspivey16]

I have always wondered about something like this:

 

https://www.pricefal...CFUgWHwodlz4EGA

[drtrmiller]

That is probably as good or better than what I could do, and at about the same price.

 

Certainly if a solution exists in the marketplace already, it's probably not going to be something I pursue, and I had not yet seen this product.

 

Thanks.

[Tspivey16]

I would be interested to know if anyone has had any experience with these

[drtrmiller]

Actually, I may have spoken too soon.

 

Here it is on Amazon.com.

 

54 reviews, 50% of them 1-star reviews.  An average rating of 2.4 stars, out of 5.

 

Incredible what some companies can get away with.

Edited by drtrmiller, July 15 2015 - 6:53 AM.

[dspdrew]

Yeah, those are some terrible reviews. Some are kind of funny though.

 

"When opening the door, it can drop by 20 degrees".

 

I always love when people complain about physics.