12 replies to this topic

[BitT]

Genus: Pheidole
Species: megacephala

Common Name:

 

Colony Stage: Established Colony
Caught Date: Sometime in April 2020 I believe.
Eggs: Tons
Larva: Tons
Pupa: Tons

Diet: Prefers fresh insects. Will accept pure honey but doesn't swarm. Occasionally accepts fruits but rarely and is picky.

Special Needs:

 

Do they Sting or bite?: No, or at least I don't feel it.

Escape Artists?: So far pretty easy to keep contained.

 

Queen or colony count: 1 Colony

 

06-05-2020:

Caught this colony wild sometime in April. Got called over by my father who knew about me picking up the hobby, he found them between some old plywood he was going through and was going to bug spray them. I was lucky enough to catch a queen, a little brood, and a small amount of workers both minor and major. Also collected some alates, two females and a batch of males, not realizing this species will inbreed in the nest. I witnessed them breeding amongst each other so I hoped I'd get a three queen colony. So far I've only seen one queen hanging within the chosen brood chamber for a while now. I'm not sure if they killed the other two queens (the alates), or if they are still hiding somewhere in the nest, or if they escaped the enclosure sometime when I wasn't watching (I hope not, woops). Gave them a pretty juicy beetle early in this week which was larger than I normally give them. Seemed within two days since that their brood doubled. Not sure if that was a coincidence or not. Or maybe the bred alates are now laying but I just don't see them? There's a hard to see part of the nest so I figure they could be hiding there.

 

Things I noticed about these girls is they are more active at night, aren't too interested in climbing things (unless I gave them wingless fruitflies and they're checking the plastic plant or rocks for them) and they most definitely prefer protein over sugars! They'll swarm any insect I give them instantly but I only ever see maybe 1 to 5 (at most) on any sugary thing at any given time. They do drink sugars as I see them slurp up honey from time to time but they don't get exited about it.

 

They also seem very curious! They will lift their front little legs and stretch up their little antennae anytime I put my hand in and will rush over to see any new thing I put in their outworld the moment it hits the ground. Even if I'm just moving some sand around they'll scurry over to check it out which isn't very helpful when I'm trying to remove their trash. They don't seem aggressive and will avoid actually touching my hand if they can help it but they sure are interested in what it's doing.

 

Once I thought 3 ants escaped but this was shortly after I had transferred them from one nest/outworld to another back near when I first caught them. They must have been a few I dropped. The enclosure was also moved to the other side of the room so they had to travel to find it! They were trying to find their way inside and sadly one died by falling into the vaseline barrier. The other two I caught in cotton and reunited with the colony. Ever since then I never had any containment issues and they don't even seem to try. Maybe they will try sometime when the colony gets too big for their nest or if I don't feed them enough?

 

I was watering them with a cap and a cotton ball but it seemed they were drinking more so I set up the bird water trough and put cotton in it so they won't drown. It works great but they don't have an easy time climbing it. Next time I change it I'll try sanding the sides to see if that helps them with climbing it. For now they can climb it but with difficulty and I added a small bit of cotton on the side to help them out until I change/update it.

 

All in all I very much enjoy these girls. They're easy to make happy and they're fun to watch.

 

 

06-29-2020:

So the girls have been eating so much honey I haven't been able to keep up. I've even switched to super worms for protein instead of meal worms, just so they take longer picking at it. So when I switched out their low water I went ahead and boiled me some honey water to add into a second trough. It's a smashing hit! I figure honey water would less likely mold but we'll see how it does. I also used a file tool on the sides so it's rough and they have an easier time climbing it. I'm actually surprised how much they've drank of it so far.

 

07-19-2020:

Welp, they're trying to escape. They're using the play sand in their outworld to make a path through the barrier. I refreshed their honey water that was starting to mold which they seemed happy about, I cleaned their nest cotton, I gave them a nice yummy super worm and a couple other treats. It all helped for a little while but then they were back at it the next day. I wonder if it is because they need bigger nesting space? Though from everything I've seen online they had their nests more pact than this and said to wait until their fuller. I'll probably order another bigger nest just to be ready and if they don't need it I can always use it for someone.

 

02-15-2022:

Still doing well but their numbers seem to have dropped. I think maybe I need to feed them more proteins. Either that or they have expanded into their out-world and using the play-sand to make little mounds, so could be a larger number of workers are staying there. Queen still chilling in the main nest.

 

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Edited by BitT, February 15 2022 - 4:10 PM.

[BitT]

They've been trying to escape recently. Does anyone think they need a bigger nest?

[Kaelwizard]

Are they being hydrated enough?

[NickAnter]

I would say give them a bigger nest or outworld. Both would help I think. And also, Kael poses a valid question.

[ANTdrew]

Get Fluon, too. They can’t stick trash to it. For containment, the nest size is rarely the issue. A bigger outworld is needed for ants that are crazy to roam. Attach the nest with long tubing, so they can really wander.

[BitT]

Kaelwizard, NickAnter,

Oh yes, they have plenty of hydration. I check their nest water regularly, if not daily. I also did the trough watering tube because the water bowl I use to use was being drank dry daily (or just drying out fast) so they have drinking water 24/7 with the trough. Now their water trough cotton is usually covered in ants drinking so I suppose it is possible that they don't have enough surface area for them all to drink simultaneously? So I could figure out a larger drinking surface area for them like maybe a wider mouthed trough. Perhaps I should stop worrying so much about drowning and use less cotton in the water trough too. Just leave enough cotton for them to climb on in case someone falls in.

 

ANTdrew,

I was thinking of trying some other barriers types. While the jelly has been working great for me it drys out faster lately because it's been so hot and a bit dry. Is there anything I would need to know about Fluon? Is there different types and would there be a certain type to look for?

I may also try something to give them more roaming space like you suggested. They don't seem to be big on climbing; they have a large rock, a fake plant, and the troughs but they don't climb them much and I rarely see ants on any of them. So maybe they'd like more flat surface space further from the nest to explore. I may have to clear up more space just for ants with how many species I have right now RIP my living space will be taken over. lol

[RushmoreAnts]

They could be getting to the point where they’re needing a lot more food (probably protein since you have them on liquid feeders).

Edited by AntsDakota, July 19 2020 - 11:33 AM.

[BitT]

They could be getting to the point where they’re needing a lot more food (probably protein since you have them on liquid feeders).

Hm, I don't know. I give them a new superworm after it looks like they hollowed out the last one pretty regularly. But it is possible they need more variety. I give them wingless fruitflies every so often to allow them to hunt and to eat something different. But maybe they need something I don't give them so often. I don't think my housemates will allow me to raise roaches or crickets (they stinky) but maybe I can get just a few crickets from the pet store. I don't normally give them wild bugs out of fear of pesticides or parasites. I thought about giving them some meat from like my food or something but I'm afraid some seasoning or something might be bad for them. Maybe I'm just a worrywart. lol

 

What do you usually feed your ants? Do you have a "usual" or do you change it up a lot?

 

Edit:

I was just thinking about the gut loading thing. I give my superworms mostly oatmeal and carrots for moisture. Should I be feeding them certain other things that would be better for the ants? Or am I over thinking this?

Edited by BitT, July 19 2020 - 6:30 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Order a variety of feeders and freeze them until you need them. No need to culture them yourself. Pheidole may like some soft shelled seeds, cooked egg yolk, or boiled meats as well.

[Vendayn]

Order a variety of feeders and freeze them until you need them. No need to culture them yourself. Pheidole may like some soft shelled seeds, cooked egg yolk, or boiled meats as well.

Pheidole megacephala don't eat seeds (or mine never did). I tried all the favorites of typical seed eaters (and native pheidole like them too), like quinoa, sunflowers, bird seed that comes in a bag etc and they always ignore it. Even a huge colony is rather picky in this species. Mine didn't like cooked egg either.

 

Their favorites in no particular order:
Insects, crushed walnuts, honey/sugar water, chicken and...that is where it stops. They ate other food but not nearly as much. Didn't even like steak that much surprisingly. Didn't like crushed peanuts very much, didn't like oats or peanut butter...I mean long list of things that they didn't go after. 

 

Still the most laid back colony I ever had at the time. Could blow on them, move their home, clean their setup and they never freaked out like most ants would. They just were pretty chill and kept doing their thing. Probably the easiest ant I had, with the exception they were surprisingly picky with what they ate. In fact, despite them being the easiest I personally kept, they were also by far the pickiest ants I had...more so than even Camponotus. At least Camponotus will eat eggs lol.

Edited by Vendayn, July 19 2020 - 8:08 PM.

[Kaelwizard]

Dubia roaches don’t smell. You would have to shove your nose into their container to actually smell them. Crickets on the other hand...

Edited by Kaelwizard, July 20 2020 - 6:52 AM.

[BitT]

My megacephala pretty much ignore seeds and most nuts after first seeing what's new. However, they did nibble some walnut and sometimes seem to nibble on peanut butter as long as it's the pure fresh mashed in the store publix stuff otherwise they don't seem interested in the sweetened usual store brands. They recently are drinking more honey but even then that's because of body numbers otherwise I don't normally see them swarm sweets. They only seem to swarm bugs. Actually I recall I did give them a piece of shrimp once when I had some for dinner and they seemed to love that. I'll have to try the egg yolks and chicken to see how they like that.

 

I do like raising my own feeders mainly because I don't have to buy as much food for them. lol Especially since I have several colonies now. But I may try freezing some things as you guys suggest to get more variety in their diets.

 

Vendayn,

My girls are actually pretty jumpy. It might be because these are the only wild caught colony I have? I've had them long enough that the original workers I think should be old and dead by now but I don't know. They hate being accidentally breathed on and they really aren't a fan of light. They don't mind my hand hovering over them though and they sometimes even act curious and check out if I add or remove something. Did you raise yours from founding?

 

Kaelwizard,

I wouldn't know, I've never raised dubia roaches before but other than smell people just generally aren't a fan of roaches and I'm pretty lucky my ants and meal worms/super worms are being tolerated. My mother raised crickets when I was a kid to feed some of her reptiles and they were so messy, stinky, and noisy so I doubt they'll be welcomed either. I'll just stick to raising mealy worms (I have babies from my beetles! Though not sure how long it takes them to get bigger, they're so tiny right now). I might raise superworms later too since they're more meaty, not sure the mealy worm method will work for them but they have to be separated to pupate to beetles.

 

Oh, and btw everyone the girls are now digging in their outworld. They hadn't tried digging in that dry play sand since they were first caught and they quickly gave up digging since then until now. I don't want to give them too big of a nest (took them forever to fill the one they got) but maybe it's a sign? Or maybe they're just digging foraging tunnels? Is this species known for that?  

[Kaelwizard]

If they never dug before and they are now, I would give them a bigger nest.

Edited by Kaelwizard, July 23 2020 - 5:27 PM.