27 replies to this topic

[Aaron567]

Pheidole morrisii

 

Pheidole morrisii is a widely distributed Pheidole species of eastern North America, where it extends from Florida in the south to New York in the north. They are known for nesting in sand or sandy soils (found very abundantly in Florida) and getting large colonies in the tens of thousands. Their queens, at about 8-10 millimeters long, are the largest Pheidole queens in the eastern United States, just beating Pheidole obscurithorax, the introduced South American species.

 

June 4, 2020

 

On this day I received my very first Pheidole morrisii queen from user 123LordOfAnts123. She already had a small ball of eggs.

 

 

 

Here she is compared to a queen of Pheidole obscurithorax (left), which were previously the largest Pheidole queens I'd seen.

 

 

 

 

June 11, 2020

 

One week later, she has well over a hundred eggs (nearing 200) and the first few larvae are beginning to hatch. I have never seen P. obscurithorax or dentata anywhere near this prolific during founding.

 

 

 

Edited by Aaron567, October 22 2020 - 12:48 PM.

[ArmyAntz]

What camera lens are you using? (´･_･`)

[Antkid12]

This is my favorite species, sooo jealous! 

[Aaron567]

What camera lens are you using? (´･_･`)

 

A Canon MP-E 65mm.

[ArmyAntz]

Those photos are extremely beautiful, especially the first two.

[Aaron567]

June 20, 2020

 

The first two pupae have arrived. Though she used to have nearly 200 eggs, it seems that most of these were used as food for the queen and/or the larvae. Judging by the amount of larvae there are, it looks like she will have around 30 nanitics.

 

[Antkid12]

I'm hoping to catch one of these soon! 

[Aaron567]

June 29, 2020

 

The first two nanitics have eclosed. 

 

[TennesseeAnts]

Beautiful! I am hoping to get more of these this season. Mine never made it past larvae last year.

[Antkid12]

Wow, these guys grow fast!

Edited by Antkid12, July 1 2020 - 10:38 AM.

[Aaron567]

July 15, 2020

 

Looks like all nanitics have eclosed. There are somewhere between 25 and 30 of them. Yesterday I gave the colony an outworld for ease of feeding (an acrylic container with sand that I set the tube directly inside), because the large amount of nanitics means it's already difficult to put food in their tube without escapes

 

I will try to get better pictures for the next update but these are what I have for now.

 

[Antkid12]

Nice! I finally got one of these, she's a bit smaller than yours.

Edited by Antkid12, July 19 2020 - 3:08 PM.

[Aaron567]

July 26, 2020

 

Around 40 workers now. There are already several major larvae and pupae. I've been feeding sugar water and crickets.

 

If you look in the second photo it looks like they might be getting a "median" worker, something I usually only see in Pheidole colonies that are just getting their first majors. 

 

[Aaron567]

August 5, 2020

 

The first majors have eclosed. Three of them hatched all at the same time and there are more coming close. Major larvae/pupae are showing up left and right! 

 

[ponerinecat]

Lovely ants.

[NickAnter]

Awesome! I hope they are more hardy than the similar looking vistana on the west coast.

[Antkid12]

The majors look so cool!

[CatsnAnts]

Gorgeous photos! Your Pheidole definitely developed a lot faster than mine, this just makes me more and more excited.

[Antkeeper014]

Awesome photos, I love this species. Keep us updated

Edited by Antkeeper014, August 5 2020 - 3:33 PM.

[Aaron567]

August 14, 2020

 

Wasn't really intending on updating this soon, but the brood pile this colony has is phenomenal. The colony is currently nearing 70 workers, but it looks like they may be exceeding 200 in a few weeks once the current brood becomes workers. There is a very cool little median worker that I tried (and failed) to get pictures of, but hopefully I will have the chance to photograph it eventually. It's hardly larger than a minor worker, but has the noticeably larger head, though nowhere near the size of a major.