28 replies to this topic

[Space]

I recently caught 3 brachyponera queens (sadly) and I want to care for them. I know they are semi claustral and are polygynous so I put them all into the same tube. If anyone here has experience I would be very happy to hear any advice. 

[TennesseeAnts]

Make sure to feed them termites as 90% of their protein intake. They also like honey and sugar water.

[Space]

Make sure to feed them termites as 90% of their protein intake. They also like honey and sugar water.

Thanks so much! I'm gonna look for termites right now!

[SuperFrank]

Flightless fruitflies are an ideal feeder for founding queens/colonies. Once the colony gets large they'll be able to take fairly large insects as long as they are cut up. This is a very fun species to keep imo. Easy to contain b/c they can't climb glass, with a few queens they can have fairly large colonies and will swarm prey items.



The colony above was founded by several queens dumped into a small vivarium with a young Pheidole dentata colony (a very fast growing species) the Brachyponera was able to outcompete and kill of the Pheidole in the closed vivarium environment.

Edited by SuperFrank, June 12 2020 - 6:29 PM.

[AnthonyP163]

Flightless fruitflies are an ideal feeder for founding queens/colonies. Once the colony gets large they'll be able to take fairly large insects as long as they are cut up. This is a very fun species to keep imo. Easy to contain b/c they can't climb glass, with a few queens they can have fairly large colonies and will swarm prey items.



The colony above was founded by several queens dumped into a small vivarium with a young Pheidole dentata colony (a very fast growing species) the Brachyponera was able to outcompete and kill of the Pheidole in the closed vivarium environment.

Are you sure these are Brachyponera chinensis?

 

I do see that this is a large colony with very Brachyponera-esque behaviors, but the bluish-sheen, small eyes, and the antennae shape/length just doesn't seem to add up. I find Hypoponera opacior often and they look a lot like that colony, especially with the bluish sheen. The ant is also very rare in Florida, compared to other possible species like H. opacior. 

 

Perhaps the strange behaviors for Hypoponera could be explained by being fed well, or some other captive cause? 

 

I could be wrong. 

[Otter]

Brachyponera chinensis love to eat, it doesn't really matter what. Termites don't need to be a staple of their diet but it can't hurt to feed them when you can find them. They seem to like sugar water (have not tested honey). 

[ANTdrew]

When do their flights happen in the south east?

[Antkid12]

I think I may have seen one worker under a rock, I thought it was Ponera pennsylvanica at first glance but it was a lot bigger and had longer legs.

Edited by Antkid12, June 13 2020 - 4:32 AM.

[SuperFrank]

Flightless fruitflies are an ideal feeder for founding queens/colonies. Once the colony gets large they'll be able to take fairly large insects as long as they are cut up. This is a very fun species to keep imo. Easy to contain b/c they can't climb glass, with a few queens they can have fairly large colonies and will swarm prey items.



The colony above was founded by several queens dumped into a small vivarium with a young Pheidole dentata colony (a very fast growing species) the Brachyponera was able to outcompete and kill of the Pheidole in the closed vivarium environment.

Are you sure these are Brachyponera chinensis?

I do see that this is a large colony with very Brachyponera-esque behaviors, but the bluish-sheen, small eyes, and the antennae shape/length just doesn't seem to add up. I find Hypoponera opacior often and they look a lot like that colony, especially with the bluish sheen. The ant is also very rare in Florida, compared to other possible species like H. opacior.

Perhaps the strange behaviors for Hypoponera could be explained by being fed well, or some other captive cause?

I could be wrong.

As you can see by the title, I wasn't positive. But in Florida there is nothing else really it could be. I have other videos buried somewhere but this colony had hundreds of members and was incredibly fast growing. They also readily foraged and scouted above ground.

[AnthonyP163]

 

 

Flightless fruitflies are an ideal feeder for founding queens/colonies. Once the colony gets large they'll be able to take fairly large insects as long as they are cut up. This is a very fun species to keep imo. Easy to contain b/c they can't climb glass, with a few queens they can have fairly large colonies and will swarm prey items.



The colony above was founded by several queens dumped into a small vivarium with a young Pheidole dentata colony (a very fast growing species) the Brachyponera was able to outcompete and kill of the Pheidole in the closed vivarium environment.

Are you sure these are Brachyponera chinensis?

I do see that this is a large colony with very Brachyponera-esque behaviors, but the bluish-sheen, small eyes, and the antennae shape/length just doesn't seem to add up. I find Hypoponera opacior often and they look a lot like that colony, especially with the bluish sheen. The ant is also very rare in Florida, compared to other possible species like H. opacior.

Perhaps the strange behaviors for Hypoponera could be explained by being fed well, or some other captive cause?

I could be wrong.

As you can see by the title, I wasn't positive. But in Florida there is nothing else really it could be. I have other videos buried somewhere but this colony had hundreds of members and was incredibly fast growing. They also readily foraged and scouted above ground.

 

I think it's appearance is much more like Hypoponera, especially since there's hundreds of records in Florida. I have found Hypoponera opacior up here and they look like that (although none as active as your colony). I've seen cryptic ants grow insanely fast before. I can't see the ants in person and therefore I can't be sure about anything, but perhaps put a worker under a microscope and confirm it's identity. If this IS Hypoponera opacior, that would be really interesting because I am curious what would allow a normally cryptic ant to dominate a vivarium and completely change behavior.

[SuperFrank]

Flightless fruitflies are an ideal feeder for founding queens/colonies. Once the colony gets large they'll be able to take fairly large insects as long as they are cut up. This is a very fun species to keep imo. Easy to contain b/c they can't climb glass, with a few queens they can have fairly large colonies and will swarm prey items.



The colony above was founded by several queens dumped into a small vivarium with a young Pheidole dentata colony (a very fast growing species) the Brachyponera was able to outcompete and kill of the Pheidole in the closed vivarium environment.

Are you sure these are Brachyponera chinensis?

I do see that this is a large colony with very Brachyponera-esque behaviors, but the bluish-sheen, small eyes, and the antennae shape/length just doesn't seem to add up. I find Hypoponera opacior often and they look a lot like that colony, especially with the bluish sheen. The ant is also very rare in Florida, compared to other possible species like H. opacior.

Perhaps the strange behaviors for Hypoponera could be explained by being fed well, or some other captive cause?

I could be wrong.

As you can see by the title, I wasn't positive. But in Florida there is nothing else really it could be. I have other videos buried somewhere but this colony had hundreds of members and was incredibly fast growing. They also readily foraged and scouted above ground.

I think it's appearance is much more like Hypoponera, especially since there's hundreds of records in Florida. I have found Hypoponera opacior up here and they look like that (although none as active as your colony). I've seen cryptic ants grow insanely fast before. I can't see the ants in person and therefore I can't be sure about anything, but perhaps put a worker under a microscope and confirm it's identity. If this IS Hypoponera opacior, that would be really interesting because I am curious what would allow a normally cryptic ant to dominate a vivarium and completely change behavior.

As you say Hypoponera opacior is very common in Florida and I catch queens often. The queens that founded this colony were distinctly larger than an opacior queen

[Space]

Still no eggs. I gave them a termite and they ate it up. How long does it normally take them to lay? I'm hoping they're fertile

[Ltislander]

It takes them 3-13 months to lay in my experience

[Ltislander]

Still no eggs. I gave them a termite and they ate it up. How long does it normally take them to lay? I'm hoping they're fertile

10.2453 days usually

[ANTdrew]

Still no eggs. I gave them a termite and they ate it up. How long does it normally take them to lay? I'm hoping they're fertile

10.2453 days usually

What??

[Froggy]

It takes them 3-13 months to lay in my experience

 

 

Still no eggs. I gave them a termite and they ate it up. How long does it normally take them to lay? I'm hoping they're fertile

10.2453 days usually

 

A lot of conflicting evidence if you ask me lol

[TechAnt]

It takes them 3-13 months to lay in my experience

It takes them 3-13 months to lay in my experience

Press X to silently doubt.

Press Y to vocally doubt: “I don’t think whoever is typing that knows what they are doing.”

*presses Y*

I don’t think whoever is typing that knows what they are doing.

[ponerinecat]

 

 

 

 

Flightless fruitflies are an ideal feeder for founding queens/colonies. Once the colony gets large they'll be able to take fairly large insects as long as they are cut up. This is a very fun species to keep imo. Easy to contain b/c they can't climb glass, with a few queens they can have fairly large colonies and will swarm prey items.



The colony above was founded by several queens dumped into a small vivarium with a young Pheidole dentata colony (a very fast growing species) the Brachyponera was able to outcompete and kill of the Pheidole in the closed vivarium environment.

Are you sure these are Brachyponera chinensis?

I do see that this is a large colony with very Brachyponera-esque behaviors, but the bluish-sheen, small eyes, and the antennae shape/length just doesn't seem to add up. I find Hypoponera opacior often and they look a lot like that colony, especially with the bluish sheen. The ant is also very rare in Florida, compared to other possible species like H. opacior.

Perhaps the strange behaviors for Hypoponera could be explained by being fed well, or some other captive cause?

I could be wrong.

As you can see by the title, I wasn't positive. But in Florida there is nothing else really it could be. I have other videos buried somewhere but this colony had hundreds of members and was incredibly fast growing. They also readily foraged and scouted above ground.

I think it's appearance is much more like Hypoponera, especially since there's hundreds of records in Florida. I have found Hypoponera opacior up here and they look like that (although none as active as your colony). I've seen cryptic ants grow insanely fast before. I can't see the ants in person and therefore I can't be sure about anything, but perhaps put a worker under a microscope and confirm it's identity. If this IS Hypoponera opacior, that would be really interesting because I am curious what would allow a normally cryptic ant to dominate a vivarium and completely change behavior.

As you say Hypoponera opacior is very common in Florida and I catch queens often. The queens that founded this colony were distinctly larger than an opacior queen

 

Imma chip in here with some input, I find this is actually very normal behavior for hypoponera in captivity. They are extremely aggressive ants, forage on the surface with little hesitation, and scavenge readily. I have yet to see them compete with other ants (usually just ignore each other) but every time I put a "failed" queen into a viv a new colony pops up. From the sheer amount of brood I see in wild colonies, with the first batch of eggs from a 6-7 worker founding colony often in the tens or even hundreds, such a fast growth rate should be expected in ideal conditions.

[SuperFrank]

I'm not quoting because it's getting out of hand lol. The main reason we discounted these as Hypoponera, apart from their size, was the colony number. Wild colonies don't get past a few dozen members whereas obviously this colony has significantly more. Obviously under perfect conditions they could grow to large numbers but it just seems hard to believe. I also regularly dump smallish ponerine queens into vivariums with frogs, spiders, or ants and this was the only colony to explode like it did.

[Ltislander]

On a heat mat at around 100 F they can lay in a matter of days or hours if you’re lucky