Update 10-14-2024
Both of my Pheidole colonies are doing very well. The bicarinata have two massive brood piles, one over each water tower in their UtahAnts nest. I’m thinking of just keeping them in my kitchen this winter to cool down a bit since we keep our house in the low to mid 60s F.
I’ll do the same with my new pilifera colony, but I may heat them to continue their growth. This colony now has four majors and more minors than I can easily count. They have an impressive brood pile, and their feeding responses are awesome. The majors look like the impressive Pheidole species I’ve seen in Guatemala and Bolivia. I’ve named the queen Idiberug, which is a woman’s name found on the oldest rune stone yet discovered in Norway a few years ago. These ants like seeds much more than my bicarinata. This week I offered them dandelion seeds and Oenothera biennis seeds from yard, and they eagerly collected all of them into their tube. I’ll try Rudbeckia seeds next.
Feeding response GIF:
Brood pile:
Seed pile:
multiple image upload
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.