10 replies to this topic

[AntsMaryland]

Salvette omnes! (Latin for hello everyone)

 

So I decided to start this journal on my four Camponotus queens. I will be updating this journal every Thursday to the best of my ability. Also, I must warn you, I am a Latin nerd… so there will be Latin references and words sprinkled throughout this journal… 

 

Update [June 25, 2020] : Camponotus castaneus

 

I have two of these queens, however, I am only going to be documenting one of them for the most part because I don't want to have to say "queen 1, queen 2, et cetera". Instead, her name will be Poppaea, named after Nero's first wife (I thought this was amusing because Nero is commonly known for his role where a section of Rome burned down, and the queen is orange, resembling fire…)

 

Poppaea has a nice pile of eggs which should be hatching into larvae in a few days!

 

Update [June 25, 2020] : Camponotus cf. caryae

 

Plautia, named after Emperor Claudius' first wife, who is my favorite Roman Emperor, has a pupa which I am very happy about, I am looking forward to seeing what color the worker is when it hatches in a few weeks.

 

Camilla, named after the character in Roman mythology who was a warrior and a close friend to Diana, goddess of the hunt, has eggs and small larvae. I am not quite sure if this is the same species as Plautia because she has a bit more orange on her gaster, i caught her a week after Plautia, and her gaster is a more round and robust shape.

 

 

Curate ut valeatis!

 

AntsMaryland

 

 

[FeedTheAnts]

Two great species, love it! My second-year Camponotus castaneus colony just died.... those guys are so hard to get through the founding stage. Wishing you the best of luck my man!

[AntsMaryland]

Two great species, love it! My second-year Camponotus castaneus colony just died.... those guys are so hard to get through the founding stage. Wishing you the best of luck my man!

Thanks! Awww what a shame! Do you have any tips for Camponotus castaneus? I'm most worried about Plautia and Camilla though, as I haven't seen many successful journals of the myrmentoma subgenus of Camponotus being successful past founding.

[RushmoreAnts]

I want this species so bad..........

[AntsMaryland]

I want this species so bad..........

Which one?  I assume you mean ​Camponotus castaneus

Edited by AntsMaryland, June 25 2020 - 9:18 AM.

[FeedTheAnts]

 

Two great species, love it! My second-year Camponotus castaneus colony just died.... those guys are so hard to get through the founding stage. Wishing you the best of luck my man!

Thanks! Awww what a shame! Do you have any tips for Camponotus castaneus? I'm most worried about Plautia and Camilla though, as I haven't seen many successful journals of the myrmentoma subgenus of Camponotus being successful past founding.

 

Ya, they are picky and honestly don't like to bed fed much. Go heavy on the sugar, and only give a little protein here and there. They'll go for termites, but ignore large or wet pieces of food (a split mealworm for instance). Also, I don't know if anyone else has had this experience, but mine did not brood boost well. They gathered the larvae and gave all the signs of accepting it, but no matter what I did the larvae kept dying. I suspect that they weren't feeding it. If you do ever need to boost, try pupae. Pupae don't need to be fed. All in all, they are very difficult to raise at first. It is very important that they not consume their own brood. If the colony doesn't go into it's second with a good start, it's doomed. This is all the information I've gathered after failing 3 times to found a colony.... so ya... I know how not to raise them.

 

Edit for clarity: these are tips concerning Camponotus castaneus

Edited by FeedTheAnts, June 25 2020 - 9:22 AM.

[AntsMaryland]

Ya, they are picky and honestly don't like to bed fed much. Go heavy on the sugar, and only give a little protein here and there. They'll go for termites, but ignore large or wet pieces of food (a split mealworm for instance). Also, I don't know if anyone else has had this experience, but mine did not brood boost well. They gathered the larvae and gave all the signs of accepting it, but no matter what I did the larvae kept dying. I suspect that they weren't feeding it. If you do ever need to boost, try pupae. Pupae don't need to be fed. All in all, they are very difficult to raise at first. It is very important that they not consume their own brood. If the colony doesn't go into it's second with a good start, it's doomed. This is all the information I've gathered after failing 3 times to found a colony.... so ya... I know how not to raise them.

Thanks so much. I'll make sure to constantly keep Poppaea in the dark as well as the other queen. As soon as they get their first workers, I'm going to give them an outwork with tinfoil over the test tubes, with a byformica liquid feeder with sunburst nectar. Hopefully that will help a bit. Just hope this journal lasts longer than my Crematogaster journal lol 

[ANTdrew]

The best luck I had with these was in a big naturalistic terrarium, which you can read about in my Camponotus journal. The downside was that I hardly ever saw them. When Tapinoma started raiding their byFormica feeder and my wife went psycho, it simply wasn’t worth keeping them anymore. There is definitely some hump a young colony needs to get over.
I compare this species to that pretty girl everybody wants to date, but when you get to know her, you realize she ain’t nothin’ but trouble.

[AntsMaryland]

The best luck I had with these was in a big naturalistic terrarium, which you can read about in my Camponotus journal. The downside was that I hardly ever saw them. When Tapinoma started raiding their byFormica feeder and my wife went psycho, it simply wasn’t worth keeping them anymore. There is definitely some hump a young colony needs to get over.
I compare this species to that pretty girl everybody wants to date, but when you get to know her, you realize she ain’t nothin’ but trouble.

Haha. I know someone in my area who has a colony of these – they seem to get stressed very easily. Hopefully being in the dark the vast majority of the time will do them some good.

[RushmoreAnts]

I want this species so bad..........

Which one?  I assume you mean ​Camponotus castaneus

Oh, yeah, sorry. Should’ve clarified.

[AntsMaryland]

Update [July 2, 2020] : Camponotus cf. caryae

 

Salvette! Quid agis hodie?

 

So Camilla has one especially large larva who is moving a ton – it seems that it is starting to pupate which is exciting. I am always amazed how fast it seems that larvae develop when it comes to Camponotus spp. As soon as they hatch from an egg, in a week they go from super tiny, to HUGE.