66 replies to this topic

[Antkeeper01]

           

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

This is probably going to be the last update   ever for this journal. I just saw them carrying a huge gaster around and a few minutes after that, a head and thorax of a queen. I suppose its possible that they produced alates,(they only have ~450 workers though) but the fact that it was a queen(with no wings), not a male makes me feel like this was the real queen. I'll just let the workers live out the rest of their days and maybe try again next year  .  

I'm guessing she died during the die-off or something and they just brought her out now.

Edit: Are wax worms poisonous for ants? I tried them for the first time right before they brought her out.

Why did three people like this post???
 

 

liking can also mean supporting people.

 

exactly. we are sharing in his pain and supporting him through hard times(wow, i am depressing )

[Antkid12]

This is probably going to be the last update   ever for this journal. I just saw them carrying a huge gaster around and a few minutes after that, a head and thorax of a queen. I suppose its possible that they produced alates,(they only have ~450 workers though) but the fact that it was a queen(with no wings), not a male makes me feel like this was the real queen. I'll just let the workers live out the rest of their days and maybe try again next year  .  

I'm guessing she died during the die-off or something and they just brought her out now.

Edit: Are wax worms poisonous for ants? I tried them for the first time right before they brought her out.

[Ants_Dakota]

wax worms are not poisonous to ants.

[Dry_Twig]

Update!
--------------------------
A lot has happened in the terrarium since the last time I updated, so this might be a bit long. I have some good news, some okay news, and some bad news so I'll start with the good. First of all, there's been lots of plant growth from seeds that must have already been in the dirt when I added it. There are some little sprouts and some moss, which is cool. Also, there have been a huge amount of springtails in the terrarium recently, from where they came, I don't know.  I put a pumpkin seed into the tank for the colony to eat, but instead it sprouted, so I'll be taking that out soon. I also put the pumpkin in (it was one of the mini versions) and the springtails started eating it.
 

Sprout #1:

Sprout #2

 

Pumpkin sprout:

For the okay news, all I have is that there has been a huge mite growth(from frozen insects?). I noticed some tiny little dots moving when I took a hyperlapse, and after I put in a piece of date for the ants, it was covered in little white specks! At first, I panicked because we all know about those famous, ant-killing terror mites, but after looking at one ant, I couldn't find any and I don't they would eat detruis and ants at the same time. I'm not really going to do anything about them, except feed less, which is easy now that the ants eat virtually nothing at all.

 

Mite pictures on date(phone picture of microscope):

 

Now for the bad news, which I have the most of. Firstly, the queen definitely died and I don't think there is even a 0.1% chance she didn't because the tunnels are completely empty of brood and the workers spend all their time above ground, instead of below it. Now, I've been noticing weird behavior from this colony almost as soon as they were put into the terrarium: climbing the glass and sitting there for days and then dying afterwards, huddles of ants just sitting above ground doing nothing, and lots of deaths. Today, as I was watching a major sit on the glass, I noticed a white furry thing next to her. After looking at it, I put it under the microscope and it turned out to be some sort of fungus or mold. I've heard about that weird "zombie" fungus in tropical regions of the world that makes ants climb to high structures to die, then spray spores down below to infect more ants, but I think that it's only in tropical regions of the world. I think it's more likely that they know that they're going to die, so they try to get away from the colony by climbing the walls, then their body gets eaten by some harmless fungus, but I'm new to this and I would rather hear from more experienced people. Maybe this is what killed the colony, maybe not, but I'd rather know what went wrong, so I can learn from this experience.

Picture of fungus on ant:

 

 

 

[Antkeeper01]

that's not good

[Dry_Twig]

Pretty much all the ants are dead now, but there are tons of springtails. Also, the plants have grown a bunch, so that's cool. Not much news other than that.

Edited by Dry_Twig, January 17 2021 - 6:22 PM.