53 replies to this topic

[CheetoLord02]

Well everybody, I've done it. I caught a Neivamyrmex colony. And before you go out and chastise me, I know. Not my best decision. I really wasn't anticipating it at all, but here's what happened: While I was out looking for other queens I stumbled across a Neivamyrmex trail. I quickly started recording them, and well, I'll just let you watch what happened.



WIthin a minute of filming, the queen came right out of the hole they were moving from and into perfect view. I was stunned at first, but in a split second decision I scooped her up into a test tube. From then I dug up the hole they were coming from, encountering 2 large chambers full of larvae and workers. I'd estimate I got probably 1.5-2k workers in total.

I kept them in a ziploc bag full of the soil they were in overnight, and they made a temporary bivouac right on the surface. The next morning, I threw together a temporary setup consisting of two tall containers full of dirt and an outworld. They took a liking to the shorter of the two nesting containers, and set up a bivouac around a rock that was in the container.
 

 

 

As a start, once they had gotten settled in, I offered them some Monomorium viridium brood. The colony in question is currently exploding out of their mini hearth, so I'd consider this to be an effective method of population control. I gave them a giant superworm as an apology for taking some of their brood.

The Neivamyrmex seemingly enjoyed the brood. It took them a minute to notice it, but once they did they quickly took every last piece. Because the individual brood pieces were so small, some of the larger workers had a hard time carrying them, but in the end they got the job done.
 

 

 

I'll be the first to admit I am royally unprepared to keep these ants. I'm trying to cram as much info on them into my head as possible, but any direct advice from those who have kept Neivamyrmex before would be very much appreciated. Hopefully I can keep this journal afloat for more than a few weeks, but either way I wanted to get this colony documented online for everyone else to see. I believe the species is either Neivamyrmex nigrescens or Neivamyrmex kiowapache, although I may be wrong. Arizona has a lot of species of Neivamyrmex, so there's definitely a few species they could theoretically be. I'll probably end up sending specimens to AnthonyP163 for him to look at under a microscope.

Edited by CheetoLord02, August 17 2021 - 12:30 PM.

[Manitobant]

Setup wise i would give them something similar to antscanada's orginal fire nation setup. Basically a mess of nests and outworlds connected with tubing.

[Spazmops]

Setup wise i would give them something similar to antscanada's orginal fire nation setup. Basically a mess of nests and outworlds connected with tubing.

First time I've heard someone actually recommend doing something AC did. 

[Manitobant]

Setup wise i would give them something similar to antscanada's orginal fire nation setup. Basically a mess of nests and outworlds connected with tubing.

First time I've heard someone actually recommend doing something AC did.

well it would definitely be the best option. A setup like that allows the ants to move between the nests like an emigration they would do in the wild.

[CheetoLord02]

Here's a quick video of their setup and them eating.


You can see the current setup is somewhat similar to the old AC setup, but just with two nests and an outworld. I'm definitely going to be upgrading the size of the outworld and the number of nest chambers, but for now the setup seems to be working. Of course it's only been a day, so I'll need to continue to see later down the line.

[Martialis]

I don’t usually recommend this but the best thing to do might be to release them near where you found them.

[Manitobant]

I would also add some different types of nest to give them variety on bivouac locations. Maybe add a tar heel ants nest like a mini hearth or fortress to the mix or maybe an AC hybrid nest

[Somethinghmm]

I don’t usually recommend this but the best thing to do might be to release them near where you found them.

I definitely agree, but I'd try to keep this out of the journal so it doesn't become a drawn out argument.

[Martialis]

I don’t usually recommend this but the best thing to do might be to release them near where you found them.

I definitely agree, but I'd try to keep this out of the journal so it doesn't become a drawn out argument.

He asked for direct suggestions, and I gave one. I wasn’t adversarial and didn’t demand he release them. I don’t see any problem with what I said.

[Martialis]

It seems I misread his first post. He didn’t ask for suggestions from anyone, but rather those who’ve had this genus before. Apologies.

[Manitobant]

I'm not gonna start an argument but I'm one of those people who do think that keeping neivamyrmex IS possible, but it will take some experimenting to get it right. Every year more people make journals and make more progress, and a lot of other ants were previously thought to be "unkeepable" before. Heck, the community only got acanthomyops lasius to workers in 2017, and nobody has ever kept a colony long term. Does that mean we should just give up on keeping claviger? Absolutely not. Same thing with these guys.

Edited by Manitobant, September 3 2020 - 1:40 PM.

[Martialis]

Yeah, absolutely. One thing that worries me, however, is their diet. Neivamyrmex feed on ant brood, and as such must provided with it. It seems to me at least that it would be hard to work out a sustainable method for brood collection.

Perhaps invasive species could be used? I know for a fact that there are methods listed for the collection of brood from at least some of those. S. invicta, for example, has fairly easy to collect brood and has been used by universities studying other Dorylinae, such as Ooceraea biroi.

[CheetoLord02]

Yeah, absolutely. One thing that worries me, however, is their diet. Neivamyrmex feed on ant brood, and as such must provided with it. It seems to me at least that it would be hard to work out a sustainable method for brood collection.

Perhaps invasive species could be used? I know for a fact that there are methods listed for the collection of brood from at least some of those. S. invicta, for example, has fairly easy to collect brood and has been used by universities studying other Dorylinae, such as Ooceraea biroi.

Unfortunately, being in Arizona, I really don't have access to S. invicta. I can collect S. xyloni brood fairly easily, and although the queens in my large colony both passed recently, I do have a new queen that I'm going to be funneling a bunch of resources into and trying to grow as fast as possible. For now, I'm sustaining them with brood from some of my colonies that are growing a bit too fast for my liking, as well as wild termites. They naturally prey on termites as well as ant brood, so hopefully I can sustain them in this way. I also have people who will be sending me Tetramorium immigrans and Solenopsis invicta brood to feed them.

[TennesseeAnts]

Just keep the brood coming, the setups rotating, and you should be fine.

[CheetoLord02]

[CheetoLord02]

These guys blow my mind every second I keep them. I hooked up an old THA labyrinth to the setup, and within minutes they discovered it and were examining every nook and cranny of the place. As soon as one worker discovers unexplored territory, she recruits 200 more to help her explore. It's totally insane.

 

In other news, the queen made an appearance today! She had an absolutely huge entourage of workers guarding her, so you can barely even tell it's her, but she really is under that giant mass of workers. Absolutely incredible to see.

[Mdrogun]

Wow, truly such an awesome species and colony. Will be quite sad if they don't make it

[CheetoLord02]

So a few hours after hooking up the THA Labyrinth, the Neivamyrmex decided to use it as their nesting space. Here's a video I got of them in it, and even a good shot of the queen:



A few days and two feedings later, I noticed the very first pupae in the colony. It's only a handful for now, but I'm sure more are soon to follow suit. I'm extremely excited to see the queen get physogastric and start laying tons of eggs.
 

 

I know the pic leaves a bit to be desired, but unfortunately the pupae blend in pretty well with the sea of larvae. Either way, they're definitely there. I'm expecting a tube full of Tetramorium immigrans brood to be here by tuesday, and hopefully that last large feeding will fully kick them into their stationary phase. I'll also be collecting some termites in the meantime to supplement them, as well as probably stealing some more brood from my more prolific colonies if I get the chance.

[CheetoLord02]

Today I got my test tube full of Tetramorium immigrans workers and brood; and it was an absolute massacre. The Tetramorium didn't stand a chance. It was probably 75 workers and 250 pupae vs. the Neivamyrmex, and honestly I don't think a single Neivamyrmex worker died. It was total carnage.


 

I also managed to get a few half-decent pics of the queen. She seems to be a little bit chubbier than when I got her as well, which is probably a good sign.
 

At this point a majority of the larvae have pupated, so I'm hoping this last big feeding will get the remaining larvae to pupate as well, and hopefully the queen will start to lay as well.

[ponerinecat]

Looking good. Interesting how much more this genus is being kept.