69 replies to this topic

[Ants_Dakota]

i do too.  i just think that ants are like the only animal that can get someone to keep plants.

[CheetoLord02]

Update 11/25

I'm going to be honest... This colony, and species in general, has been on the back burner a bit. They're still doing really well, but my main focus is 100% on my Atta, and because of that the Acromyrmex have been relatively stagnant. They've still gotten a bit more fungus and have around 15 workers, not to mention all 4 queens are still playing nice, but when I have my Atta colony these guys definitely become 2nd priority. 
 

 

 

Still, despite my lack of attention, they're having pretty much no issues other than growing a bit slow. They could easily be 4x this size by now if I wanted, but honestly having a small leafcutter colony is kinda nice, they're suuuuper easy and chill and I don't have to worry about them really ever, so in the end I think things are still working out. I do hope to have both a large Acromyrmex and Atta colony eventually just to see how they compare with each other, but I'm sure I'll get there eventually.
 

[ExponentMars]

bruh leafcutters are so cool

[Tyr_Ants]

Glad to see them grow

[YsTheAnt]

Nice journal. How do you hydrate these setups?

[RonPopeil]

so have you decided if youll separate these queens in the future to make additional colonies or just keep them together as long as they'll get along?

[CheetoLord02]

so have you decided if youll separate these queens in the future to make additional colonies or just keep them together as long as they'll get along?

This group will be staying together as long as they get along. I also have a colony with ~20 queens that I'm planning on keeping for myself, but if I sell all my extras and still have buyers I may split off a couple of queens to sell.

[ZTYguy]

Do you have any tips on growing them to an impressive size and how big do colonies get.

Edited by ZTYguy, November 30 2020 - 8:01 PM.

[CheetoLord02]

Update 1/17

Been a while, eh?

Well, I have good and bad news with this colony. The good news is they're still here... bad news is we're basically back to square one.

While I was in Illinois something happened and all of their fungus died. All of it. So when I got back I moved them to a fresh, larger deli cup setup and gave them a tiny piece of fungus from another colony I have. I also decided to hook an outworld up to the setup so that I could be more passive about their feeding and just leave plants for them to take when they wish.
 

 

It's worked out pretty well, and since then the tiny piece of fungus has gotten just a bit less tiny.
 

 

 

There still isn't any brood as far as I can see... that all died along with their original fungus. However, the growth I've been seeing after adding an outworld is the fastest yet, so I'm really hoping I'm finally going to see some good progress coming from this colony.

[mmcguffi]

Sorry about your crash -- that's great they seem to have recovered though. Did you give them Atta fungus?

 

Also I'm curious, do you know if Acromyrmex. v. are always semi-claustral? This paper seems to (briefly) indicate they are, but that is new information to me. I guess I just assumed they were like Atta and started their fungus gardens with fecal excretions and trophic eggs

Edited by mmcguffi, January 30 2021 - 11:53 AM.

[Kaelwizard]

Sorry about your crash -- that's great they seem to have recovered though. Did you give them Atta fungus?

Also I'm curious, do you know if Acromyrmex. v. are always semi-claustral? This paper seems to (briefly) indicate they are, but that is new information to me. I guess I just assumed they were like Atta and started their fungus gardens with fecal excretions and trophic eggs

I thought he said they still had some fungus. And they would have a different species of fungus so that wouldn’t work anyway. Also, the scientific name would be abbreviated as A. versicolor not Acromyrmex v.

[mmcguffi]

I thought he said they still had some fungus. And they would have a different species of fungus so that wouldn’t work anyway. Also, the scientific name would be abbreviated as A. versicolor not Acromyrmex v.

I was typing quickly and wrote A-cro. v. (no dash) as that is understandable by everyone reading this forum, but Formiculture automatically corrects to the full name. And if we are being pedantic, technically it would be A. versicolor    

Also, yes they are different species of fungus, but fungal cultivars are mutually interchangeable between many of the Attines and there is good evidence that this has happened many times throughout the evolutionary history of the Attines, likely from fungal garden raids. Cheeto said he took it from an other colony, in which he does have Atta, so it is very possible that is what he used

[CheetoLord02]

Their new fungus is from another A. versicolor colony, however I also have experimental A. versicolor colonies tending to both Atta and Trachymyrmex fungus, both of which are working. Also yes, Acromyrmex are all semiclaustral, in which you feed them normal plant matter for them to offer to their fungus.

[CheetoLord02]

Update 1/31

Since last time, this colony has continued to do very well... and we also have some new friends! I added in 2 queens from another colony of mine that was doing poorly, and they were accepted flawlessly, bringing this colony up to 6 queens total. You can tell based on the absolutely huge egg batch that's popped up in the last few days!
 

 

 

It's also pretty hard to get a good picture of all their fungus since they like to hang it from the lid of the deli cup, but you can definitely tell they've got quite a bit.
 

[Spazmops]

Glad to see they've sprung back!

[Tanman1337]

Hey Cheeto, are you going to be selling any more of these beautiful ladies?

[CheetoLord02]

Hey Cheeto, are you going to be selling any more of these beautiful ladies?

I'm totally sold out from last season, but you can bet this summer I'll be catching tons more, so just keep an eye out for when I update my shop and there should be plenty available. They go quick but I do catch quite a few so I'm sure there'll be enough to go around.

[antsandmore]

Hey Cheeto, are you going to be selling any more of these beautiful ladies?

please put your location in your profile. thanks!

[CheetoLord02]

WOW this journal is behind

Not to worry, this colony is still doing just fine. I recently moved them into a custom petri dish nest and they've been doing very well since then.
 

 

 

Not much else to say honestly. The fungus is finally at a decent size and they're growing pretty well. All 6 queens are still cooperating, and worker numbers are increasing steadily. Nothing too exciting with these guys, they're just nice to have sitting on a desk to look at.

[ZTYguy]

Agreed. Nothing to crazy just a nice desk ant. Very tolerant to my desk lamp too. Anyways nice to see them doing well and they seem to be packing quite a bit of fungus, Nice!

Edited by ZTYguy, May 7 2021 - 9:32 PM.