167 replies to this topic

[Antcatcherpro3]

In a jar with dirt in it. 

What are you keeping them in?

[ANTdrew]

I do not hear people talking about these ants, maybe it's because I'm new. However, glad to see your journal.They have a nice giant striped gaster to them.

Your AntApartment is quite neat, the design looks amazing. Also, nice outworld for them.

Hope to continue reading about your progress.

Thanks, that made my day. I highly recommend these ants if you can find some.
AntCatcherPro, I think you need a mini-hearth for them.

[Antcatcherpro3]

I'll get one. Can't promise I'll use it. It's impossible to move them and they are all settled into their new home. I doubt they would move. Also I don't want to risk losing brood or hurting the queen.

[ANTdrew]

Here are some better photos of all the male alates that are popping up now.

 

Here is an overhead look at their Antpartment setup. You can see the opening in the lid I will use to try to allow these alates to fly in a month or so.

[ANTdrew]

Update 4-29-2021

 

I'll let this photo speak for itself, but my Nylanderia colony has their first two female alates. This took roughly 11 months.

Attached Images

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[Lillyrose]

When will you let them fly?

[ANTdrew]

When will you let them fly?

These start flying in earnest after Memorial Day. They absolutely swarm blacklights.

[NickAnter]

Interesting, same as my colony as well. Mine has not produced any yet, but I image some of the smaller brood they have will be alate brood.

[Lillyrose]

I have a colony of them that got displaced when I was tilling the garden. I don't know if I have the queen though and if I missed her ... well, she got tilled...

The colony is absolutely busting with alates though .. so I'm hoping to let them fly.

[ANTdrew]

This is why I don’t till in my garden.

[Lillyrose]

This is why I don’t till in my garden.

Valid .. but it is the hubby's pride and joy and I won't try to stop him. I'm proud cause I got him to stop using the sprays ... I buy ladybugs, fly predators, and lacewings instead.

Ok .. I don't mean to high jack your journal... thanks and I love your girls!

[NPLT]

 

This is why I don’t till in my garden.

Valid .. but it is the hubby's pride and joy and I won't try to stop him. I'm proud cause I got him to stop using the sprays ... I buy ladybugs, fly predators, and lacewings instead.

Ok .. I don't mean to high jack your journal... thanks and I love your girls!

 

If I may offer some advice, tell him that not tilling leads to healthier soil, and healthier soil is obviously better for any plants in your garden.

[ANTdrew]

Exactly, brother! Top dress with compost, and let the worms, ants, and soil micro-biome do the tilling for you. But I get it if you need to pick your battles to keep the peace. One garden tilled is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

[AntBoi3030]

i caught 18 nylanderia flavipes queens,i made a 8 queen colony and a bunch of smaller ones. i wonder if the workers will keep the queens.

[yibsi]

Yesterday I found a bunch of Nylanderia parvula queens, I’ve currently got a five queen polygynous colony and 2 single queen colonies the queens themselves have a lot of personality, and I’m looking forward to seeing if the workers have it too, I found what I’m pretty sure is the parent colony and they are enormous, the colony spans about 4 feet and they live in a mulch bed I actually saw some alates still leaving the nest, however the majority of their flight occurred yesterday, definitely a pretty cool genus, I’m looking forward to seeing these gals grow!

Edited by yibsi, May 22 2021 - 12:52 PM.

[ANTS_KL]

I feel like reviving this so here I go! I have a colony of Nylanderia cf. kraepelini and they are around 5 months old and are at 27 workers strong. I know it's a bit small for Nylanderia but the brood take forever to develop. They just got their first fully sized worker a couple weeks ago. I am actually not sure of the species hence the cf I put in. On antweb Nylanderia aren't even found in malaysia and on antwiki only 2 species are found here. However there are waaay more than 2 species but I'm quite sure the rest are invasive. I have seen around 5 species of Nylanderia so far and I can't ID them so I call mine kraepelini cuz that's the closest I can find . They are easy to feed and are very, very good escape artists. And that is why I love them.

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[ANTdrew]

Welcome to the Notebook! Post some photos of your ants when you can. New Nylanderia flights should start in my area any day now.

[ANTS_KL]

Welcome to the Notebook! Post some photos of your ants when you can. New Nylanderia flights should start in my area any day now.

Sure thing!

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[ANTdrew]

Update 6-1-2021

 

My Nylanderia vividula colony is full of alates now. In fact, I think all their brood production in the past few months has gone into reproductives. There are at least 20-30 queen alates and at least 100 males. They are starting to show their eagerness to fly by congregating in the outworld each night. Some males have even been able to fly out of the opening in their outworld lid. I tried carrying their whole setup outside a few times, but it is still quite a bit cooler outdoors, so they seem to lose interest in flying. I've aspirated a few of the new queens and deposited them outdoors as well.

 

Another interesting thing I saw one day was a dealate queen wandering around the outworld. Their original queen still has her wings, so I assume this is a new queen. I wonder if she is reverting to acting like a worker, but there may be a chance she mated in the nest. Some other questions I have are if the colony will kind of peter out now that they have reached maturity, or if the queen will revert to raising up new workers? I wonder if the setup needs to be outside for a longer period of time to prompt a flight? It's been an interesting learning experience in any case.

 

Some alates itching to fly:

[Antcatcherpro3]

Can you find the queen and get pics of her? Also, my colony is doing awesome! They have exploded in growth since the last few days. I see at least 7 workers at the surface at all times.