55 replies to this topic

[KitsAntVa]

Here I will be showing all my ants what I keep them in and some care information for each. Expect an update to start this thread as early as tomorrow or as late as 2 weeks. 

[KitsAntVa]

First to start this off here is another journal i will be making updates on while they are still alive. https://www.formicul...is-ant-keeping/

To start this off i will not be adding colonies i don't think will make it or colonies that already have a journal        ^^^^  My Pogonomyrmex. and a few others. ^^^^

Ill start this off with my crematogaster and formica colony. 

 

Mon, Sep 21, Crematogaster sp. This queen i traded for and she got workers already she has many eggs and larvae plus some pupae, i put them in a outworld around thursday and they are doing great they love to climb all around in their test tube but never their foraging area i don't really have anything else to add nothing exciting has happened yet.

 

Mon Sep 21, Formica sp. This queen has 7 workers and eggs plus a little baby larvae i also gave them a foraging area they love honey and fill up on it all the time, but if they do that they waste my mealworm i feed them, she's pretty small and cute, smaller than a argentea queen when i first saw her i was surprised at it. I traded for this queen a little over 2 weeks ago i think, I don't have much to add about these either.

 

I plan on next update being on my pogonomyrmex since i will not be stopping this early with the updates, and a colony i bought from antdrew even though those girls have endured a lot. Update maybe around Thursday september 24th. 

[Ants_Dakota]

I will be following!

[KitsAntVa]

Tue, Sep 22, Camponotus sp. These girls have sadly been through a lot the chances of here making it in the beginning were low since it was just one queen, these camponotus subbarbatus are a banded ant they have a nice reddish brown head and thorax but their gaster is almost like a bee its a smooth yellow and flat brown banded gaster. This colony i bought from Antdrew they got to 9 workers until 6 died so I then moved them into a test tube, but yet they got to six workers so fast and the acorn ants came and killed them so now she has 4 workers and another on the way i hope these live and hopefully I can get pictures for my album.

[ANTdrew]

Dang. I didn’t realize your subbs were struggling. Another ant colony killed some?

[KitsAntVa]

Yea it seems there's a little space when you out a THA feeder in the test tube so small that only acorn ants can fit in, I've struggled with acorn ants killing every colony exposed to the outside world there all over my ant desk and everything, i keep the subbs in a shed and they exploded as soon as they got in a mini hearth but i don't have a spare so this batch i ordered should do the trick.

[Kaelwizard]

I doubt they are Temnothorax. Temnothorax are not aggressive ants and do not raid other colonies. Except for the slave raiding Temnothorax, but they only raid other Temnothorax. It could be a Monomorium species.

[KitsAntVa]

It maybe is monomorium, all i know is that they are everywhere and take everything left for taking not even a small drop of honey will live for more than an hour, i once left my fruit fly bag in there by accident (it was closed) and they got in and ate every single one 2 hours later (around 40 flys)

[Antkeeper01]

I think you might be dealing with Monomorium pharaonis(The Pharaoh ant) not sure though. but not sure if this is true but some of A.C's ants and termites have been murdered by them but, like I said not sure

 

[KitsAntVa]

No idea but i literally consider them as a pest even though i like ants, so sadly its them or my ants.

[Antkeeper01]

try to capture a worker and do and post an ID for it If it does turn out to be pharaoh ants try to capture the queen and the workers and you have a new ant colony.

[Kaelwizard]

I don’t think M. pharaonis is even present in Virginia.

[ANTdrew]

My guess would be Tapinoma sessile based on the behavior you’re describing.

[Antkeeper01]

They are supposedly indoor introduced

[KitsAntVa]

There's no way its tapinoma sessile there as small as acorn ants but kinda different ill see if i can catch some, but how would i catch the queen? 

[KitsAntVa]

Wed, Sep 22 Formica sp. This a argentea or subsericea queen which i brood boosted with pupae, she has 2 workers and ate her eggs i assume she's waiting until next year, this queen is basically the smartest of all my ants. When this queen gets food and the workers get it it stays in them for weeks at a time around a month to be exact, there doing this because i'm slowing them down for the health of the queen so she will have a head start next year.

 

Wed, Sep 22 Aphaenogaster lamellidens, This queen is actually doing quite well despite only having a couple eggs after i caught her, honestly i don't believe it was worth the wait but she took around 4 months to get herself some workers, I'm selling this queen with 3 workers and another with larvae, their colors are amazing honestly i wish i could get some good pictures for you guys, but sadly they are in a test tube insert so she's always hiding under there. I would recommend these for beginners, the reasons are because they can hold their own for a long time without feeding, but is not recommended the reason i say this is because i never see them eat anything and she still has eggs. These ants are a nice mix of colors almost like an atta worker or queen with the mixing colors of red and brown. 

 

That's it for the week, maybe if i don't update the Pogonomyrmex journal.

[Antkeeper01]

You might be able to follow the trail to their nest if there is one and either water them out or dig them, but like I said you should post an ID for it so you know what species it is.

[KitsAntVa]

ill try that and bait them with some honey and see where they go after that.

[ANTdrew]

Perhaps a theif ant Solenopsis species in that case.

[KitsAntVa]

Honestly there like temnothorax they are all black but have a little bit bigger head