34 replies to this topic

[Gregory2455]

On May 12, 2015 I caught these six Pogonomyrmex cf. californicus (concolorous variation) queens, after they probably flew the same morning. There are five dealates and one alate as of May 12, 2015.

 

Here are the six queens as of May 12, 2015.

 

Here is a video of one of the newly mated queens looking for a place to dig, right before I sucked her up with my aspirator and placed her in a test tube. The second half of the video is the six queens as they are on May 12, 2015.

Edited by Gregory2455, February 20 2019 - 10:14 PM.

[Wamdar]

Great find! I've been following the local nests and have not seen anything, I'll venture out this morning and look again! They look a lot like the regular workers in the video, hard to tell them apart

[Gregory2455]

Update: 5/14/2015

By now, every single queen has filled up with byFormica Blue 100 and has laid eggs.

[antsinmypants]

I have questions about boosting Pogonomyrmex. I have and have had Pogonomyrmex queens that stop producing eggs, and then if they have any larvae, pupae or nanitics, then these die, leaving the queen with no one until she eventually dies. Therefore, when I notice a queen that is no longer producing eggs, should I give her remaining eggs, larvae and nanitics to a more productive queen? In a newly mated queen, how many times should she produce eggs in her first season before the winter comes? I have also seen queens lose their eggs, larvae and even pupae. They just disappear, and so I think they are eaten. When I start seeing this happen, should I also take her remaining eggs, larvae and nanitics and give them to a more productive queen?

[AntTeen804]

Very good looking queens greg.

[Gregory2455]

I have questions about boosting Pogonomyrmex. I have and have had Pogonomyrmex queens that stop producing eggs, and then if they have any larvae, pupae or nanitics, then these die, leaving the queen with no one until she eventually dies. Therefore, when I notice a queen that is no longer producing eggs, should I give her remaining eggs, larvae and nanitics to a more productive queen? In a newly mated queen, how many times should she produce eggs in her first season before the winter comes? I have also seen queens lose their eggs, larvae and even pupae. They just disappear, and so I think they are eaten. When I start seeing this happen, should I also take her remaining eggs, larvae and nanitics and give them to a more productive queen?

I do not know...

 

 

Very good looking queens greg.

Thanks!

[Gregory2455]

Update:5/31/2015

By now, at least three of the queens, including the alate have larvae. I also caught two more, an alate, and a dealate from my pool.

[Foogoo]

How long did it take for your Pogonomyrmex to settle down and start laying eggs? I hope I'm just being a worried first-time mother but it's bugging me that mine have been going at the test tube cotton for well over 24hrs now...

[Gregory2455]

How long did it take for your Pogonomyrmex to settle down and start laying eggs? I hope I'm just being a worried first-time mother but it's bugging me that mine have been going at the test tube cotton for well over 24hrs now...

The two new ones I have are still chewing the cotton as well. It took 3-7 days for all of them to settle down in the tube. Remember if you are keeping yours in a tube to give them more space (a smaller water space) and to feed them often.

[Chromerust]

I did a little experiment with five Pogonomyrmex queens I found last month. I used a standard test tube setup but also packed it with clean dirt and put a queen in it. The other four queens went into normal test tubes. The queen with dirt dug herself a cozy little chamber and now has mature larvae and doing well. The other four are dead. This might just be pure coincidence and I don't want to jump to any conclusions but it makes you wonder a little. I've also learned that Californicus are a lot calmer in plastic. I'm pretty sure the glass drives them nuts.

[Foogoo]

Got any pictures? I thought about trying that but wasn't sure how they would feel digging horizontally. I'm going to give that a try with a few of mine tonight.

[Gregory2455]

Update: 6/21/2015

All of the original five queens have pupae, and three of them have pupae with pigment already, so I can expect workers within the next few days. The two from my pool appear to both be infertile. As for the single bicolor variation queen that I caught in the desert recently, she will be getting her own journal, but as of now she has seven eggs and is eating a LOT.

[Gregory2455]

Update: 6/23/2015

The first queen got a nanitic!

[cpman]

Yay!

[LC3]

Congratulations! 

[Jonathan21700]

Congrats!

[Gregory2455]

Update: 6/28/15

One of the queens with two workers died. Luckily, since both of her workers are still callow workers, and the cause of death was not mites or any visible transmissible disease, I gave the brood and the young workers to a queen with just a single pupa. I just thought I would leave the callow workers in there and the queen would dismember them, but no! The callow workers immedietly acted submissive and after the queen inspected her new companions with a gentle pull or two, she accepted them too!

[Foogoo]

Update: 6/21/2015

All of the original five queens have pupae, and three of them have pupae with pigment already, so I can expect workers within the next few days. The two from my pool appear to both be infertile. As for the single bicolor variation queen that I caught in the desert recently, she will be getting her own journal, but as of now she has seven eggs and is eating a LOT.

 

What have you been feeding them? It seems with my queens, there isn't a universally accepted food. Between Blue 100, crickets, fruitflies and seeds, they all seem to have different tastes.

[Gregory2455]

These are all crazy about Blue 100, just like the rest of my Pogonomyrmex.

[Gregory2455]

Update: 7/16/2015

I received another one of these queens from Drew, but she is some sort of mix between bicolor and concolorous variations, as her gaster coloration is nearly opposite to the original queens, but still not completely black in color. She has larvae right now so she should make some equally cool workers.  All the other colonies are in the process of getting second generation workers.

Edited by Gregory2455, July 16 2015 - 3:56 AM.