34 replies to this topic

[dspdrew]

Just so people know, that queen was found at Mormon Rocks Station in Phelan, CA where I've seen both types of P. californicus. It's in a location that is right in between the foothills and the high desert, so they both can be found there, and what's interesting is they both look a little bit like the others, so I think they are mixing around there.

[Gregory2455]

Update: 7/28/2015

The "tricolor" queen I got from Drew is about to get workers.

 

The rest of the colonies are still doing good- the largest colony now hast six workers.

Here are some photos of the largest colony.

[Foogoo]

Any updates? A few of my concolorous have nanitics, can't wait for full size workers instead of these economy size ones!

[Gregory2455]

Any updates? A few of my concolorous have nanitics, can't wait for full size workers instead of these economy size ones!

Well, okay.

 

Update: 8/4/2015

One of these colonies had a little revolution which ended in their beheading of their queen.

 

I dropped the workers into alcohol to be pinned up, and gave the callow workers and brood to another colony. The rest of the colonies are doing fine. 

Edited by Gregory2455, September 3 2015 - 4:50 PM.

[Gregory2455]

Here are some photos of the queen of the colony featured above, after the mutiny in the above colony took place. Savage, savage ants...

[Gregory2455]

Update: 8/11/2015

The "tricolor" queen that I got from dspdrew about a month ago just got two nanitics.

[Gregory2455]

Update: 9/3/2015

All of these colonies are doing horribly! They have all had crazy civil wars, leaving the largest colony at two workers. Some of the queens even have no workers now. I do not know why but the bicolorous variation just seems so much smarter... And they do not have civil wars every five minutes.

[BrittonLS]

Are the 'tri-color' very common? It could be part of a mutation that also causes their little wars.

[kellakk]

My largest concolorous P. californicus colony is having civil wars also.  It's quite frustrating to see a whole bunch of brood and workers, then come back a little later and find that half the workers and brood have been killed by the other half.

[Gregory2455]

They are pretty dumb. I have a feeling they will do better in an all dirt setup so some of these including the tricolor queen will be moved into dirt setups. BrittonLS, I do not know how rare they are. They seem to be a hybrid between the concolorous and bicolorous variants so they can only be where those two species converge, and they still are probably rare there.

[Gregory2455]

Update: 12/10/2015

The tricolor queen died. All other queens except one now have no workers, but appear to be healthy.

[Foogoo]

Update: 12/10/2015
The tricolor queen died. All other queens except one now have no workers, but appear to be healthy.

You mean the workers of the other queens died out? Or they never got any?

[antmaniac]

The head looks quite scary!

[Gregory2455]

 

Update: 12/10/2015
The tricolor queen died. All other queens except one now have no workers, but appear to be healthy.

You mean the workers of the other queens died out? Or they never got any?

 

I mean the queens are fine but the workers of all but one of the colonies died.

[Mdrogun]

Another member on here, Shaye seems to be the master of Pogonomyrmex californicus (concolorous).I believe he has multiple mature colonies of Pogonomyrmex californicus (concolorous)