125 replies to this topic

[M_Ants]

Caught so many Hypoponera on my new blacklight this summer. Wasn't going to make a journal because I didn't think I'd ever success but I got eggs today. I've been feeding them booklice from a culture I started by accident. I found the booklice in a test tube with a V. andrei colony. I took them out and fed them dead roaches. The Hypos love them and attack them whenever I feed them. I've got 4 queens as of now. All are in some sort of hydrostone setup. 3 setups have dirt and one doesn't. Strangely enough the queen with eggs is in the setup without dirt and is injured. She apparently is fine though because she has 3 eggs. I'm pretty sure I saw eggs in another queens jaws but it might have been a booklice.  

Edited by M_Ants, September 18 2021 - 9:06 AM.

[ponerinecat]

Caught so many Hypoponera on my new blacklight this summer. Wasn't going to make a journal because I didn't think I'd ever success but I got eggs today. I've been feeding them booklice from a culture I started by accident. I found the booklice in a test tube with a V. andrei colony. I took them out and feed them dead roaches. The Hypos love them and attack them whenever I feed them. I've got 4 queens as of now. All are in some sort of hydrostone setup. 3 setups have dirt and one doesn't. Strangely enough the queen with eggs is in the setup without dirt and is injured. She apparently is fine though because she has 3 eggs. I'm pretty sure I saw eggs in another queens jaws but it might have been a booklice.  

You can combine these early on, but once they get individual colonies they won't be compatible.

[M_Ants]

I think the queen got injured because I added another queen. However I do have a 2 queen setup going. 

[M_Ants]

[M_Ants]

Got photo evidence that the 2 queens in the dirt setup have eggs. 

[M_Ants]

Wondering if I should change up their diet. Right now they eat booklice only and are doing good but I feel like I should give them something else at some point. Also is it possible that these queens are infertile and still laid eggs? That would suck.

[ponerinecat]

Wondering if I should change up their diet. Right now they eat booklice only and are doing good but I feel like I should give them something else at some point. Also is it possible that these queens are infertile and still laid eggs? That would suck.

It is possible, although I kinda doubt it. If they werent able to mate they should have waited for the next flight and wouldn't have shed their wings. Diet wise you may be able to feed them a littl ebit of sugar soaked into cotton or paper, and they'll happily take small insect bits. Looking good, the setup is really nice.

[M_Ants]

Thanks. I was going for your petri dish idea you suggested to CatsnAnts. Any idea how long it will be from egg to worker?

[ponerinecat]

No idea, only time I've raised workers from eggs I didn't record it.

[Ants_Dakota]

so ponera and hypoponera are super hard to keep i have heard. what is the percentage of queens with eggs to queens without eggs, just so i know the success rate.

[KitsAntVa]

And fertility rate I had a ponera flight just a couple weeks ago but I missed out cuz I didn’t go outside really during that time.

[ponerinecat]

so ponera and hypoponera are super hard to keep i have heard. what is the percentage of queens with eggs to queens without eggs, just so i know the success rate.

Not at all! They're actually one of the easiest cryptics out there. As for fertilization rate, almost all dealates you find and pretty much every single ergatoid will be capable of producing workers.

[KitsAntVa]

I had no idea they were easy I guess just stick them in a dirt test tube and give her food and your all set.

[Kaelwizard]

I have sucked at keeping ants, and my queen even laid eggs. They didn't develop after like 4 months though so I introduced workers and she died a little over a day later.

[Ants_Dakota]

 

so ponera and hypoponera are super hard to keep i have heard. what is the percentage of queens with eggs to queens without eggs, just so i know the success rate.

Not at all! They're actually one of the easiest cryptics out there. As for fertilization rate, almost all dealates you find and pretty much every single ergatoid will be capable of producing workers.

 

interesting. so i do remember finding some ponera males mating with what antsdakota identified as workers. is this normal?

[ponerinecat]

 

 

so ponera and hypoponera are super hard to keep i have heard. what is the percentage of queens with eggs to queens without eggs, just so i know the success rate.

Not at all! They're actually one of the easiest cryptics out there. As for fertilization rate, almost all dealates you find and pretty much every single ergatoid will be capable of producing workers.

 

interesting. so i do remember finding some ponera males mating with what antsdakota identified as workers. is this normal?

 

That's not known to happen at all, and Ponera doesnt have ergatoids, so no, that's not normal. Could you elaborate and do you have pictures?

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

 

so ponera and hypoponera are super hard to keep i have heard. what is the percentage of queens with eggs to queens without eggs, just so i know the success rate.

Not at all! They're actually one of the easiest cryptics out there. As for fertilization rate, almost all dealates you find and pretty much every single ergatoid will be capable of producing workers.

 

interesting. so i do remember finding some ponera males mating with what antsdakota identified as workers. is this normal?

 

That's not known to happen at all, and Ponera doesnt have ergatoids, so no, that's not normal. Could you elaborate and do you have pictures?

 

antsdakota does somewhere.i will ask him to get them. when i found the ants, i thought they were queens. but, after i sold it to antsdakota, he said that of the 4, only 1 was a queen, as there was a small but spotable size difference. maybe the male only mated with that one? i think i remember it mating with multiple ants in the test tube, though.

[M_Ants]

Does anyone know if there is a journal for hypoponera or ponera started from an alate(s) with good pictures that made it to workers?

[M_Ants]

I got a larvae.         

Edited by M_Ants, October 12 2020 - 9:07 PM.

[M_Ants]

Got multiple larvae and one is fat. I love how spiky they are. 

Edited by M_Ants, October 12 2020 - 9:08 PM.