306 replies to this topic

[ExponentMars]

This has got to be the coolest journal I've ever seen on Formiculture

[BADANT]

Your idea with the fungus was a really good one, and it looks awesome. It will be interesting to see how and where they add on to it. From that position, I could imagine the container being almost filled with fungus. 

[CheetoLord02]

Update 4/26

Updating this journal is getting repetitive. It's getting hard to find new ways to say "yeah, this colony is doing absolutely amazing and their fungus is even bigger than last time you saw it"   

Anyways, things are starting to get pretty serious. They're actually getting close to reaching the lid of the container, which is pretty crazy. I've been feeding them a ton and it's been paying off. I've also noticed that they seem to have a significantly higher worker force; they're able to cut and process plant material extremely quickly now compared to anything before.
 

 

 

Here's what I'm talking about with the size of the fungus. I mean, just look at this stuff. 
 

 

 

There's also an update on the massive brood. None have eclosed yet, but I'm thinking they might be full-sized soldiers. As a pupa they are as long as my current largest workers; 13mm. And that's being totally curled up. When they eclose they'll certainly be huge, but whether or not they're the fabled 19mm soldiers or not is yet to be determined.

Here's a pic of one nearby a 13mm worker, for a rough sense of scale.
 

[ZTYguy]

Awesome! Can’t wait for the new soldiers!

[Devi]

Wow, that's some massive brood there.  Always appreciate the updates, thanks, Cheeto.  One of my favorite journals. 

Edited by Devi, April 26 2021 - 11:04 AM.

[TacticalHandleGaming]

Wish we had any kind of ant like this in Oregon, but we don't. The fungus pile is so cool! 

[MrPurpleB]

The fungus pile resembles a paper wasp hive lol. Enjoy your pictures!

[CheetoLord02]

Update 5/5

As of a few days ago, we got our first "official" soldier!
 

 

 

She's been a bit tricky to get good pics of, but you can kinda tell the scale of her next to the queen.
 

 

Since last update the fungus has also managed to barely reach the lip of the lid. It took a little longer than I expected, but it's really cool to see that it happened afterall.
 

 

 

What's extra cool is that they appear to be slowly building a queen chamber that's against the back wall, meaning I can easily see the queen even if she ends up being sealed in.
 

You can also see that they have a ton of brood that they love to shove against the container wall. I can't even get all of it in focus, there's so much.

 

Here's a little bonus pic of some very unfortunate leaves.
 

[ANTdrew]

Wow. I can’t even.

[NPLT]

That's a lotta fungus.

[BADANT]

WOW, impressive is just such an understatement. Great photos always

[Lillyrose]

that's all fungus? They use it? Or eat it?

That's really cool. I need to learn more about these gals.

[ReignofRage]

that's all fungus? They use it? Or eat it?

That's really cool. I need to learn more about these gals.

That is all fungus. They use it by the larvae feeding from it and the workers/queens feeding from it. There's quite a few studies on them and a lot of information, have fun!

Edited by Reign_Of_Rage, May 8 2021 - 3:50 PM.

[Kaelwizard]

that's all fungus? They use it? Or eat it?

That's really cool. I need to learn more about these gals.

That is all fungus. They use it by the larvae feeding from it and the workers/queens feeding from it. There's quite a few studies on them and a lot of information, have fun!

Yeah it is basically the same thing as subsistence agriculture.

[Canadant]

We're not worthy! We're not worthy!

Edited by Canadant, May 10 2021 - 3:46 PM.

[CheetoLord02]

A lot has happened in the last few days!

For a start, the fungus fell over, again. Their entire "great wall of fungus" completely tipped over. Now, it was too tall to lay flat, however as they continue to grow upwards the fungus has gotten so heavy that it has basically smashed itself downwards to fill in the space, so the point where it's almost touching the base. Once it does, probably in the next few days, the entire base of the main container will be full, and the only space left to fill will be upwards. As we've seen time and time again, that won't be an issue for the Atta.
 

 

 

In anticipation for their main nest being filled up, I added a new nest expansion about a week ago. Originally the colony started using it as a trash chamber (despite still having their trash chamber connected), so I manually moved a small piece of fungus over.
 

 

 

They got the idea pretty quickly, and now just 9 days later this is what their expansion looks like:

 

Now you may be thinking that this expansion seems small, however while the base is only 4x4 inches, in comparison to 4x8 inches in their main chamber, it's 12 inches tall instead of only 8 inches tall. I have a distinct feeling that they'll make very good use of this vertical space, and I'm certainly excited to see a big tall container filled to the brim with fungus.

As a bonus, here's a cool picture of one of their big workers and a timelapse.
 

 

[ZTYguy]

Awesome! Can’t wait for the Empire State fungus.

[mmcguffi]

Hey Cheeto -- looking great! Quick question, what size tubing are you using?

[CheetoLord02]

Update 6/9

Yesterday I returned home from an almost week long trip across AZ, NM, and west TX. To my delight when I returned, all my ants (including my Atta) were doing great!

The Atta have been growing very nicely. They were the one colony that I had my dad take care of, since their care is pretty mindlessly easy. They seem to be primarily expanding their secondary garden in the tall, narrow container. The main chamber's fungus has actually gotten a tiny bit smaller in certain parts for some reason.
 

They also did something that surprised me, and that was starting yet another garden in their (former?) trash chamber. I'm only somewhat surprised by this, as they've recently been just placing trash in the outworld. This makes sense, as in the wild A. mexicana tend to just dump garbage outside of their nest rather than underground. The only thing that's somewhat curious is that they still have plenty of space in their other chambers, and also this trash chamber has no ultracal base to provide the container with humidity. Now, I have heard from a few sources that in larger Atta colonies they actually don't need any extra water, as the moisture from the plants they harvest is enough to sustain both the ants and the fungus. I've never wanted to risk this being false, but it seems as though the Atta will do the experiment on their own! Of course, the entire setup is still humid from the nearby chambers, but it'll be a cool little experiment. 
 

 

 

I also did something that I've always wanted to do. After our trip we had an excess head of lettuce that we used to make sandwiches, and nobody really wanted or needed it after that. So, I figured I'd take the opportunity to bring it home and just... put the entire thing in my Atta's outworld. They actually went crazy over it, and managed to make a significant dent in it overnight. Still, iceberg lettuce isn't very nutritious, so I'll still be offering more nutrient-rich plants for them in the meantime.
 

[Crazycow]

Wow look at those majors!!! these are some amazing ants! Your making me jealous…