45 replies to this topic

[Antkeeper01]

yes

[ponerinecat]

 

I’m referring to the list of standard ants e v e r y ant book has a chapter on:
Leafcutters
Honeypots
Weaver ants
Fire ants
Trapjaws
Slave raiders
Army ants

Turtle ants are underappreciated in my opinion, they're so cool. 'Gliding' ants with a special caste with huge heads, where their only purpose is to act as doors? I can't think of anything much cooler than that.

 

The gliding species don't have majors and instead cram a bunch of workers into the relatively large best entrances. The species that do have majors are probably able to glide as well, just less effectively and more like the defensive freefall many formicinae do.

[ANTdrew]

True - Pogonomyrmex have an entire book dedicated to them= Ants at Work

[Manitobant]

Well for slave makers he told me on discord he has raptiformica (formica slave maker) though he really needs polyergus topoffi for an obligate slave maker.

Edited by Manitobant, October 25 2020 - 10:38 AM.

[CheetoLord02]

Update 11/10

Our second worker has arrived! The first worker has also fully matured now, and has been a huge help with gathering food and tending to brood.
 

 

 

I've been underfeeding them to an extent, so their brood isn't crazy at the moment. Still, they have another pupa and a few larvae, as well as a nice batch of eggs that the callow worker brought out right for me to see.
 

Still, while they have yet to do anything particularly interesting, I'm still really happy with this colony. They've shown really no issues so far, and I'm hoping with a bit more consistent feedings they'll be able to take off in population.
 

[Ants_Dakota]

awesome journal! i would love to have a large colony of trap jaws!

[Superant33]

Large colonies of Odontomachus are fun. Until it isn’t. They are epically stupid ants. They will periodically remove all the substrate from their nest. You will always know it is time to add more when discarded larvae are observed in the outworld. Other than that, they are usually fun.

[CheetoLord02]

Update 11/29

These guys are now 3 workers strong, and they seem to have more brood all the time. Maybe eventually they'll get more than one worker at a time   
 

 

 

Fruit flies are definitely the best food for them. They tend to have a far weaker reaction to prekilled food, and it's really fun to watch them hunt either way. As of now they have 3 pupae, 6 or more larvae, and a few eggs. With their feeding today hopefully the queen will lay a bunch more eggs!
 

Edited by CheetoLord02, November 29 2020 - 2:56 AM.

[Antkeeper01]

amazing

[TechAnt]

Update? I really wanna know how they are doing.

[ExponentMars]

yay!! their population is growing lots, congrats! 

[CheetoLord02]

Update 12/10

The colony now sits at a comfortable 5 workers, with more brood coming all the time. Still, true to their nature, they don't have a ton, however that's bound to change as the number of workers steadily increases.
 

 

 

They are being fed around 5 times a week, and the queen, despite having plenty of helpers now, still helps the colony take down and process their food. It's really interesting to see how she is still so helpful even after getting workers.
 

[TechAnt]

Awesome! Glad they are doing well.

[ponerinecat]

Beauties. Wish they had a decent range in cali, alongside the other border desert species here.

[Antkeeper01]

i love da spiky larvea

[Ants_Dakota]

yes! i can't wait until you get a large colony! what setup are you planning to put them in when that happens?

[Superant33]

All of my O. clarus have stopped laying for the Texas “winter.”

[CheetoLord02]

While I was gone one more worker eclosed, however I also came back to find one dying in the outworld. Looks like we'll be back to 5 by tomorrow. Still they have a good amount of brood and are as active as ever. It's really great to see that they're continuing to do well.
 

[ZTYguy]

Great!!!

[CheetoLord02]

This colony has been quite stagnant. After noticing many failed cocoon spins, resulting in the larvae dying, I moved them into an Inception Chamber. The problem was somewhat fixed and they got one new worker, but since then 2 more pupae have died. I'm gonna have to experiment with some different soil types for them, I suppose.