133 replies to this topic

[dspdrew]

9-2-2013
 
On September 1st 2013 I found one Pogonomyrmex rugosus queen underneath a rock while I was out flipping rocks near Landers in the Mojave Desert.
 

 

 

 

 
She started laying eggs a few days later. Every time I checked on her, it seemed that the eggs were not developing, and then one day she just ate them all. Since I heard that P. rugosus queens are very nervous and will continue to eat their brood if they are disturbed, I put her away in a dark cupboard to leave her alone for a while.

[dspdrew]

Update 9-16-2013
 
Since Antczar said he found a bunch of their founding chambers at the park near his house, and dug a bunch of them up, I went out there to see if I could find some too, but was unable to. While I was there though, I did find another alate wandering around and collected it. I put this alate up in the same dark cupboard as the dealate I already have.

[dspdrew]

Update 9-23-2013
 
I checked on the queen today, and found that she laid another huge pile of eggs. Hopefully she won't eat these this time. The alate had laid a couple eggs too.

[dspdrew]

Update 10-15-2013
 
I checked on the queen today, and found two medium sized larvae in there! Along with the two larvae, she also had a pile of eggs too, so she's obviously been eating most of the eggs still. The alate still has just a few eggs.

[dspdrew]

Update 10-18-2013
 
Apparently P. rugosus have been having more mating flights in the Riverside area lately, and Antczar says he saw one nest with lots of alates and dealates being dragged out of the nest by workers, and some wandering around close by. Today Anhzor and I went out there to collect some of them ourselves. When I got back I counted 18 total out of the ones that I found, and the few that Antczar gave me. I gave three of them to Bigb, and put the other 15 in test tubes and stuck them up in the cupboard with the others. About three or four of them were dealates, and the rest were alates.
 
It was hard to tell whether this was a mating flight, or just an eviction of this season's left over alates. The workers were being pretty rough with them, even tearing the abdomens off of a few. Normally I would be pretty confident I have a fertile queen when I find it wandering without wings, but in this situation I'm not too sure, because it could have easily been the workers that ripped their wings off. Antczar says he actually saw some of them tearing their own wings off, so who knows, only time will tell.

[dspdrew]

Update 10-22-2013
 
I checked on the queen today, and she still has the two larvae, and they are getting fairly large now. Most all of the eggs are gone so she's definitely eating most of her eggs still. The first alate still just has a couple eggs. As for the new batch of alates and dealates, some have a couple eggs, and one has died, leaving me now with 14.

[AntCzar]

Keep the updates coming just not toooooo often! Haha

 

Glad to hear you seem to have some winners finally!

[dspdrew]

Update 11-2-2013

One of the larvae has now turned to a pupa, and she also has three brand new larvae now too. Along with all of that, she has a nice new pile of eggs also. As for all the others, about half of them have little piles of eggs now.

[wook]

That is great news Drew.
Looking forward for updates

[dspdrew]

Update 11-3-2013

The other big larva has pupated too now. I can't believe how fast that was. Also, nearly all of the other alates/dealates have eggs now.

[AntCzar]

Awesome! Look forward to some cool pictures/videos soon

[dspdrew]

Update 11-13-2013

The first nanitic worker eclosed today! The other pupa should be eclosing in about a day or two. This colony has about five more larvae of all different sizes, and the queen has also just laid about five new eggs too. All the other alates/dealates still just have a bunch of eggs; none of them have turned to larvae. I decided to move the colony with the worker to my regular cupboard where the rest of my ants are kept, while leaving all the alates and dealates up in the other cupboard where they won't be disturbed but once a week.
 
Here's some pictures of the only developing colony and their new nanitic worker.
 
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[Crystals]

It is cute.

I can only imagine how tiny it is, considering how large the eggs beside it are. 

[dspdrew]

It is cute.

I can only imagine how tiny it is, considering how large the eggs beside it are. 

What's funny is it's the size of my other Pogonomyrmex subnitidus colony's regular sized workers.

[dspdrew]

Update 11-17-2013

Another worker eclosed today. There is also another pupa now too.

 

[dspdrew]

Update 11-29-2013

Today the third nanitic worker eclosed, and the queen laid a nice new batch of eggs. :]
 

 

[wook]

They are so cute, and best-looking "stupid ants" I've seen!

[dspdrew]

They are so cute, and best-looking "stupid ants" I've seen!

Oh come on, Crematogaster are pretty cute too.

[wook]

They are funny and interesting, but this one has "mine" colors and it warms my soul and heart up.

[Crystals]

Come on wook, not every ant can be red and black. 

 

Cute though.  How big are those nanitics anyways?