5-23-2015
 
I found 11 Pogonomyrmex magnacanthus queens May 16th 2015, in Glamis, California. Four of them I found running around, and five I dug out of founding chambers. The only founding chambers I found were in one little cluster, and were clearly there before the rain came through, because they were barely recognizable. I'm pretty sure the four I found wandering around were just out foraging since they're semi-claustral.
 
I gave two of them to Retroman in a trade. Two of them I have in regular test tube setups, and two are in test tube setups with sand added that I brought back from Glamis. The remaining three I put in three of my small ant farm boxes just today.
 
So far it's been one week, and only two of them have laid eggs. Both of the two that laid eggs only have about one or two.
 

 

 

 

 

Very attractive looking species! How do you usually go about digging up the founding chambers for the queens?

That's one tiny Pogonomyrmex!

I just use a small shovel.

Update 5-31-2015
 
These ants don't seem to settle in very well. Finally the three in the ant farm boxes have dug nests. They come out to forage a lot. The only eggs I see are in the bare test tubes. Each of those two queens have about five eggs.

I wonder if these can hybridnize with P cali.

So far, my two have collected Poppy and Chia seeds. 

Those are some nice ants you got there...Drew...

*Jealousy intensifies*

Thanks. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be doing very well.

hey drew i'll trade u a Pogonomyrmex for a Myrmecocystus mimicus (found 2 today) lol....  heck i don't know my thinking is not good today lol

 

joking with drew, asking if he wanted a honey pot ant and he gives me a Pogonomyrmex.....  hope that makes sense  

Edited by Ant Man, June 13 2015 - 5:07 PM.

What kind of Pogonomyrmex's are we talking ? ill trade some 

lol had some france dude on f/b email me wanting 2 buy one of my Myrmecocystus mimicus

Update 6-14-2015
 
I moved all but one of these queens into the ant farm boxes. Two have died now, leaving me with four in the boxes, and one in a a regular test tube setup. I do see a couple of them in the boxes have a small pile of eggs. The one in the test tube has always had a bunch of eggs, but they are scattered all over the place and not being taken care of.

Update 6-16-2015
 
I put the last test tubed queen into one of the ant farm boxes two days ago. She still hasn't dug a nest.

Update 6-19-2015
 
I decided to put eight Pogonomyrmex californicus pupae in with each of these queens to see if this helps. The first two i saw come out of their nests seem to think it's food.

Update 6-20-2015
 
So far three of these have taken the brood into their nests and seem to be taking care of it. Two of the pupae have already eclosed, giving two of these queens a worker now to help them out. Retroman has boosted his with P. californicus brood as well. Both of his queens have accepted their donated brood and now have adopted workers.

Update 6-22-2015
 
Interestingly, the two queens that didn't accept the P. californicus brood have now died. The other three all have P. californicus workers now.

Update 7-11-2015
 
First of all, today I found one of the queens dead. I saw it wandering around on the surface for a while yesterday, so I had a feeling it wasn't doing well.
 
The other two seem to be doing well though. Last week I noticed they all had eggs. One of them had a pretty good sized pile.
 

 

 
 
Just today I noticed they all have larvae now. As for the doomed colony, I gave its only larvae I could get a hold of to one of the other colonies. Luckily it didn't have a whole lot. Of the two remaining colonies, the one with the least brood also seems have the most developed larvae.
 

 

Update 7-24-2015
 
One of the remaining colonies lost their queen. I found her dead and ripped to pieces on the surface. Thanks to the holes I put in the bottoms of my dirt boxes, I was able to shake all the larvae out so I could give it to my other colony after inspecting it for any mites.

Wow, sorry to hear that. Are Pogonomyrmex difficult to raise?