Prologue: December 25th, 2020
Hey guys!
Merry Christmas! (as of now at least) I hope everyone's day is going well. For those of you that don't know, this summer I was lucky enough to find a pogonomyrmex flight near me. I excitedly called up Spazmops and he met me there where we collected 30ish queens. We sold most of them, but I kept one for myself and was really excited about her. She ended up being a dud. I did all I could, I got her extra heat, premium seeds, but she wouldn't eat, or lay brood. She eventually died in the mini hearth nest. For time reference this was around August I'd guess. I actually had a journal for her but it got closed for obvious reasons. Ever since then, I've been sad that I didn't have Pogonomyrmex because I really like their habits such as eating seeds, and their coloration. I thought about what to do for a few months, and then went ahead and ordered some from THA. I purchased a 20+ colony, and a labyrinth for them to go in. I also bought them a large pack of dandelion seeds as well as Kentucky blue grass seeds. I have been really worried about them because they had been shipping for a really long time, and were a week late. Well, they arrived yesterday! I wanted to wait a day to write the journal so I could get some initial information about them. They were all alive much to my delight, and I count at least 40 which is tremendous. I saw at least 5 callows too so I'm glad the brood is developing well! After unpackaging everything and setting up the labyrinth, I put the test tube in the outworld and removed the cotton ball. Let me just say, these ants have an attitude. They immediately starting swarming the outworld and boiled out in a rage. I think they were really happy to have some extra room. I know that a labyrinth is a bit large for them right now, but I wanted something that they could live in for a while so I didn't have to upgrade for a while. As of now, they are pretty much using the labyrinth as a glorified tubs and tubes setup, and they only nest in their test tube, but I completely expected that and am OK with that. I had a nestmate in the nest, but they weren't really going in the nest so they didn't see it. I rummaged around and found a byFormica liquid feeder, filled it up, and put it in the outworld. After attacking it for a bit, they realized that it was a water source, and at the time of writing there is a worker (or 2!) in each port. They are really thirsty so I'm glad I added the feeder. I also fed them a large pinch of blue grass seeds, and they immediately started bringing them all in the test tube. They brought about 30 in, and are leaving the rest for later. I saw the queen, (who I think I'm naming Queen Maphys) a couple of times, and she looks all healthy which is wonderful. I can't believe how good the labyrinth looks. I knew it would be good, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. I am going to set up heating today, I've got a small under tank heating pad that I've set aside for them. Overall I am so excited that I got them and really enjoying them so far. Right now I have them in the corner of my desk, so I can look over at them when I'm working on my device or working at my desk. I'm loving it! I think that might be their permanent spot. I'm sitting at my desk to write this journal so I can monitor them well. Lol. A few worker go in the nest, but not many. As of now, there are 4 workers exploring.
Wow, I just read this and realized how disorganized this is and how it jumps around a lot. Sorry about that.
Anyway, I'm super excited to see this colony grow, and I am planning on giving weekly updates. I will add pics when I get good ones. I am also getting a macro lens soon to help with that. If you have any names for the colony, let me know! I'm still coming up with them. Thanks for reading everybody! I plan to update about once a week.
-Devi
Pics:
Workers taking a drink from a byFormica liquid feeder.
Edited by Devi, December 25 2020 - 4:33 PM.
