29 replies to this topic

[CheetoLord02]

Earlier this year I received this colony fragment as part of a trade with another keeper. He originally had a 14 queen colony, but split off a 4 queen group for me in exchange for a Novomessor cockerelli colony. When they came they had around 70-90 workers and a bit of late-stage brood. Here's a pic from right after getting them with all 4 queens.
 

 

 

Since then they haven't grown a ton, mostly due to the delay in generations (since all their brood was late-stage, they had no young brood and had to essentially skip a generation of workers) but are now right back on track with quite a lot of brood of all stages. They also seem to randomly produce alate larvae, but never let any pupate. I'm not exactly sure why, but my theory is that either one of the queens is infertile, or they keep trying to make alates before the workers realize the colony is too few in numbers and kill/eat the alate larvae before allowing them to pupate. Either way it doesn't seem to be a big deal as they still have plenty of worker brood.
 

 

 

Unfortunately, even with 4 queens, S. aurea are theorized to be a relatively slow-growing Solenopsis species, so these guys probably won't be able to get 20k workers in a year like my old 2 queen S. xyloni colony. Still, their awesome coloration makes it totally worth it, and it means that it'll be all the more rewarding when they do eventually grow to a larger size, not to mention that they really haven't been documented in captivity at all.

Edited by CheetoLord02, January 27 2021 - 12:26 AM.

[AleeGuy]

Noice choice

[ExponentMars]

they look really pretty with their yellow - orange - gold color

 

[Antkeeper01]

what about the largest and smallest theif ant sp in the US?

[KitsAntVa]

what about the largest and smallest theif ant sp in the US?

Both dropped dead ;(

[Antkeeper01]

nooooooooooooooo

[NickAnter]

My S. truncorum come somewhat close to smallest. Workers exactly 1mm(larger workers anyway), and the queen, 3mm on the dot.

[ExponentMars]

Please update us on this colony again! I think that these fire ants are a really cool species 

[ExponentMars]

Also, how big are the workers of these ants? 

[TennesseeAnts]

Also, how big are the workers of these ants? 

2.5-6 millimeters.

[CheetoLord02]

Update 12/4

This colony has still been doing well. They've now gotten enough brood to where it doesn't fit on the water tower anymore and instead just spills right off. I think it's also partially because I heat the left side of the nest, away from the water tower, but all of their pupae is kept right here in a big pile.
 

 

 

Most of the younger brood is still stored on the water tower. Funnily enough the queens don't really have a set resting area, but 2 of them just happened to be here for the picture.
 

 

 

They're also starting to get a few larger workers. Nothing too huge yet, but it's definitely a start. Theoretically, at the largest, they'll get majors that are approximately the same size as the queens.
 

[TennesseeAnts]

Do these have a noticeable sting at all?

[CheetoLord02]

Do these have a noticeable sting at all?

it's about the same as S. xyloni. Noticeable, but not awful.

[ZTYguy]

Wow. Soooooo Preeeeeettttttyyyyyyyy

[CheetoLord02]

This colony, in true Solenopsis fashion, is growing like crazy. They're starting to burst at the seams of their mini hearth already. All 4 queens are still alive and well, which is a great sign to me.
 

 

I think for their next nest I'll be moving them into the Casita III that I used for my old S. xyloni colony. I know it works for Solenopsis, so why not? It'll probably still be a minute before I have to move them, but it's always good to plan ahead.

[ANTdrew]

This makes me want to try Solenopis next year.

[CheetoLord02]

Update 1/21

I've been reducing feeding on these guys just a bit to keep them under control, however in spite of that they're finally allowing their alate brood to pupate! So far it's been only males, but I'm hoping there's some queen brood in there, since I think there's a high chance of them breeding in the nest. The original colony that my group was split off from was wild caught with 14 queens, however the wild colony had even more than that, so I think breeding in the nest is a huge possibility.
 

 

 

I'll probably end up moving them to a new nest one of these days, but for now the Mini Hearth is holding out well enough. I'll see what the move is in the coming weeks.
 

[TennesseeAnts]

Wow, makes me wish I had these here in TN...

[CheetoLord02]

Update 1/27

Even more alate pupae have been eclosing, and much to my surprise it looks like more queens than males! I'm really excited for them to eclose.
 

 

 

As you can probably also tell, I recently moved this colony into a Labyrinth from their Mini Hearth. It's a big upgrade, but with already 4 queens and the potential for them to inbreed I want to be ready. This nest should also be pretty easy to see them and count queens in case any more start popping up, and I'm really hoping I'll be lucky enough to capture in-nest mating on video, if it happens at all.
 

[antsandmore]

Update 1/27

Even more alate pupae have been eclosing, and much to my surprise it looks like more queens than males! I'm really excited for them to eclose.
 

 

 

 

 

As you can probably also tell, I recently moved this colony into a Labyrinth from their Mini Hearth. It's a big upgrade, but with already 4 queens and the potential for them to inbreed I want to be ready. This nest should also be pretty easy to see them and count queens in case any more start popping up, and I'm really hoping I'll be lucky enough to capture in-nest mating on video, if it happens at all.
 

if they keep inbreeding, would this colony live as long as they inbreed and don't get harmed by anything?