Something, that I found very interesting, happened as a result of me rushing/cutting corners/being lazy.
I left their nest hooked up via a "t" connector to their new setup for a couple days and was advised to "manually" move them after a certain period.
Now the PROPER way to do this, would have been over a larger tub that has been prepared for the event, but no, that is not the route I chose.
I instead, in all my wisdom, decided to pop the glass off the nest they came in and swiftly exchange them from their current nest into the open topped outworld, with no fluon applied, on top of the 4-tier black plastic shelf I keep them on.
As you can probably imagine, my vision of ants pouring like water into their designated area was quickly shattered. Workers clambered up and out of the outworld, onto my hand and down my arms. In their frantic escape, many bodies rained down to various levels of my 4-tier BLACK shelving unit. Can you tell why I might be emphasizing the color of the shelves?
The top to the outworld went on as fast as I could manage, and thankfully did so without crushing a single gaster or snipping a leg or antennae. I spotted the queen, the brood and many workers safely secured within their new enclosure as I reached out for my aspirator. After several rounds of collecting and dumping, I could not spot anymore, but I knew they were there.
I estimated that what remained of the colony was satisfactory, considering what had just occurred. I kept my aspirator at the ready, placed their old empty nest where it had been the past few days on the top shelf and continued on with my day.
It is what happened over the course next 24 hours that really surprised me.
30-60 minutes had passed since the move, and I went in to check on them. The majority were huddled in the tunnel entrance inside the outworld. I went to put their old nest into the area on the shelf designated for dirty supplies, and spotted several Camponotus workers hanging out inside. Surely I did not miss them, they are too big not to notice in a small white formicarium. My first thought, however, was that I failed to completely seal their new nest somehow. I combed every inch of the new setup and was left baffled. I reunited the mysterious missing sisters with their colony, place the old nest back where it was and returned to housework.
This happened a handful of times that day. Each time I looked there was 1, 2, or 3 workers just chilling out in the old nest. The last one I found was when I awoke the next morning.
I concluded that these workers found their way from different points in a room they had never been in before, up several levels of shelving, and into their empty home. I took a rough count of the colony and I could very well have every single member. This may or may not be surprising to anyone else, but I feel like it was a very cool result from a very bad decision.
There was a little worry that my Schermicarium V2 with auto-watering system would be too humid for a colony of C. penns, so I made the outworld connect to what I designed to be the drier side of the nest. They initially piled up in the very first chamber, but after a few days they moved further in, toward the more humid side and settled in several chambers around the middle which is exactly what I hoped.
Offering various protein sources (they seem to dig wet catfood) and sunburst, the existing larvae started to gain weight and eventually pupate. I now have cocoons. I haven't looked in a couple days so I am unsure how many, or if any fresh eggs have been laid. I remain hopeful that this colony with expand quickly this year. Quick for Camponotus that is.
Edited by Scherme, March 2 2021 - 11:29 AM.
