69 replies to this topic

[NicholasP]

As you guys may have seen I've changed the name of the journal yet again with the play on words of "a lot" because I have a lot of Camponotus now. Camponotus pudorosus? Out the window since I'm refraining for a while longer on getting permits for those two colonies of pudorosus. This is the story of two sisters that defied the words "Camponotus pennyslvanicus are Monogynous" and decided it would be great to found a colony together full of tiny little Camponotlettes. They worked and worked hard cleaning each other and laying eggs to create their wonderful family. After a month and a half of hard work it finally came to the moment that they were about to unravel their first child together. It was beautiful. Their first ever child they raised together... Little did they know they'd soon be swamped with Camponotlettes to unravel. Out came 2 every day after that. The worker counts started sky rocketing. 3. 5. 7. Soon they were at 8 and finally the queens could rest from unravelling their Camponotlettes and just lay eggs which is where we're at today. Little did they know though that there would be someone else to rival them to make the happiest family. And there was no other ant capable for the job besides Camponotus novaeboracensis. Stylish... Flashy!!! The one thing that the sisters have going for them is the fact that they already have workers while the novaboracensis queen only has eggs. The queens luckily aren't showing any aggression towards each other and the workers don't show preference to either one. Their first generation of workers will be around 16-20 workers which makes me think that if the queens don't kill each other they may have 40-50 workers by hibernation. The novaeboracenis queen has 10-12 eggs and should be getting larvae any time soon!

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Edited by NicholasP, June 30 2022 - 10:45 PM.

[antsriondel]

Has queen scarlets reign of terror ended?

[aznphenom]

Woah. That is cool that you are able to have two queens. My one pennsylvanicus colony lost their queen and I was hoping and still am to find a new one but have been really unlucky this year. I think I will go anting this weekend and try to merge them if I find a founding queen.

[NicholasP]

antsriondel, on 01 Jul 2022 - 4:36 PM, said:

Has queen scarlets reign of terror ended?

Yes... It has as she passed away sadly. But queen Tourmaline remains alive in Arizona.

aznphenom, on 01 Jul 2022 - 4:48 PM, said:

Woah. That is cool that you are able to have two queens. My one pennsylvanicus colony lost their queen and I was hoping and still am to find a new one but have been really unlucky this year. I think I will go anting this weekend and try to merge them if I find a founding queen.

I am really shocked it worked in the first place. All my other pennyslylvanicus queens I had caught this year fought on contact but these two decided that peace was a better option. I can share with you some advice on catching pennysylvanicus queens if you'd like!

[NicholasP]

Well guys, It is finished... A masterpiece. My C. novaeboracensis queen has finally unraveled her first two nanitic cocoons with around 10 more following right behind them. They look pretty ugly right now but with time I'm sure they'll start getting their redish pigment just like their mother. That's all for now!

[bmb1bee]

NicholasP, on 01 Jul 2022 - 9:04 PM, said:

 

antsriondel, on 01 Jul 2022 - 4:36 PM, said:

Has queen scarlets reign of terror ended?

Yes... It has as she passed away sadly. But queen Tourmaline remains alive in Arizona. 

That's unfortunate, I'm happy that Queen Tourmaline is alright though!

[antsriondel]

NicholasP, on 26 Jul 2022 - 10:39 PM, said:

Well guys, It is finished... A masterpiece. My C. novaeboracensis queen has finally unraveled her first two nanitic cocoons with around 10 more following right behind them. They look pretty ugly right now but with time I'm sure they'll start getting their redish pigment just like their mother. That's all for now!

Congrats! 

[NicholasP]

I have been keeping these colonies of Camponotus private for a while for a reason... I'm very lazy and I'm very busy. I know that makes no sense but trust me... Everyone knows typing is so much more boring than watching ants. And I've been watching ants a bit too much lately. I've come to bring you news of something incredible to hit the market of Camponotus. I call it... The Camponotus 3080TI EPU Dual Queen Hardware! EPU meaning Egg Processing Unit. I made it myself. And they're definitely processing eggs quicker than I can count. And processing a bit too much weight in their gaster to the point they can barely move at all.

 

They're around 20 workers now and boy their new workers are huge. The nanitics were big but these girls were humongous. Not as big as the minors I see in the wild but they're getting there very quickly. They're not getting and more pupae anymore from what I've been seeing but a lot of small larvae and eggs with 1 mid-sized larva. I fear this colony is going into hibernation. As any ant parent should be...   They grow up so fast...

 

The workers literally drink 1 ML of sugar water a day and they never seem to get enough of it since they down it all so quickly. I have no idea where all that sugar water goes but it seems they're depositing it all into one of the queens or one of the queens is physogastric and will be laying again. Either way it's a good sign as it shows they're being taken good care of, and no aggression has been shown between the two queens or any of the workers. I just moved them into a new nest, so the workers are tugging at the enormous enormously fat queens into the nest since they won't move by themselves.

 

If they make it through hibernation this will be one incredible adventure to take the road to majors. And hopefully one day... I can see the queens give birth to their own daughters and I can see them fly away from their mothers' nest. Just as their own mothers did a few years before them and the cycle continues.

 

Update on the Camponotus novaeboracensis is they're at 10 workers exactly now and have tons of eggs and small pupae like the pennsylvanicus colony. The workers guzzle sugar water like crazy. I put a few drops in one hour and then 2 hours later they're all gone and they're still pulling at the cotton.

 

That's it for now guys! I'll probably update again once we get closer to hibernation!

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Edited by NicholasP, August 30 2022 - 7:15 PM.

[NicholasP]

Tis been a long time since I posted. I see Formiculture seems to be slowly dying now. So, I have returned. My family of Camponotus Alotus are now in hibernation. The dual queen C. pennsylvanicus though had a large die off in hibernation. Down to 7 workers. It was my fault since the nest dehydrated much faster than I would've expected. Make sure to keep your ants hydrated in hibernation guys so you don't have what happened to me. The novaeboracensis are doing very well. No die offs. That's all I pretty much have for now! They'll be in until February the first since I hibernated them late. See you soon guys!

[ANTdrew]

It’s deep winter in the northern hemisphere where 98% of the forum’s members live. Formiculture is not dying.