17 replies to this topic

[JamesJohnson]

I was able to catch to 21 Camponotus Modoc alates yesterday and currently have 17 of them (three died to what I believe is pesticides and one got beheaded (the beheadedning was the only act of aggressive behavior I saw so I assumed she really got on a queen’s nerves.)) As I only brought 5 test tubes with me, I had to make a bunch of temporary enclosures. A quick question: Do queens in captivity usually take longer to shed their wings? All of the queens outside have their wings shed but only a couple of my queens shed their wings.

Pictures coming soon.

Edited by JamesJohnson, May 31 2021 - 7:24 PM.

[nurbs]

You should start a Camponotus johnsoni journal.

[JamesJohnson]

You should start a Camponotus johnsoni journal.

I would. If I had a Camponotus johnsoni queen.

Edited by JamesJohnson, May 30 2021 - 8:56 AM.

[ANTdrew]

It’s common for Camponotus to not remove their wings.

[JamesJohnson]

Photos:
All I caught:


The test tube set-ups:


My temporary set-up:


Pretty much I separated cotton balls and put them in a small container. I dampened one side and put a lid with a hole sealed with cotton for ventilation.

[JamesJohnson]

One of them have already laid eggs!

[ANTS_KL]

Neat! Hope this goes well! I love Camponotus.

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[JamesJohnson]

I put them all in their test tube set-ups. It turns out I also caught C. laevissimus so I renamed this journal to cover them both.

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/sGplW7o

 

You may notice that one of the test tubes has two queens, two C. Modoc queens to be specific. I decided to add two of them into one because:

A. I originally thought they were aggressive towards each other because when I noticed one of them beheaded in their catch cup. Now knowing that I was catching two species, I don't doubt that the beheaded queen might've been C. laevissimus.

B. Antwiki says that in the wild they can be found with multiple nest queens, although it doesn't go into detail the nature of this multiple queen set up.

C. Considering I have 17 queens, I don't think losing one or two is that bad.

D. I don't have any more test tubes. I need to get more, and if need be I can always dispose of a Tetra queen, but this just kind of seals the deal for testing it.

Edited by JamesJohnson, May 31 2021 - 7:51 PM.

[JamesJohnson]

Unless I really missed something, still no larvae. I hope that the following brood stages will go by faster.

[JamesJohnson]

Unless I really missed something, still no larvae. I hope that the following brood stages will go by faster.

I really missed something. It turns out some of them have had larvae long enough for them to cocoon.

Edited by JamesJohnson, July 4 2021 - 10:50 PM.

[JamesJohnson]

One of the cocoons is a very strong light brown, so I have to imagine it's in the process of eclosing. It seems the average worker count for the first generation is going to be 2-3, which is pretty normal for Camponotus. 

[JamesJohnson]

The first nanitics eclosed. I fed the queens with workers a honey dipped cotton swap and a couple of fruit flies. After the queens attacked the already dead fruit flies in a mannerism comparable to Odontomachus, they happily accepted the food. Here are some pictures, sorry for the horrendous quality, the mixture of harmless mold and the test tube's water level going results in a nasty (but harmless) grime, resulting in any photos taken from this angle not coming out too good. 

Edited by JamesJohnson, August 2 2021 - 9:30 PM.

[JamesJohnson]

And now begins the preparation for their hibernation. Considering these come from Tahoe, I'm going to want to hibernate them for a short six months long fridge hibernation. Before that happens though, I'm going to powerfeed these gals as much as I can to ensure they have two or three generations, minimizing their risk of a possible untimely demise. They have different responses to this strategy, with some colonies taking maybe two or three fruit flies a day, with others gathering a few dozen and eating them like an assembly line before I'm even done feeding the next colony. One of the queens is so physogastric I'm pretty sure if I fed her nectar she'd turn red.

 

 

Also, as a side note (or depending on your definition shameless plug), most of the colonies are currently available to be bought, so take that as you will.

Edited by JamesJohnson, August 23 2021 - 1:52 PM.

[JamesJohnson]

 

As snow falls where these were originally caught, I feel it is time to hibernate them. They were all put in a few days ago. A few colonies were able to get a second generation in before hibernation, but the rest decided against it. I will bring them back out of hibernation around March or April, which would be typical for the climate they've been adjusted to. If I really wanted to I could probably even wait until early July considering the time of the year they fly at and how long snow there can last. See you then.

Edited by JamesJohnson, October 17 2021 - 2:21 PM.

[NancyZamora4991]

where in Tahoe did you find these queens because these gals are everywhere in South Lake Tahoe. I went there in august and found six dead Camponotus Modoc queens in the garage and 14 colonies just in the backyard!

Edited by NancyZamora4991, October 17 2021 - 4:42 PM.

[JamesJohnson]

where in Tahoe did you find these queens because these gals are everywhere in South Lake Tahoe. I went there in august and found six dead Camponotus Modoc queens in the garage and 14 colonies just in the backyard!

Downtown Tahoe City on Memorial Day weekend. They fly all at once by the thousands, but I’ve found wandering queens months later.

Edited by JamesJohnson, October 17 2021 - 5:29 PM.

[ElisAnts]

You are hibernating them for 6 months? I have a single colony of modoc and was thinking 3 months however i caught them in springersville AZ, and i think they probably hibernate longer. What would be best?


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[JamesJohnson]

You are hibernating them for 6 months? I have a single colony of modoc and was thinking 3 months however i caught them in springersville AZ, and i think they probably hibernate longer. What would be best?


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Where you catch them is everything. Generally speaking, the longer the cold lasts in the area you found them, the longer you should hibernate them for. On a good season Tahoe can get as much as 10x more snow than Springersville, so three or four months would probably be a good amount of time. If they don't lay when you take them out, hibernate them for another month and so on and so forth.