245 replies to this topic

[sgheaton]

Started with the discontinued, ending with this one!

I like the blue ones over the reds because they're more pronounced, kinda look like buried sapphires. 

[dspdrew]

Update 3-12-2017
 
The vase colony has been digging like crazy. They've slowed down a bit finally, but are still working day and night. As you can see, they've really dug out the chambers quite a bit.
 

 
 
The dirt mound is getting so huge, they almost completely buried their liquid feeders.
 

 
 
They have even been dropping dirt in the out world of their old nest.
 

 
 
It's amazing how large some of the rocks they pulled out of the nest are.
 

 
 
They now have all the larvae moved into one of the middle chambers in their new nest, and the queen in the chamber below that.
 

 
 
Unfortunately, as always, all the repletes are being left behind. I'll try to get as many of them out as I can, but many of these will probably just end up dead.
 

 
 
I noticed they actually adopted a couple of the old colony's repletes. The dark purple ones were from the old colony.
 

[Alabama Anter]

Poor repletes.... Well, taste them Drew! Just don't eat the ones with the insects!

[Californian Anter]

Don't rival colonies steal each other's repletes? I think I saw a video on that somewhere.

[Leo]

yes i think

[dspdrew]

Update 3-18-2017
 
The whole colony was moved into their new nest except the repletes. I didn't want them to just lose them all, so I dumped them out and carefully place them all on top of their new nest. I managed to save all but one of them, so that was pretty good. A day later they were all moved into the nest and back to hanging from the tops of the chambers.
 

 
 
I got their old nest and the platform out of there now. Once they calm down with the digging, I'll scoop some of that dirt out.
 

[dspdrew]

Update 4-4-2017
 
The colony appears to be doing really well. I haven't seen any dead workers, and plenty new eggs and brood. I finally removed all of the dirt they dug out. The plants needed to be watered, and the feeders were completely empty. I left most of the coarse gravel and rocks, and then wet it all down. It kind of looked like a summer storm just came through.
 

 

 

 

 

[Zeiss]

I remember seeing all of that dirt they excavated.  Did you vacuum it all out?

[dspdrew]

I scooped it out with a Wendy's spoon.

[sgheaton]

Wendy's appreciates that plug and you'll be seeing your first royalty check in the mail after 4-6 business weeks. 

[Alabama Anter]

I scooped it out with a Wendy's spoon.

LOL! Great pics too!

[dspdrew]

Update 4-14-2017
 
A little update on the colony housed in the prototype formicarium. They're doing really well and producing like crazy. I counted about 90 workers.
 
They've also started producing some much larger workers, as you can see here.
 

 

 
 
In this video you can see something I've noticed this colony do for a while. They put this little pile of debris all over the larvae in the very bottom chamber while they spin their cocoons. I assume it somehow helps them out. The plastic is starting to get a little dirty, so it's not very clear.
 

[SoySauce]

Woah, cool! I hope our honeypots will get there someday.

[dspdrew]

Update 4-15-2017
 
I know it's only been a day, but I just saw something today I thought was worth making an update for. Apparently not all the large cocoons I've been seeing lately are larger workers. Looks like they're starting to produce males now.
 

 

[SoySauce]

Wow!

[MegaMyrmex]

Do P. Imparis have "full" repletes as these myrmecocystus or do they forage? I think that they're the only honeypot ants in Maryland. Awesome journal, by the way, so jealous of your colony!

 

[dspdrew]

They don't exactly have repletes like Myrmecocystus do.

[Nathant2131]

Prenolepis imparis don't have "true" repletes. Their gasters don't get nearly as big as those in the genus Myrmecocystus. This is as big as they will get:

 

[dspdrew]

Update 7-23-2017

 

I found another six of these queens in Nipton, California on 7-18-2017. They were not easy to find. Very few founding chambers were M. mexicanus (I can tell M. mexicanus founding chambers by looking at them), and most of the ones I dug up I never found anything in. The queens were also at least a foot deep.

[charliebynar]

Drew,
I heard about you via Ants Canada. You have successfully raised Myrmecocystus Mexicanus. I have 5 queens and having some challenges and wanted to know if you could help me out. First, what are you feeding them for protein and second what housing setup do you have them in? Peat Moss?

Please help!

Thanks,

Charlie