56 replies to this topic

[futurebird]

They are still rejecting the cork nest. They did fill it with sand? They are putting garbage in a lower chamber but also covering it.
Perhaps this is how they hide their nest location in the wild. By "caching" the garbage. I ordered them a larger version of the wood nest they seem to love, but for some reason the shipping is taking forever. How much longer do I have? This is how crowded they are now:








I know ants love to be packed together but there must be a limit, yes?



I'm still really proud of them!

[futurebird]

Yay! Their new nest came... and also a future nest that's a bit larger IDK which ants will use it, but I have enough wood lovers that I know it'll find a place. 

 

 

Foranto nests are works of art. I can't wait to use this other one I purchased.

 

[futurebird]

I took some photos of one of the workers and she's so cute. I wish the majors would leave the nest so I could get some close ups of them like these.

 

 

 

Camponotus discolor are so cute. 

 

 

Cute little round head of a minor worker. 

 

[Kaelwizard]

Foranto seem like wooden THA to me, which is a very good thing imo.

[futurebird]

I love Foranto... but it's hard to find them in stock. I dream about having a big colony in one of the big fancy branch nests someday...
 
But I'm still trying to get my girls interested in their new nest. This is how I've placed it. They explore it. But have not used it. 
 

 
IDK what's happening with the cork nest they are filling it up with sand. 


 
Why are they filling it with sand???


 
They also have started putting sand on their roof.



Why are they putting sand on their roof? 



It seems like a small thing, but they can only move one grain of sand at a time... so this is very important to them for some reason.

Edited by futurebird, August 22 2021 - 4:18 AM.

[ANTdrew]

That’s Myrmy’s Law for you…

[futurebird]

They moved at last!

[Antkeeper01]

yayyyy!!!

[Shazza]

Looking good, how long do you think it takes from egg to cocoon hatching?

[futurebird]

For these ants it's about 20 days to a month max. They are much faster than other Camponotus. I just moved the nest so I can see both halves and they didn't freak out ... didn't even notice really. 

 

[Shazza]

Looking good, 20 days is fast!!!!

[futurebird]

Just some more video of the ants enjoying their new nest, including some really cute feeding footage. 

 

[futurebird]

Shameless photo update of the supermodels of my ant collection. These ants just look so good.



They are just so cute with their visible black eyes and round heads.

[cap_backfire]

This is so great.   
I concur as my discolor seem to burst in population every month or so-up to 400 strong now and had them only about 8 months.   I'm always blown away at their piles of brood, which they have in four or five "layers" on different levels of the nest.    

These pics and video are AMAZING.    Also those wooden nests look completely great.   Thanks for posting!  

[futurebird]

This colony has continued to grow and is now my largest in biomass. (I think my lasius neoniger colony has more ants numerically, but TBH it's close even counting numbers)

 

They have started to use the cork nest! They have made an outpost there, and it's very funny, but I guess they needed the extra space. They have also started carving the cork and making their own tunnels. But most of the colony, including the queen who I have not seen for a month are in the wooden nest. 

 

For the first time egg production seems to be down, though there are still many brood. I've put them in the wine fridge at 65F for about two days a few times, then I take them out again and feed them and let them be warm. Soon they will be ready to stay in, I think. 

 

School is keeping me very busy and I don't have much time to post. But, I wanted to do an update on my favorite colony. 

 

Here is a video about the outpost nest. 

 

 

 

And here is a video with more of that part of the nest. 

 

 

Last this is just some footage of this colony working on their nest. They are trying to cover the wood nests with sand. 

 

[Shazza]

Very cool

[Worrawalan]

Hi Futuerbird I would just like to say how excellent your photos and videos are of this colony, what camera are you using and lens I’m just getting into macro videos and photos with a Sony A7 iii I recently bought.
I’ve also got a small colony of discolor but with winter around the corner here in the U.K. I might need to heat them to keep them active.

[futurebird]

I use this lens:

 

https://www.amazon.c...8_t1_B07RMKRXS9

 

It was pricy, but it's very versatile can can take photos of my cat, flowers, and all the way down to larger ants. 

 

and for extreme close ups and smaller species I use this one

 

https://www.amazon.c...075JRGWW1&psc=1

[futurebird]

heat fiends (just a quick phone video to capture some interesting behaviour. )

 

Edited by futurebird, October 30 2021 - 8:33 PM.

[futurebird]

New video about an interesting behavior in a major worker. 

 

Why would she attack her sisters?