13 replies to this topic

[NicholasP]

So I've been hearing that Formiculture loves Leafcutter journals. Is that true? Well whether you say yes or no I'm still making a journal hahaha! Yesterday I caught 2 lovely Acromyrmex versicolor queens down at my secret anting location 2 minutes from my house where I caught my Myrmecocystus placodops queen and many other species of ants. The sad and troubling thing is that 1 of the leafcutter queens was found in a wash where it had flooded due to all the rain that's been falling. I felt pain and sadness of seeing it drown there in the more than 3 inch deep water. So I decided to look for something long as fast as possible! Of course where I found her all of the trees and plants either had thorns on them or weren't long enough! Time was running out! So finally after a lot of scratches and a few small cuts I found it! The perfectly perfect stick with some perfectly perfect leaves sticking out of it! Amazing am I right?! So I quickly rushed to where I found the poor leafcutter and was able to fish her out. She looked very skinny though. And I knew there was no chance she had a fungus pellet. I was determined to finally get a leafcutter colony going strong and healthy after all these months of waiting! My last leafcutter colony passed away around 5 months ago. 5 Months! Imagine living in the desert where leafcutters are a famous and easy ant to find and you have to wait 5 whole months until you have another chance at getting some?!? 5 months! That's almost 150 days without a leafcutter colony! So I dried her off on a cotton ball and put her in my leafcutter setups that were supposed to be for Atta mexicana but of course I can't go down to Southern AZ so I was definitely not going to let those setups go to waste! I hopped onto my bike and peddled away back home as fast as possible! Well... by fast as possible I mean as fast as possible where I can still see ants and not miss any queens! And it was a good thing I did because right in front of my eyes was a Acromyrmex versicolor alate! Had just flown... Had just mated... Had just dropped on the ground... Had just walked in front of my eyes! I instantly took her in and put her with the queen that almost drowned and this time didn't stop and look for ants. I went as fast as my bike could take me and home at last! The queens were safe and sound! Along with the Novomessor queens I collected that same day that I need people to buy.........This totally isn't a shameless plug. But that is besides the point! The point is now that they're home I had one more problem. Did the female alate that had just taken off her wings have a fungus pellet at all? Well... I left them alone and came back today and guess what I found! A little bit of fungus growing! She had a pellet!!! So she's happily sitting in the nest right now with her sister caring for the fungus until it's big enough to have some leaves be placed on it. I will try to update this journal as frequent as possible and try to do the same with all my other journals but I won't always have the time to do so. So please don't get irritated about me not updating in a long time. It's just that I'm really busy. Well on that note I don't think I have anymore to say for now so enjoy the pictures!

Attached Images

• 

Edited by NicholasP, February 6 2022 - 10:52 PM.

[ZTYguy]

Always nice when more Acromyrmex journals pop up and hopefully these two will found. Just to put in there, sorry if I come off rude but 150 days is nothing compared to looking for over 7 years. Never finding them then finally someone from the heavens comes and shows up. And some people will never get these ants ever so my advice is don’t take them for granted. Enjoy and cherish every moment with them.

Edited by ZTYguy, July 14 2021 - 10:23 PM.

[NicholasP]

Always nice when more Acromyrmex journals pop up and hopefully these two will found. Just to put in there, sorry if I come off rude but 150 days is nothing compared to looking for over 7 years. Never finding them then finally someone from the heavens comes and shows up.

What I meant is they're very common in Tucson and waiting for queens to fly for me is just a long time. But I know how you feel about Acromyrmex. I didn't think getting Acromyrmex was every possible 2 years ago. And neither did I think find Stigmatomma was possible and then ofc I found Stigmatomma in Michigan while I was on vacation. But yeah I hope you find lots of Acromyrmex ZTYguy!

Edited by NicholasP, July 14 2021 - 10:26 PM.

[NicholasP]

It has been a very, very, very long time. I have decided to start up this journal with good news and bad news. The bad news is that the colony this journal was originally about has died, but today I trade for a Acromyrmex versicolor colony and wow was their fungus massive. But I will leave out the fungus size for now and let you guys guess how big the fungus is until I can get proper pictures of it. For now, I will leave you with pictures of the workers foraging in the outworld for dried up mint leaves! To help you guys with the guessing all I'm going to do is leave saying that they are around 100 workers strong with one bigger than average worker in there which may be the first major of the colony after the minims and minors.

Attached Images

• 
• 
• 
• 

Edited by NicholasP, February 4 2022 - 10:52 PM.

[antsriondel]

It has been a very, very, very long time. I have decided to start up this journal with good news and bad news. The bad news is that the colony this journal was originally about has died, but today I trade for a Acromyrmex versicolor colony and wow was their fungus massive. But I will leave out the fungus size for now and let you guys guess how big the fungus is until I can get proper pictures of it. For now, I will leave you with pictures of the workers foraging in the outworld for dried up mint leaves! To help you guys with the guessing all I'm going to do is leave saying that they are around 100 workers strong with one bigger than average worker in there which may be the first major of the colony after the minims and minors.

awesome!!!

[NicholasP]

The leafcutter fungus is growing massive! The fungus has almost outgrown the 4 cm petri dish! I'm going to have to add another nest now! I wonder how many workers we'll get in this colony's second year. Maybe 1,000? 10,000? Only time will tell how many workers they'll have by the end of the year. I love my mini-Atta!

Edited by NicholasP, February 6 2022 - 7:43 PM.

[NicholasP]

I think these pictures of my Acromyrmex versicolor are LONG overdue! I think it's time to show you guys my pride and joy. Which features one of the 4 queens, the biggest worker in the colony at the moment, and the fungus itself! I hope you enjoy!

Attached Images

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Edited by NicholasP, February 6 2022 - 10:51 PM.

[Antkeeper01]

Wow awesome photos

[NicholasP]

What do you feed them?

G = Grown In My Garden Naturally and Organically 

A = Collected in my Area

 

I feed them:

 

Dried Mint Leaves(G)

Creosote leaves(A)

Desert Willow(A)

Mesquite leaves(A)

And an Orange Yellow type of flower that comes from a tree here.

Edited by NicholasP, February 14 2022 - 12:58 AM.

[NicholasP]

I have fantastic news! Today I noticed that the colony has 3 piles of eggs and larvae in little areas of the fungus near the lid! In the 2 biggest Piles I see around 20 eggs each. Possibly less because of the larvae in there! The fungus however seems to be shrinking a little bit and being removed in some places. I think it's probably just now that the colony has so much brood eating away and developing so quickly now that the fungus is shrinking and that the workers are tearing some small pieces off. If this isn't normal though for after that diapause period(If you can even call it that) let me know please! I want to make sure the leafcutters get a good life!"

[CAantz]

What are the dimensions of the petri dish that you use?

[NicholasP]

I think it's around 3 inches. I don't remember. They're long since dead.

[CAantz]

Sorry to hear that, hopefully you get them sometime in the future.