94 replies to this topic

[Antkeeper01]

 

 

The queen looks like a C. diversa queen tbh. Good luck!! I have only found 1 of the many Pheidole in Malaysia.

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The queen looks like a C. diversa queen tbh. Good luck!! I have only found 1 of the many Pheidole in Malaysia.

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Idts, Carebara Diversa queens' are larger and the petiole looks much different.Its much more thin for C.Diversa.

I meant like it looks similar.

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yeah coloration and size is kinda similar

[ANTdrew]

I’m still triggered.

[antsandmore]

I’m still triggered.

you should be glad that we can read a journal about pheidole rhea...

although I am also jealous

[Antkeeper014]

The size of the pilifera worker in comparison to rhea is hilarious. Keep in mind pilifera is a relatively large species in the grand scheme of pheidole.

Fingers crossed that she founds, my advice would be just to boost her with obtuspinosa, I wouldn’t risk her eating all her brood and then dying, as they are known to do.

[Antkeeper01]

update cheeto? I NEED MORE!!!

Edited by Antkeeper01, July 26 2021 - 7:06 PM.

[CheetoLord02]

Good news and bad news. Mostly good news. I'll start with the bad, though.

Turns out trying to boost this queen with brood of a different species was really stupid. Even though I tried to remove it all, a few pieces were stuck in the tube, and after a few days grew some nasty yellow mold. I was forced to move the queen to a new tube, and in the process lost basically all her eggs. No bueno.

So, of course, I tried to offer some P. obtusospinosa brood. No good, the queen hated that too. So I knew what I had to do.

I got in my car and started the 2.5 hour drive (one way) to Mt. Lemmon where I caught this queen. I had to get some P. rhea brood, and this was the spot to do it.

Have you ever driven 5 hours just for a few dozen Pheidole brood? Well, I know I have. Thankfully I was successful in my endeavor, and returned home last night with around 40-50 P. rhea pupae. There were of course quite a few workers that I had to remove, although I left the callows, one minor and one really large major (not a supermajor) with the brood, and then offered it to the queen. Finally, she actually seemed to accept it, and the two callows have even been periodically grooming the queen. The queen is definitely still a little sketched out by the new friends she has, but doesn't seem even slightly aggressive towards them, and after spending all night together I even saw her this morning tending to some of the pupae.
 

 

 

So that's the good news. I don't want to speak too soon, but I'm really hopeful this brood boost will secure this queen's success, and with this number of workers should hopefully kickstart one hell of a colony. I've even got some huge majors right off the bat! Now just to wait for supermajors...

[Antkeeper01]

nice hope she does well if she doesnt i will be so mad at her

[ANTdrew]

Now that’s dedication! Well worth it, though.

[CheetoLord02]

Update 7/28

After a good amount of the boosted brood had eclosed, I moved this colony into a Formisquarium. It seems pre-emptive, but I wasn't too keen on keeping and feeding the colony in a cramped test tube for very long.
 

 

 

They also have access to a small outworld for when they start to forage. One major already has, actually, although she didn't seem too keen on doing much other than checking out the space. She did seem to take interest in a chia seed that I had left in there, but I'm not sure if she took it back to the nest or not.

The queen is also laying at a decent rate again, and I've noticed probably 15 eggs tucked away in the brood pile. Her and all the workers are getting along great, which is awesome considering how unsure she was of them at first.
 

 

 

Also, bonus pic. Here's a major from the colony I stole brood from. Yes, a regular major, not a supermajor. Looks to be just shy of 9mm, which makes them larger than any other Pheidole major in the US. Did I mention they also have supermajors? The size of this species is just absurd.
 

[ANTS_KL]

I'm very envious

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[Antkeeper01]

I'm very envious

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and i want pheidole

[anttics]

You are raising the ant colony dream species in the American continent regarding Pheidole. I’m still shocked at how big they are.

[CheetoLord02]

Since last update, all of the boosted brood has either eclosed or died. A surprising amount of it actually died, for whatever reason. Currently there's 9-10 minors and 2 majors. Not a ton, especially considering how much brood I got, but it's enough.
 

 

 

After everything that's happened the queen really doesn't seem bothered at all, and has continued to lay dozens, if not over 100 eggs. These queens are absolute machines when it comes to producing eggs for sure. Explains why their colonies are able to get so massive; well into the 6 digit range.

Also, since yesterday, the first eggs laid have started to hatch into larvae! I think including majors in the brood boost was good, since I've noticed them harvesting and processing seeds to feed to their larvae and queen, presumably. They also have a liquid feeder with sunburst that seems to be getting drained slowly, so I'd imagine they're at least using that occasionally.

The larvae are still super small, but I bet they'll end up growing pretty quick. The colony has also been much more active with foraging, so I can probably start powerfeeding them very soon.
 

[CheetoLord02]

This species develops crazy fast. 

5 days ago the first larvae appeared in this colony, and as of last night, they began pupating. Already. On a diet of only seeds, the first new larvae took only 4 days to fully develop. Now, I'd imagine this prepupal stage will take a few days as well, bringing the total larval stage to likely just over a week, but that is still insanely fast.
 

Now, the observant of you might notice that the larvae are still a fair bit smaller than the workers present in the colony, however I believe this is just the colony wanting to get new workers as fast as possible since there was a pretty large discrepancy in the generations, where the boosted workers fully eclosed before the colony had any larvae. 

Here's some bonus pics from the previous day of the growing larvae:
 

 

 

And some bonus media of a wild colony, in case you weren't as excited for this colony as I am.
 

[CheetoLord02]

Pupae! 
 

 

 

So far it has been 16 days since eggs were laid, which sets us on pace for an egg to worker time of under a month, which is super exciting. So far no signs of major brood but I'd imagine it won't be too far off.
 

 

 

There's also a huge ball of eggs the size of the queen's head in there, which is awesome.

[Chasicle]

Nice! Loving all your journals

[CheetoLord02]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

We have a worker!!!!
 

 

 

One month since capture, and 23 days since the eggs were originally laid, we've got our first biological worker. Looks like there'll be many more to follow suit, and hopefully soon enough they'll start making some more majors!

[ANTdrew]

Double like!

[Chasicle]

Yeeeees

[CheetoLord02]

Need. More. Rhea.

Since the first new worker, a couple have been eclosing here and there every day. By now the biological workers outnumber the boosted workers, albeit just barely. There's still a ton of brood of all stages, which is awesome. I can't even remember the last time I was this impatient for a colony to grow. They're just so awesome.

Not to mention, but I bought an XL labyrinth back in February and pledged to never use it for any species other than Pheidole rhea. It's been sitting in my closet gathering dust, just waiting for the day this colony gets big enough to inhabit it. Thankfully I was lucky enough to get a queen this season, otherwise who knows how long it would have gathered dust... although I think waiting for the colony to get bigger is more painful than waiting to catch a queen was.