109 replies to this topic

[PaigeX]

Annoyingly, the aeneopilosus are back to eating their mature larvae despite an abundant amount of protein provided, I guess this is just ants being ants. At least there is a very sizeable cluster of eggs/small larvae 

if they are doing that. don't look at them for a few days or more. just leave them in a dark area. this can help.

[JCRHJM]

 

Annoyingly, the aeneopilosus are back to eating their mature larvae despite an abundant amount of protein provided, I guess this is just ants being ants. At least there is a very sizeable cluster of eggs/small larvae 

if they are doing that. don't look at them for a few days or more. just leave them in a dark area. this can help.

 

These guys have been living under a red film for a couple weeks which I believe they have adapted to, to be honest I'm not entirely sure if they are eating/cleaning or feeding the larvae. I guess I will have to see in a few days. 

[JCRHJM]

There have been some wild ants invading my room which contains my colonies, I would guess they are iridomyrmex/ochelletus. Fortunately they are nowhere near my colonies yet and are now being removed from existence. 

Edited by JCRHJM, January 5 2022 - 7:49 PM.

[Antkeeper_21]

Foreign ants: *exist*

Him: “So you have chosen death?”

[JCRHJM]

Remember those foreign ants I just mentioned? well they made their ugly presence felt today.

 

I had been noticing them coming and going throughout my room today for some reason was hoovering them up with masking tape whenever I saw them. 

Following their trail I noticed it leading into my 3 worker Camponotus Aeneopilosus setup. This was due to me failing to close their lid properly. 

Upon opening the lid there were foreign iridomyrmex/ochelletus everywhere and the queen was out of her test tube running around in a panic and trying to bite the intruders. I spotted the 3 workers also running around as well as 2 large larvae. It appears that the eggs had been pillaged by the intruders who were now helping themselves to the mealworms and honey while attacking my camponotus. 

Fortunately I was able to rescue all 4 of my camponotus into a fresh test tube along with their larvae and they appear to be okay. At least my ants were warriors and it was satisfying to see quite a few bodies of the smaller intruders scattered throughout the setup likely from the bites and formic acid of my camponotus. 

 

[Shazza]

They get everywhere these ants at home, I have lost a colony previously to them. Glad you managed to rescue what you did
They get everywhere these ants at home, I have lost a colony previously to them. Glad you managed to rescue what you did

[PaigeX]

oh man that sucks. Time for some upside down tape around the enclosures. catch them before they get in

[JCRHJM]

oh man that sucks. Time for some upside down tape around the enclosures. catch them before they get in

Good idea, luckily most of my colonies are sealed away in professional formicariums where the ventilation doesn't allow even the smallest of ants in. Only exception is my rhytidoponera which should be a large enough colony to be safe. 

[Antkeeper_21]

Remember those foreign ants I just mentioned? well they made their ugly presence felt today.

 

I had been noticing them coming and going throughout my room today for some reason was hoovering them up with masking tape whenever I saw them. 

Following their trail I noticed it leading into my 3 worker Camponotus Aeneopilosus setup. This was due to me failing to close their lid properly. 

Upon opening the lid there were foreign iridomyrmex/ochelletus everywhere and the queen was out of her test tube running around in a panic and trying to bite the intruders. I spotted the 3 workers also running around as well as 2 large larvae. It appears that the eggs had been pillaged by the intruders who were now helping themselves to the mealworms and honey while attacking my camponotus. 

Fortunately I was able to rescue all 4 of my camponotus into a fresh test tube along with their larvae and they appear to be okay. At least my ants were warriors and it was satisfying to see quite a few bodies of the smaller intruders scattered throughout the setup likely from the bites and formic acid of my camponotus. 

Any camponotus casualties?

[JCRHJM]

 

Remember those foreign ants I just mentioned? well they made their ugly presence felt today.

 

I had been noticing them coming and going throughout my room today for some reason was hoovering them up with masking tape whenever I saw them. 

Following their trail I noticed it leading into my 3 worker Camponotus Aeneopilosus setup. This was due to me failing to close their lid properly. 

Upon opening the lid there were foreign iridomyrmex/ochelletus everywhere and the queen was out of her test tube running around in a panic and trying to bite the intruders. I spotted the 3 workers also running around as well as 2 large larvae. It appears that the eggs had been pillaged by the intruders who were now helping themselves to the mealworms and honey while attacking my camponotus. 

Fortunately I was able to rescue all 4 of my camponotus into a fresh test tube along with their larvae and they appear to be okay. At least my ants were warriors and it was satisfying to see quite a few bodies of the smaller intruders scattered throughout the setup likely from the bites and formic acid of my camponotus. 

Any camponotus casualties?

 

No all 4 ants are a little flustered but unharmed, I think I caught the intruders pretty early though the fact that they were significantly bigger definitely helped.

[ANTdrew]

Put Fluon on the outside of your setups. You could also set them on a tray of water mixed with vinegar. Some tiny ants can walk over the surface tension of pure water, but they hate vinegar.

[JCRHJM]

The Nigrocincta have now completely moved into their new nest

 

I first put their old nest into the outworld of the their new formicarium which was recently watered. My main strategy was to dry out the old one so the ants would move to the new hydrated nest. I kept the foil cover to keep the old nest dark to minimise stress.

For the first few days the ants mostly stayed inside the new nest and only briefly looked inside the new one.

 

As the days went on, the ants did start looking inside the new nest more and more and even stayed inside for periods of time. The ants were also getting quite thirsty so I was able to attract them towards the formicarium entrance by putting a few drops of water there.

 

After 6 days they finally moved

 

The first things moved were the larvae and then the eggs. The queen and the cocoons stayed inside for longer along with a round 7 or 8 workers, but these moved in at the end of the days 

 

Currently the colony is 22 ants 1 cocoon a few large larvae a few small larvae and a small pile of eggs. 

For their new outworld I blutacked a piece of wood to prevent it tipping around and potentially crushing ants. 

[JCRHJM]

Time for another major update, 

 

All the ants got sugar water for their last carb source just to switch it up from honey.

The Forficatas singular larva is getting close to pupating size, none of the eggs have hatched but they are continuing to accept protein so I assume the larva has more growing to do. I have added more coco fibre to their outworld to aid in the cocooning process.

 

The camponotus aeneopilosus have eaten their remaining large larvae and are now down to 2 cocoons, most of the eggs however have hatched and there is a sizeable pile of small larvae. I suspect the reason for larvae eating was that it failed to cocoon and died as the successful cocoons occurred some time before. The queen still has an enormous abdomen so I am expecting a big pile of eggs soon. The 2 cocoons are starting to look more crispy so workers should be on the way soon. 

This colony definitely prefers mealworms over crickets which is also the case with my nigrocincta. 

 

The rhytidoponera have made a sort of ant hill in one of the corners, there are entrances spread out through the entire container so I believe they are utilising the full space. I plan on adding some lighter coloured substrate to make seeing and photographing them easier. The good thing about this naturalistic setup means that I can see the tunnelling behaviour of ants even if nest visibility is diminished. Even though they aren't considered polymorphic I am seeing a size variation of workers all the way from 5mm to 9mm which is interesting. 

 

The nigrocincta are settling into their new home and have accepted mealworm pieces and seem to like the sugar water as well. I will probably be adding some lighter substrate to them as well since they do blend in with the orange sand and coco fibre. 

[PaigeX]

They are all looking very lovely! Great setups and cool ants!
Also I have found that rhytidoponera do have both smaller and bigger workers at times. Outside I always see 5-8mm long ones.

Normally I see the smaller ones in newer colony's and larger ones in an older colony. Sometimes both in the same colony.

[Leptomyrmx]

They are all looking very lovely! Great setups and cool ants!
Also I have found that rhytidoponera do have both smaller and bigger workers at times. Outside I always see 5-8mm long ones.

Normally I see the smaller ones in newer colony's and larger ones in an older colony. Sometimes both in the same colony.

Smaller Rhytidoponera you see in the wild could be R. victorae. They're basically mini R. metallica, they grow a bit slower though for some reason...

[JCRHJM]

The nigrocincta have moved a half eaten larvae into the outworld, they also refused protein today, I haven't checked the nest but I believe that this current larvae batch will be pupating soon, the eaten larvae probably failed to cocoon. 

The aeneopilosus now have a pile of small larvae all with dark food dots, they haven't been gorging themselves on protein so I assume that their food stores are mostly topped up. 

[JCRHJM]

Announcement regarding the future of my colonies and this journal, 

in the middle of February I will be moving to another state (Queensland to be exact) for my 3rd year of university, and my colonies will be remaining in my old home with the rest of my family. As a result my family members will be looking after them, I have spent the last couple of months teaching my mom everything she needs to know to keep my ants thriving. In the last few weeks she has been caring for them herself under my supervision and I am confident in her abilities. All of the ants are in their permanent homes and will not require expansions for a long while yet.

 

As I will be away from my colonies, updates will be less frequent and likely will not involve pictures, when I get home I will do a big one. Until I leave, I will keep updating this as per usual. 

Edited by JCRHJM, January 19 2022 - 3:51 AM.

[Shazza]

Good luck with the move!!!
Good luck with the move!!!

[JCRHJM]

Right,

 

The wild ants still occasionally invade my room and have recently started snooping around my fish tank, I have tried feeding a few of them to my fighter fish though he swims away from them despite insects being his diet in the wild.

 

My fish looking at them suspiciously:

 

The rhytidoponera have opened up a chamber next to the container wall allowing me to see the cocoons stored inside. I thought they would close it off soon due to the light but it is still here now. Not the first time they have tunnelled against the walls but brood is actually visible now. These guys continue to be my largest and most reliable ant colony.

 

The nigrocincta have had a few failed eclosures since moving to the new setup, though they do currently have 4 large larvae which will hopefully be cocooning. I do believe their recent stumblings have been due to the change in environment as my aeneopilosus and forficata also had brood casualties after moving and have since bounced back. If they continue to fail to raise new workers I will look into moving them into a different type of setup when I get back even though traditionally this species has done well in acrylic nests. Despite the brood issues the workers have been doing well.

 

The forficata currently still have 1 large larvae and a pile of eggs, they have stopped accepting protein so I believe cocooning is imminent.

 

The aeneopilosus now have 9 workers! Even though the second generation was underwhelming there is now a big pile of larvae of different sizes so I am expecting big things from this colony now that they should have adapted to their new setup and have more hands on deck

 

Edited by JCRHJM, January 23 2022 - 5:08 PM.

[PaigeX]

Lovely to see the golden sugar ants are doing well. I have one lot that are just as close in development. Awesome to see.