51 replies to this topic

[Herdo]

Cool! And better feed them good! That queen is looking pretty skinny...

 

Oh really? Thanks.  Now that they have access to the outworld I've dropped in a whole crushed cricket for them to feed on.  They definitely do seem hungry.  They also haven't stopped eating the Ant Nectar.

Queen ants are always acting funny even after workers are formed.

 

Yea, it was hilarious to watch.  I was so happy to see them moving and then when I saw the queen stop to eat I yelled "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"  The workers seemed to be saying the same thing, haha.

Edited by Herdo, July 28 2015 - 4:17 AM.

[Mdrogun]

You should make a YouTube account and post videos on it.

[Herdo]

July 28th, 2015

 

A few days ago on the 25th I believe, queen #2's workers eclosed.  She now has about 10 workers in total and a very large pile of eggs and larva.  I've been giving them some Sunburst Ant Nectar and I gave them about 1/3 of a very small mealworm.  With that colony I am going to make some sort of slip cover for their test tube and then simply make an outworld to place it into.  This won't be permanent, but it should work fine for now.  The three other queens who were laying eggs that weren't growing I've released.  I've placed their test tubes outside out of the sun so hopefully they will leave when they are ready.

 

Queen #1 and her colony seem to be doing great.  I've been giving them as many mealworms as they can eat.  Right now they don't seem to be limited by their appetite, but by how much they can gather.  I've started putting three small mealworms cut up in their outworld daily, and while they are busy eating for hours on end, they don't exactly lick the mealworms clean by the next day.  Even a full 24 hours later they are still working on them sometimes.  The reason I am leaving them so much is because this allows more workers to gather food.  With just one they were taking turns trying to eat the cut open mealworms, simply because there was no space for more than one or two workers.

 

I moved the colony in a little over 4 days ago.  When I moved them in there were probably about 15 workers, and now I'd say there are at least 25.  The newest pupa look huge, which tells me they are definitely getting enough protein.  One thing I find odd is that I haven't seen them eating any of the Sunburst in a few days.  It does seem to be disappearing slowly, but that could be due to evaporation.  I'm thinking they may just not need as much and can probably gather it quickly enough that I miss it.  There is always at least one worker at the water dispenser though.  They love water.

 

I'm going to try introducing some seeds here soon.  Would sunflower seeds work if I cracked them myself and discarded the shell?  Also, does anyone know where I can find some other pesticide free seeds to try?

 

I took a ton of photos and here are some of the better ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You should make a YouTube account and post videos on it.

 

 

I've taken your advice and decided to make a short video of the colony so far.  I've ordered a small tripod which should get rid of the shaking and noise from my hand touching the microphone.  The tripod should be here tomorrow.

 

[William. T]

Queen ants are always acting funny even after workers are formed.

Indeed. It seems that some founding queens do tasks like lifting and ripping apart prey for the workers.

[Mdrogun]

Wow! that colony has exploded in population. can't wait until they get soldiers.

[Herdo]

 

Queen ants are always acting funny even after workers are formed.

Indeed. It seems that some founding queens do tasks like lifting and ripping apart prey for the workers.

 

 

That makes sense, considering how slow her workers are at gathering food.  They take hours to chew up a tiny mealworm cut into 3 pieces.

 

Wow! that colony has exploded in population. can't wait until they get soldiers.

 

 

They definitely did.  I'd say around 25 - 30 workers.  There aren't a lot of eggs/larva right now though.  I think the stress of moving and the lack of food slowed the queen down for a while.  Right now there are probably 10 larva and a very tiny pile of eggs.  I'm hoping the queen gets to work now that there is an abundance of food.

[drtrmiller]

If Sunburst evaporates, you can simply add more plain water to the reservoir to dilute, since the sugar should not spoil.

 

Ants do not like it when it gets too syrupy.  Also, feeding activity will be more apparent when carbs are introduced intermittently, such as for a few hours every 2-3 days, rather than fed ad libitum.

 

This way, the ants will engorge themselves, feed to nestmates and larvae, and be hungry again in a few days.

Edited by drtrmiller, July 28 2015 - 10:05 PM.

[Herdo]

If Sunburst evaporates, you can simply add more plain water to the reservoir to dilute, since the sugar should not spoil.

 

Ants do not like it when it gets too syrupy.  Also, feeding activity will be more apparent when carbs are introduced intermittently, such as for a few hours every 2-3 days, rather than fed ad libitum.

 

This way, the ants will engorge themselves, feed to nestmates and larvae, and be hungry again in a few days.

 

 

Thanks, I actually read your instructions on the wiki earlier today.  I have removed the feeder and I am going to place it back in with some slightly diluted solution for a couple hours before I take it back out.

[Ants4fun]

Umm not only is that illegal, especially non-native sp. but not very environmentally safe. Probably best to discuss this matter privately.

[Herdo]

Yea, sorry Mdrogun.  I can't legally do that.  If you lived locally I'd just give the other colony to you, but shipping queens in the mail across state borders is illegal.

[drtrmiller]

I'm going to educate people about this issue wherever I see it, because there is so much misinformation.  I don't want to start a discussion here, as there are plenty of discussions on the topic—but to just provide information in context where it is being discussed.

 

 

 

Per the Plant Protection Act, "plant pests" may not be imported, exported, or transported across state lines, regardless as to whether they are native to a particular area. Plant pests are defined as "any living stage of [an organism] that can directly or indirectly injure, cause damage to, or cause disease in any plant or plant product."

 

Because the environmental impact of many ants is unstudied, is is unclear which ant species may be classified as plant pests.

[drtrmiller]

I'm not saying anything. I don't give legal advice. I only wanted to point out the facts that many people don't know about.

 

Herdo says he isn't comfortable shipping ants, and so I would take that as his final answer.

[Pulliamj]

Call a game warden and ask them. They know everything lol. I'm sure they will tell you who to talk to about your questions.

[JakobS]

I'm not saying anything. I don't give legal advice. I only wanted to point out the facts that many people don't know about.

 

Herdo says he isn't comfortable shipping ants, and so I would take that as his final answer.

At least according to one USDA APHIS factsheet a permit is required for ants in general. Its best to double check with APHIS no matter, as in many cases they have exceptions beyond just pest status. Also individual states may have their own regulations too. With states, contacting their individual departments of agriculture or similar is highly recommended. 

 

Because the environmental impact of many ants is unstudied, is is unclear which ant species may be classified as plant pests.

 

Where would you go to figure out if they are identified as plant pests?

USDA-APHIS They do make it difficult to know exactly what needs a permit vs not, and if you are not using the ants for research or valid commercial uses that are following proper containment/control regulations the likelihood of getting a permit is unlikely. But contacting them at the phone #'s or email provided at this site should clear up any questions you may have.

Edited by JakobS, July 29 2015 - 6:40 PM.

[Ants4fun]

The issue here, I believe, is nonnative species. Especially potentially invasive ones, like pheidole. It is all to easy to lose small ants like that, I native species and unnoticed species are totally different. You might, potentially get their approval if it was a native ant, but I highly doubt it with an unnative sp.

[Herdo]

Mdrogun, I think I would have to have a permit as well in order to ship the queen.  I'm not really interested in going that route or jumping through legal loop holes to try and ship her.  Sorry buddy.

[Mdrogun]

Mdrogun, I think I would have to have a permit as well in order to ship the queen.  I'm not really interested in going that route or jumping through legal loop holes to try and ship her.  Sorry buddy.it's 

It's okay  no worries

[Herdo]

Update:  August 24th, 2015

 

 

It's been awhile since I've updated.  Looks like it's been nearly a month actually.  I decided to give the colony a bit of privacy for a while and figured I'd updated after a couple weeks.

 

Unfortunately, my best friend passed away and as you can imagine I've had little motivation to do anything for awhile now.  I'm feeling a bit better now so I figured it would be a good time to update this journal.

 

I had been getting a temporary setup together for queen #2 seeing as how she had some workers.  When I went to check on her I noticed she wasn't moving and upon further examination I realized she had died.  Not sure what did her in exactly, but I put her on a wet paper towel outside in the shade with the rest of the workers in the test tube.  I gave them some Sunburst and some water along with a large mealworm.  I've checked on them since and a few days after I saw workers in the area but the queen was nowhere to be found, so I'm not sure what happened to her.  That was probably two weeks ago.

 

As for colony #1, they seem to be doing great.  Plenty of new workers, and lots and lots of eggs/larva.  They seem to love water.  I have to refill the Lightyear ant feeder pretty much every other day.  I'm not sure how much it holds, but I would guess several ml of liquid, and the product description page on Amazon says 2ml - 8ml.  One day I came in to find the water reservoir bone dry with a worker inside it stuck to the base!  I then noticed I had accidentally left the ceiling fan on overnight, which I'm sure is what caused the water reservoir and the worker to dry out.  She was still alive so I put a drop of water on her and then carefully pealed her off.  I put her under a rock in the outworld and soaked the area around her.  I slowly watched her move more and more and after a while I came back and she was gone.

 

As for food, I've tried using larger crickets now.  They seem to respond more when I put in a cricket cut in half head to toe, as opposed to a mealworm cut up.  I've been giving them about one a day, sometimes skipping a day here and there.  For the most part they don't seem to eat much one day, but then will go nuts the next day, so I'm pretty sure they are getting enough protein.  I've also been putting some Sunburst in a Mercury feeder every 3 or so days.  Any more frequently and they don't seem to care much.

 

And now for the big news.  Majors have arrived!  Two of them to be exact.  I first noticed them on the 21st I believe.  I haven't been looking in their nest more than once or twice a week so they could have been there for a while, although they were very translucent on the 21st and now they have quite a bit more color so I'm thinking they were pretty fresh.  They don't seem to leave the nest (or even the center chamber where the queen is) at all.  They are quite a bit bigger than the minors, and their coloring is more in line with the queens.  I'm hoping with majors we can maybe get an identification, or at least narrow it down some.

 

 

 

 

 

It's apparently feeding time for everyone.

 

 

 

Two of the minors feeding each other.

 

 

 

 

 

And here is a short video I took.  You should be able to see both majors.

 

 

 

No idea how many there are now, but there are definitely more in the nest as well as quite a bit more roaming about the outworld.  When I put out a cricket I can usually count 10+ feeding.

Edited by Herdo, August 24 2015 - 4:29 PM.

[ctantkeeper]

are you giving them any carbohydrates???

[Herdo]

are you giving them any carbohydrates???

Yes, that is the Sunburst Ant Nectar I mentioned. It's a mix of sugars and minerals. Basically sugar water.