35 replies to this topic

[Arachnids]

Introduction

I have been the owner of this colony, purchased from tarheelants, for the past 2 months. The first several posts will detail everything that has occured up to now. Once I am caught up, I will post current content. 

 

 

Ordering

I ended up ordering things that I don't actually need, like the fluon (P. occidentalis are clumsy) and the carb food mix (sugar water is easier). Shipping was between 4 and 5 weeks from order confirmation to arrival at my home in Boston, MA. 

 

 

[futurebird]

If you feed Pogonomyrmex seeds, you don't need to give them sugar water. I give mine only seeds, with protein as an occasional treat in the form of crickets, fruit flies, mealworms and wet cat food. 

 

but in theory it's fine to just give them the seeds and nothing else.  looking forward to whatever else happened. 

[Arachnids]

July 2021

For the first month after receiving the colony I was out of state for work. As a result, I had my brother look after them. From what I gathered, the colony first tried to settle in the outworld. However, after setting up an aquarium air pump, they quickly resettled into the nest.

The colony came in a large test tube which was simply placed in the outworld with the cap off. The THA nest I'm using has two water wells on opposite sides of the nest. After one side dries out, the other side is watered so that the temporary dry period prevents mold from growing.

 

These photos were taken 10 days after receiving the ants.

 

You can see in this second photo that the colony has started collecting seed stores. Also, significant condensation can be seen toward the left side of the photo. This is part of the nest's design to ensure that the colony has a gradient of humidity to locate their brood within. 

Edited by Arachnids, September 2 2021 - 1:47 AM.

[Arachnids]

If you feed Pogonomyrmex seeds, you don't need to give them sugar water. I give mine only seeds, with protein as an occasional treat in the form of crickets, fruit flies, mealworms and wet cat food. 

 

but in theory it's fine to just give them the seeds and nothing else.  looking forward to whatever else happened. 

Good to know! I have yet to try any protein other than seeds. Also, I shall try removing the sugar water.

[TacticalHandleGaming]

My pogonomyrmex occidentalis colony has a diet of sunburst ant nectar, dandelion seeds, chia seeds, poppy seeds, fruit flies, and fish food flakes. They love it all. I put fluon in their outworld, as they can actually jump a bit, and have attempted to escape. Mack posted a video demonstrating that in the FB group.

[Arachnids]

My pogonomyrmex occidentalis colony has a diet of sunburst ant nectar, dandelion seeds, chia seeds, poppy seeds, fruit flies, and fish food flakes. They love it all. I put fluon in their outworld, as they can actually jump a bit, and have attempted to escape. Mack posted a video demonstrating that in the FB group.

Wow what a diversity! Any benefit (or harm) to adding sunburst nectar?

[TacticalHandleGaming]

 

My pogonomyrmex occidentalis colony has a diet of sunburst ant nectar, dandelion seeds, chia seeds, poppy seeds, fruit flies, and fish food flakes. They love it all. I put fluon in their outworld, as they can actually jump a bit, and have attempted to escape. Mack posted a video demonstrating that in the FB group.

Wow what a diversity! Any benefit (or harm) to adding sunburst nectar?

 

 

My pogonomyrmex occidentalis seem to enjoy it. I haven't noticed any issues, and their small social stomachs always seem to have it. So I assume they like it? I started with about 20 workers and now have enough to move them from a fallen fortress to a labyrinth. 

[Arachnids]

August 20, 2021

On Aug 20th I arrived home from working out of state. Finally, I could meet my new colony. The first thing I did was rig up my dissection scope and usb scope cam to take photos of the nest.

Here is a photo of the photography setup I use.

 

Below are a few photos I took.

 

Workers tending larvae and pupae atop the water tower. You can see several larvae on the left side are chewing on something. I think this is probably protein extracted from the seeds.

 

 

Larvae feeding. What are they feeding on? Could it be seed protein?

 

 

Workers have relocated some of the brood to a seed store chamber. I wonder why they would do this? Could it be that the humidity and temperature conditions are conducive for both seed (sprouting?, storage?) and brood maintenance?

 

 

The Queen

Her size dwarfs the other workers. She is fairly hyper and will travel from one end of the nest to the other if she is disrupted. 

 

 

[Arachnids]

Timeline of the nest colonization (so far)

July 11

 

Aug 21

 

 

 

Edited by Arachnids, September 2 2021 - 7:10 AM.

[TacticalHandleGaming]

I recommend not overwatering your water towers, and putting the heat cable on the top of the nest. It will help prevent moisture build up, and thus the colony won't gum up the glass. Also, I'd put the heat cable over chambers farther away from the water towers, if possible. 

Edited by TacticalHandleGaming, September 2 2021 - 7:06 AM.

[Arachnids]

I recommend not overwatering your water towers, and putting the heat cable on the top of the nest. It will help prevent moisture build up, and thus the colony won't gum up the glass. Also, I'd put the heat cable over chambers farther away from the water towers, if possible. 

Good to know. I do have my cable on the furthest chambers from the water towers. However, I will try moving the cable to the top of the setup/

[Arachnids]

Observations on Graveyard Behavior 

Workers carry dead individuals to the same "trash pile" they use for seed hulls and feces. This happens to be right against the outworlds nestmate port.

Image from Sept. 2

 

Workers also carry individuals that are not dead but appear to be injured or dying. On one occasion, I noticed an ant that was injured getting carried by a worker to the trash pile. The injured ant seemed to resist as it pushed back with its legs as if to say "No! I'm not dead yet stupid!"

 

This photo shows the injured ant, curled up at the bottom of the frame, and the worker that will soon be carrying it just above. 

 

This shows the worker and one other making some sort of sensory interaction with the dying ant. I wonder if this is how they assess the health of the ant. 

 

This shows the worker trying to relocate the dying ant to the trash pile. The dying ant is actively resisting by pressing its legs out and forward. 

[Arachnids]

So yesterday (perhaps too impulsively) I fed the colony a small cricket from my local pet shop. They enthusiastically accepted the protein, but to my surprise, they brought the entire cricket into the nest. Not only that, but after checking the nest a few hours later, the cricket was no where to be found. Not in the nest nor the outworld. I really hope I didn't offer too much protein for this small of a colony. And I hope they didn't bury the cricket in their seed stores. 

[Photos coming]

Edited by Arachnids, September 4 2021 - 2:32 PM.

[Arachnids]

[Arachnids]

Nest update

September 3

September 4

[Arachnids]

I tried feeding poppy seeds and the pile was gone in less than 12 hours. I guess they seem to like it. 

 

My pogonomyrmex occidentalis colony has a diet of sunburst ant nectar, dandelion seeds, chia seeds, poppy seeds, fruit flies, and fish food flakes. They love it all. I put fluon in their outworld, as they can actually jump a bit, and have attempted to escape. Mack posted a video demonstrating that in the FB group.

Edited by Arachnids, September 4 2021 - 2:46 PM.

[futurebird]

Nice. I may give my girls some poppy seeds. 

 

As for the queen being active I think that's very typical for Pogonomyrmex. She never really lies down and just rests like my camponotus queens who are big lazy bones. She marches from one place to the next and if I make a vibration she's on her way to check it out. I think they are just aggressive. 

 

I have my Pogonomyrmex in a "traditional style" sand frame "ant farm" made of glass, and they also have a small nest area that they outgrew months ago but I don't know how to get them to totally leave. 

[Arachnids]

Sept. 5

 

 

Feeding

After the colony accepted the poppy seeds I decided I should withhold seeds for a little bit. Their stores are filling up with seeds and there's more seeds (either dandelion or bluegrass) in the outworld that they haven't touched yet. 

Also, I purchased other seeds from my grocery store to experiment with:

• Celery
• Poppy
• Dill
• Sesame 
• Chia
• Flax

 

[Arachnids]

I recently did a little watercolor study on the temperature gradient in the nest. The temp ranged from 72-82 F

[TacticalHandleGaming]

I look forward to watching your colony grow. I feel like our queens are racing each other now.