35 replies to this topic

[Arachnids]

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

i know I'm loving this vibe! I'm at about 100 workers so far.


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[Arachnids]

Nest Time-lapse (July - September)

 

July 11

 

 

Aug 21

 

 

 

Sept. 4

 

Sept. 5

 

Sept. 6

 

Sept. 7

 

Sept. 8

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Arachnids, September 8 2021 - 4:33 PM.

[Arachnids]

Sept. 8 Population Estimates

Workers: 100

Eggs: ??

Larvae: 30

Pupae: 7

Queen: 1

[TacticalHandleGaming]

Sept. 8 Population Estimates

Workers: 100

Eggs: ??

Larvae: 30

Pupae: 7

Queen: 1

I've noticed I have a hard time finding the egg pile sometimes, as often a worker is holding them all at one of the water towers.

[Arachnids]

Sept. 8 Population Estimates
Workers: 100
Eggs: ??
Larvae: 30
Pupae: 7
Queen: 1

I've noticed I have a hard time finding the egg pile sometimes, as often a worker is holding them all at one of the water towers.

Mine do the same thing. Really cool observation! ty


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[futurebird]

I've been compiling photos of ants holding eggs since they seem to do it so often. I think a valid ant "job" is "egg holder"



I've caught nearly all of my colonies doing it... including, as you can see the Pogonomyrmex.

[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

So far the ants LOVE the poppy seeds. Even more than bluegrass and dandelion seeds. The seeds disappear from the outworld in mere hours.

I tried seasame seeds, and they gave it a shot and brought some into the nest, leaving the rest of the pile untouched in the outworld. In the end, they brought the seeds back to the outworld and dumped them all in the trash pile.

Then I tried celery seed. They hated this. Haven't touched a single seed, but also havent brought to the trash pile yet.

Stay tuned for more trials!


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Edited by Arachnids, September 16 2021 - 4:16 AM.

[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.

Further Graveyard Observations

So earlier this month, I noticed some workers carrying a not-yet-dead ant to the graveyard. This current observation is of a two workers who were licking and trying to feed a completely dead worker. It was as if they were trying to revive it or were in denial about its death or something.

Questions
Why would some ants be carried to the graveyard before they die while others die without being dragged to the graveyard immediately, and get licked by the other workers??

Did the second ant come from a higher class or have a better reputation or something?






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[futurebird]

Ants are all about efficiency. They don't have social classes or levels. If an ant can be nursed back to health to serve the colony she will be. If she is too far gone she probably won't. There is a smell, a pheromone that makes ants want to take their sisters to the graveyard. In an experiment a scientists put this scent on healthy ants and they were carried to the graveyard against their will. (and they'd just walk back to the nest, eventually the pheromone wore off)

 

Sometimes I've seen ants moving an ant to the graveyard AND trying to nurse her back to health. Not all cases are clear cut. 

[Arachnids]

Ants are all about efficiency. They don't have social classes or levels. If an ant can be nursed back to health to serve the colony she will be. If she is too far gone she probably won't. There is a smell, a pheromone that makes ants want to take their sisters to the graveyard. In an experiment a scientists put this scent on healthy ants and they were carried to the graveyard against their will. (and they'd just walk back to the nest, eventually the pheromone wore off)

Sometimes I've seen ants moving an ant to the graveyard AND trying to nurse her back to health. Not all cases are clear cut.

Thank you for the knowledge. I did a little searching on the topic.

What I have learned:

I believe the study [mention]futurebird [/mention] meantioned is E.O. Wilson in the 1950s. Feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken.

The behavior (carrying ants to graveyard) is called necrophoresis.

While browsing google scholar, I happened to find a publication on necrophiresis in P. occidentalis (Zelagin, 2015). I have provided a pdf link below. This study examines the ants in their natural habitat and found that the ants did not have designated graveyards. Instead they, rather indiscriminately, discard their deceased away from the nest. The study found that dead ants from foreign colonies were dispersed further away from the nest than those from the same colony. The author suggests that this could be a adaptation for preventing infectation from diseases of other colonies.

https://core.ac.uk/d...df/54847407.pdf


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[Arachnids]

September 23, 2021

[Arachnids]

Current Population Estimates

100 Workers

10 Pupae

20 Larvae

1 Queen

Total: 131

[Arachnids]

Seed Experiments

 

I have been testing out different types of seeds to qualitatively understand their food preferences. So far, Celery Seed was completely rejected. ​A few Sesame Seeds were initially brought into the nest, however they ended up moving the rest to the garbage pile. Chia and Poppy seeds would disappear in just a few hours after I put them in the outworld. They seemed to prefer these over the Dandelion and the Bluegrass. 

 

I suspect their preferences are close to this (1 being most preferred):

1. Poppy
2. Chia
3. Bluegrass
4. Dandelion
5. Bluegrass
6. Sesame
7. Celery

Next trials will be for Dill and Flax

[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.

 

You are right about the fish flakes. My colony loves them!

[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.

 

You are right about the fish flakes. My colony loves them!

 

 

Yeah, my colony always gets super excited about them. They take them straight to the larvae every time. 

[TacticalHandleGaming]

Any updates on how this colony is doing?