13 replies to this topic

[JCRHJM]

Received an Aeneopilosus queen and 2 nanitics today, these have always been a species I have wanted to keep. The queen was missing half a leg but she should be fine, the blue in the water was food colouring according to the seller. They have 1 cocoon, 2 large larvae a few smaller larvae. One thing about these are that they can climb fluon like its not even there, so keeping these guys contained could be challenging once they get up in numbers.

 

Nontheless, I'm looking forward to keeping these entertaining ants 

Attached Images

• 
• 
• 

[That_one_ant_guy]

Nice

[JCRHJM]

These ants are fast, like REALLY fast, not even my myrmecia nigrocincta can move it like these guys. At any disturbance the nanitics are zooming around and lunging rapidly at the air with their mandibles. So far they haven't taken in any of the mealworm pieces though they might be consuming some of it on the spot. I've got to be strategic how I do maintenance as they could run out at any time they have also sanded up their honey. They have also cut out the mouldy pieces of cotton and dumped it for me to remove which is pretty neat. Still a cocoon and a few larvae so far. Once they reach 5 workers I'm gonna move them into a formicarium to limit the chance of escapes

Edited by JCRHJM, October 17 2021 - 3:39 AM.

[BiiiigChungus]

They so cool. I would love to keep these, but sadly they arent selled where i live .

[JCRHJM]

Current update, 1 cocoon, 2 large larvae (cocoon size) 1 medium and 1 small larvae. A bit concerned there are no new eggs after a week and a half, but maybe because they are still adjusting. They are consuming honey and 1 of the nanitics has a larger gaster and tends to stay with the queen while the other worker forages. Gave them a cricket leg today and I had to wait close to 20 minutes for the worker to walk away from the edge. They didn't take the leg inside but ran around it franticly taking bites out of it. They still haven't been taking any protein  but I assume the queen has enough fat stores to supply the larvae. As of right now the workers are still using the leg as a punching bag, hopefully they don't use up all of their formic acid on it but they should have plenty of resources. 

Edited by JCRHJM, October 23 2021 - 6:57 PM.

[JCRHJM]

They have taken the cricket leg into the test tube now, things should start to get underway with this colony.

[JCRHJM]

They have moved the leg out and one of the workers is gnawing at it. This colony is probably my favourite out of all I own. 

[JCRHJM]

Colony has continued to accept cricket legs and sugar water, no new brood yet tho the pupae has appeared to darken

[JCRHJM]

I thought for a few days they had eaten their smaller larvae but lo and behold they have popped up again, they really are good at hiding their brood. 

[JCRHJM]

One of their larvae has turned into a naked pupae, it will be interesting to see if it can develop properly. Still can't see any eggs 

[JCRHJM]

I've moved on from feeding the camponotus cricket legs to mealworm pieces. They can access the protein more easily with these and after the last one the workers had swollen gasters. Hopefully this increase in protein allows the queen to start laying again. I have seen the 2 smaller larvae increase in size though.

[JCRHJM]

The camponotus are enjoying their new heat cable and are pushing their brood towards the warm side. Still 2 medium larvae, 1 large larvae, 1 cocooned pupae and 1 naked pupae with no eggs. Hopefully the heat gets the queen laying soon, but I can see eyes through the cocoon which means eclosing time is not far off and the naked pupae is looking more ant like. 

[JCRHJM]

I just caught the naked pupae being eaten by one of the workers, I will be monitoring the health of this colony closely to see if the large larvae spins a cocoon or if eggs will be produced to see if I should replace this colony. The reason being, I will be leaving the care of my ants in the hands of my family members for quite a few months some time soon and I want to make sure all colonies are in optimum shape by then.

[JCRHJM]

Big developments, the cocoon has eclosed successfully so now we have 3 workers, the naked pupae did get eaten which I did expect. The queen also appears to have laid a bunch of eggs to go along with the 2 medium sized larvae though I am not 100% sure as I haven't been checking too closely on them.