32 replies to this topic

[GreekAnts]

Hello, Today I got my first messor ant colony from alex-barty and I am so excited!!
I wanted to make a journal so I can track the colony's growth and share it with you, so here it is!
This is a messor sp colony (I don't know the exact species)  with 1 queen and 15-20 workers, they live inside a test tube connected to a plastic box that act as their outworld, they seem healthy and they have a lot of brood!

Here the pictures!





I will try to update often, maybe weekly or 2 times a week, I will see how things will go.
They have another chamber with seeds in the test tube I just forgot to photograph it, will do another time.

Edited by GreekAnts, November 2 2021 - 5:58 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Good luck! Enjoy the journey.

[GreekAnts]

Good luck! Enjoy the journey.

Thank you so much!

[GreekAnts]

I returned home from vacations and they look to be doing fine, they are eating a frozen beetle larvae that I boiled for them and a piece of raw fish that I caught.
their larvae seems to have grown and be healthy, I like this colony so much!!!
 

[GreekAnts]

After I gave them the fish, I had to change their outworld because it smelled like rotten fish (I don't plan to give them again any time soon.. )  and it was too small for them anyway,
Here their new setup 

I gave them more seeds yesterday and they stopped forage outside their nest which turns out to be normal, I was kinda worried so this morning I checked on them and saw them eating their bread stuff and saw like 5-7 newly hatched workers and 10+ larvae, I am so happy for them!

[GreekAnts]

Forgot to mention, the worker count might be like 25-30 and that their setup has a lid with cotton that I place when I am not around.

[GreekAnts]

Today I checked on them again and oh boy, I couldn't believe my eyes, we got a ton of larvae and pupae!!! I guess I was blind and didn't see that, I took some quick photos with my camera and I then noticed it, anyway here the photos so you can enjoy them too!!!

Edited by GreekAnts, September 2 2021 - 10:56 AM.

[GreekAnts]

Today the messors got a new bigger outworld with a tiny pot with some plants just for the fun and a small ytong nest with a fresh test tube on it to have the choice to move in if they want.



They also got new seeds these days, chia,linseeds and some grass seeds, can't wait for them to grow more so I can see them forage outside more often!

[GreekAnts]

Small update: I removed the ytong nest from the setup because the ants was not interested on it at all and I found a dead worker

[GreekAnts]

Today 2 more workers found dead in the outworld, I checked on the colony and they seem healthy and they have a lot of larvae and pupae, I spotted a pretty large pupae too (maybe major)
I cleaned their outworld and reapplied a new barrier just in case, I collected the seeds from the outworld too to replace them with new ones, here some pictures too:
 

[ANTdrew]

Off to a great start.

[TestSubjectOne]

I've followed your search for a while now, so I'm glad that you finally got a colony. I wouldn't worry too much about dead workers. I have read that Messor workers have short lifespans and my Veromessor had a high mortality rate early on too.

[GreekAnts]

Thank you so much for the answers! ,its my first colony so I was kinda worried because I thought I did something wrong or that I gave them something bad to eat, they seem all healthy so I am not worried now, thanks again for the info.

[GreekAnts]

The first major arrived!!!! 

[antgallery]

Ohhh their major's are so cool! Nice colony! 

[GreekAnts]

Ohhh their major's are so cool! Nice colony! 

Thanks, a guy told me that's the media, so it turns out its a media worker after all but still is amazing! 

[GreekAnts]

Hello again, I wanted to post something here so have some new photos  :

Edited by GreekAnts, September 22 2021 - 3:27 AM.

[antgallery]

Lots of brood! Very nice!

[GreekAnts]

The messors are doing fine and have a ton of brood!!! they gonna explode in population soon!!

[antgallery]

What seeds are you feeding them?