Camponotus castaneus
Colony is now up to 11 workers with at least 3 or 4 more pupae. Hard to see due to the test tube insert. These ants continue to be very skittish, even adding fruit flies freaked them out, but they calm down relatively quickly. They seem to prefer meal worms over fruit flies and sugar water over honey. They have munched on a jellybean.
as a note, male alates of this species have been flying in my area, but no queens yet. I hope to get a queen or two this year, but we will see.
Camponotus discolor
This colony is doing well, and are fun to watch. They are up to 9 workers, and two have died. I assume from old age, as everyone looks healthy. These girls definitely prefer fruit flies but will take mealworms as well. The are awesome to watch as they hunt down the fruit flies. Little killing machines! I attached a second THA mini to the colony since the outworld of the first mini had some sort of fungus take over. I plugged up the contaminated outworld and they don’t seem to mind going to the second outworld. The colony remains in the first mini with a nice pile of brood and eggs. I count 5 more pupae in the pike. They could care less about light or being disturbed. If anyone is looking for a fun, easy Camponotus species, I highly recommend.
Camponotus Ocreatus
This colony has been a disappointment and I’m not really sure what I’ve done wrong. Two ants eclosed, but they were shriveled and seem to be dead when eaten out of their cocoon. The 5 workers have all since died. There were two pupae, and one looked yellowish and one was white. The queen also has a couple of eggs. The yellow pupae disappeared but the white one remains. I’m thinking the prognosis for this colony is not good.
Camponotus pennsylvanicus
Hard to tell through the red film, and I don’t want to move the test tube, but it appears there are several pupae and some eggs
Camponotus vicinus
This queen is a fighter. It appears that there are two pupae and several eggs and brood. Again, it’s hard to see exactly what is going on through the red film and I don’t want to move the test tube. I’m hopeful that she’ll eventually found a colony.
other items
caught some queens the other night. Thanks to the folks here on the forum, I think three of them are Pheidole. The other 5 are even smaller and I am unable to get any sort of decent picture. They are all black and very small. I am still hopeful that I will catch the Camponotus castaneus nuptial flight.
