228 replies to this topic

[antsriondel]

Update! Sorry for the late reply I was trying to finish a video to go with this. 

 

Liometopum colony: They have been growing at a great rate but unfortunately that was slowed last week as their heating cable broke and they have missed the heat. Fortunately I managed to buy a new one and it arrived yesterday along with a blacklight for catching more Queens.

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=BN7LMoXAfwg

 

I also brought all of my other colonies out of hibernation! 

 

Manica Queen: She still has four larvae and has been getting more active as she wakes up. 

 

 

Camponotus hurculeanus colony: She has only one worker and still refuses to move into the nest (Probably because the outworld is in total dark). I will continue to feed them and hopefully she bounces back. 

 

 

Lasius americanus Queen: Hopefully she will lay eggs soon as I really want to raise one of these colonies.

 

 

Thanks for reading my journal! God bless. 

[antsriondel]

Update!

 

Liometopum luctuosum colony: They are doing nicely! Hopefully their larvae will start to develop faster but other than that they are doing great (Queen Samah has been pumping out those eggs  ) 

 

 

 

 

Manica Queen: One of her larvae looks like it is about to spin a cocoon which is exciting. Hopefully that happens as I am so excited to see what her workers would look like.

 

 

Camponotus hurculeanus colony: They finally moved into the nest and I will start to feed them more often as they need to get more workers to survive.

 

 

Lasius americanus: I have no idea why this Queen still has not lain eggs. I think she could be infertile, but I will still hope that she can start a colony.

 

 

Here is a short video of my ant room: https://www.youtube....h?v=P0E9A7QHsEo

 

Thanks for reading my journal, God bless. 

[antsriondel]

Update!

 

Liometopum luctuosum: They have become increasingly more active, and have around ten nice size workers. I would not call them majors as they are not easily recognizable but they are still pretty large. 

 

 

 

 

Manica Queen: Unfortunately one of her larvae died after hibernation, but on the plus side the other larvae are a few days from pupating. 

 

 

Camponotus hurculeanus: I woke up a few days ago to this Queen eating her last worker..... Luckily she did manage to lay some eggs so I'm hoping they survive.

 

 

Lasius: I believe this Queen is a dud. Hopefully I can catch another Queen of this species this year.

 

Thank you for reading my journal! God bless. 

 

 

 

 

 

[antsriondel]

Update! I will be gone this weekend so Expect less activity here.

 

Liometopum luctuosum: They have slowed down as we recently got a whole ton of snow and everything got really cold outside. 

 

 

 

They were very active in their outworld today, making massive trails all over their outworld.

 

 

Manica Queen: At this point I do not know when her larvae will pupate as they just keep getting bigger.

 

 

Camponotus Queen: She ate all of her eggs but two. I unfortunately do not think she will make it. 

 

 

Lasius Queen: This might be the last time I update on her as she still has not laid any eggs which is a sign of infertility. 

 

 

Thanks for all of the support so far on this journal. God bless. 

Edited by antsriondel, March 1 2024 - 6:42 AM.

[100lols]

Awesome updates!!! The ladies are looking good.

The Camponotus queen probably needs some alone time for awhile. Likely stressed.

[antsriondel]

Update! I missed last weeks update because of a family trip, and when I got back I decided to wait till Queen Carmine got a pupae.

 

Here is a video of the Liometopum and the Manica colonies: https://www.youtube....h?v=uZS2jvITan0

 

Liometopum luctuosum: They are doing well and have plenty of larvae but have seriously slowed down as I was unable to feed them for a few days but now should start to have massive piles of pupae.

 

 

 

 

Manica invidia colony: Pupae! She finally has a pupae! Unfortunately when I came back one of the larvae had failed to pupate but the other larvae succeeded in pupating. She now has one pupae, one massive larvae, and a pile of eggs.

 

 

Camponotus hurculeanus: She played another pile of eggs so hopefully they last to make it to workers.

 

 

Thanks for reading my journal! God bless. 

[antsriondel]

Wow sorry for the late update on this I have been so busy the last month, but now I'm back!

 

Liometopum luctuosum: They have been growing slowly as I have been gone for such a long time, but they still have plenty of brood and workers.

 

 

 

Manica Queen: I came back from my trip to find this Queen with zero brood and this in her outworld:

Her only pupae failed to make it to "worker hood". I am worried she won't make it but I am stumped as to why this happened. 

 

Camponotus Queen: This Queen has a low likelihood of survival so I am going to move her into a test tube and see if she can make it.

 

 

Thanks for reading my journal! God bless. 

[antsriondel]

I'm back! Man, it has been a long time since I last updated this journal, so get ready for a doozy.

 

Liometopum luctuosum: Wow this colony got big, I mean they must be close to 700 workers by now with so many more on the way. They actually got so big I had to add a Tarheel ants mini hearth which is now full of workers.

I have been trying to limit their growth by feeding them less protein which has worked so far, but with the summer heat this colony was having at least 20 workers hatch per day. Hopefully I will be able to get this colony into the thousands but for now I would rather them stay small for lack of space. I am also hesitant to drop $200-$300 on a new nest.

 

 

 

Manica invidia Queen: For some reason this Queen does not seem to want workers, as every time she gets a pupae it dies. At this point I have no idea what to do. I have tried brood boosting her which failed terribly. Any help would be appreciated.

 

 

Thanks for reading my journal! I will try to post weekly but I might miss it somedays. Hope everyone has a good week, God bless. 

Edited by antsriondel, August 25 2024 - 3:27 PM.

[antsriondel]

Hey, I did say I would try to post weekly so here I am. 

 

Liometopum luctuosum: I literally just realized how big this colony has gotten in the past 3-5 months. Like they have pretty much doubled in size and are showing no signs of slowing down. I have been trying to limit their growth by feeding them way less than I should ( I am a bad pet keeper, I know) but they have still managed to just completely go crazy. I might just have to buy them a new formicarium.

 

 

 

Manica Queen: For some reason this Queen will not lay any more eggs and this will be the last update on her unless she finally starts a colony.

 

 

Thanks for reading my journal! I will try to make make a video about a new colony I have and will hopefully show it to you guys ( and gals) soon.