231 replies to this topic

[antsriondel]

It is the end of an era. An era of Night Runners. I took Queen Moonwatcher out of hibernation a few days ago but today she ended her reign as Queen of the Night Runners. I am very sad to say that the Night Runners have died. May they Rest In Peace. 

Edited by antsriondel, February 20 2023 - 7:31 PM.

[antsriondel]

It has been a while, here is a big update, with pictures! Yay! 

 

Liometopum colony one: This colony has grown and grown, and are around three hundred workers. They have surprisingly slowed down, but I have started to feed one to two mealworms per day and Queen Abigail is pumping out those eggs. 

 

 

Liometopum colony three: Queen Sierra is such a beautiful Queen and her colony should get their first majors this year. 

 

 

The Darkwings: Wow, Queen Glory went to work. They have over twelve pupae, over ten larvae of different sizes, and an egg pile of over twenty. The larvae and egg pile are hard to see as they are in one of the plugged up exits. This colony is on pace to get over two hundred workers this year.

 

 

The Formica (red): This colony finally laid an egg but it is hidden underneath the Queen.

 

 

Camponotus hurculeanus: This colony hopefully will get over fifty workers but it is more likely that they only get twenty-five workers. The Queen has also layed the first batch of eggs for this year.

 

 

I have also moved the Aphaenogaster to the terrarium, so go check it out! 

Anyway, I hope that you can have a great day, God bless. 

Edited by antsriondel, March 2 2023 - 4:14 PM.

[antsriondel]

Okay sad update, My largest Liometopum colony has escaped. I neglected reapplying their barrier and now one quarter of the colony has escaped including Queen Abigail. Has anyone ever recaptured one of their escaped colonies, because if so I would greatly appreciate any help.

 

Now there is some good news as the Darkwings have finally got their first worker of 2023, with many more to come.

 

Anyways I hope that everyone has a good day, God bless.

Edited by antsriondel, March 17 2023 - 6:29 AM.

[ANTdrew]

OUCH

[antsriondel]

Sorry for the long wait nothing has really happened with my liometopum or camponotus colonies, But The Darkwings have had a boom in population.

 

Liometopum luctuosum colony three: I decided to introduce one of the ants from my largest escaped colony as an experiment and they excepted her with gratitude and guess what? She was a major! Other than that nothing has happened in this colonies growth.

 

The Darkwings: Wow this colony has around twenty five workers and Queen Glory has been pumping out a nice amount of eggs, they should reach fifty workers really soon.

 

Camponotus hurculeanus: Their larvae are developing really nicely and all their eggs have hatched.

 

Well that is all I have for you today, God bless. 

[antsriondel]

Sorry for the long wait nothing has serious was happening.

 

Liometopum colony three: They have been eating nicely which prompted Queen Sierra to lay a massive pile of eggs and they should take off rather soon. 

 

The Darkwings: They have three new workers and an increased amount of feeding should really help them out.

 

Camponotus hurculeanus: Two new workers just hatched with three more coming. Hurculeanus has been much more fun to keep compared to modoc.

 

I hope everyone has a good day, God bless! 

[antsriondel]

Big update coming tomorrow!

[antsriondel]

Sorry for the late update totally forgot about this. Anyways, here is a big update with pictures!

 

The Darkwings: Been doing great as always, have started to lay more eggs (sorry could not get them to show in the photos) and Queen Glory has been thriving. I have said it before and will say it again: This is my favourite colony I have.

 

 

The Lios: They have a few pupae and they just moved into a new test tube today! Queen Sierra is laying tons of eggs (pumping them out if I dare say  ) and they should be at fifty plus workers by the end of next month.

 

 

Camponotus hurculeanus: They have seven workers, with many more on the way. They have been eating ample amounts of food and are getting more confident in eating their prey. Also the ants you can see in their watering section are the escaped Liometopum colony one workers that are somehow miraculously still alive and drink the water I put in there. I need to do something about it. 

 

 

New colonies!

 

Formica pacifica colonies: I found this colony under a rock with only her first two nanitics and decided to collect them as I wanted to keep a colony of these. I also found a single founding queen and decided to keep her as well.

 

 

New Lio colony: I caught this Queen around three weeks ago and she is already nearly at the pupae stage. I have decided to name her Queen Samah.

 

 

New Tapinoma colony: I have always wanted a multi-Queen colony so when I caught these three Queens I was excited to see if they could start a super colony.

 

 

Thank you for reading my journal, God bless! 

Edited by antsriondel, July 2 2023 - 1:59 PM.

[antsriondel]

Man looking back at this journal brings me to tears. I want to thank all of those who have encouraged me during my tenure on Formiculture.

[antsriondel]

And now the saddest news on this journal. Queen Glory has died. I do not know the reason to her death which saddens me even more.     

[Ant-nig321]

My condolences

Sent from my TECNO BD4h using Tapatalk

[Ernteameise]

Oh no!

[antsriondel]

Queen Samah has workers! This species egg to work length is insane! Just out of curiosity, is this the fastest growing ant species on earth?

 

 

Thanks for reading my journal! God bless! 

[antsriondel]

Sorry for the late update have been busy with work the past couple of days.

 

Liometopum colony four ( The new colony I caught this year): They have been growing nicely and should be at a few hundred before the end of the year but are currently enjoying being at ten to fifteen workers.

 

Liometopum colony three: Doing well and are finally at the larvae stage in brood development. For some reason they have been developing really slowly, hopefully lots of feeding will help.

 

Camponotus hurculeanus: Doing well, I am currently moving them into a new prototype nest I made myself. 

[antsriondel]

Wow I have really neglected this journal but that is about to change! I will be doing weekly updates on my ants and ant colonies.

 

Liometopum colony three: This colony has been trying to get a pupae this entire year and have finally succeeded in their quest. They have around four to five pupae with more on the way.

 

 

Liometopum colony four: This colony is doing great and are on pace to reach one hundred workers before next year.

 

 

 

Camponoyus hurculeanus: I moved them into a personal ant nest except they would not move and live in their outworld which makes it impossible to feed them without stressing the Queen. If anyone can help me fix this problem it would be of great help.

 

 

Lasius colonies: I managed to find two lasius Americans Queens so here's hoping one successfully starts a colony.

 

 

Manica species: She layed eggs! I am so excited for this colony.

 

 

And.... Drumroll please... Pheidole anastasii! Pheidole has been my dream species ever since I got into ant keeping so when Canada Ant Colony had them for sale I jumped at the opportunity. So far they have five workers with a larvae and a small pile of eggs (sorry for the bad photos does anyone know a cheap, but good quality macro lens?)

 

 

I hope every one has a good day god bless. 

Edited by antsriondel, September 7 2023 - 7:38 AM.

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

As far as them in the right nest goes.
I'd just say that the ants choose to be where they find conditions most optimal.

You can just try to make conditions where you want them more perfect and conditions where you don't want them, unlike they like.

They will choose the conditions they prefer eventually.

With the ants i keep, they prefer warmer over colder, darker over lighter, and humid over dry.
So letting the outworld get dry, cold, and kept under light. While the nest is humid, dark and warmer, would entice them to move.
 

Though specific conditions relative to your ants is what to try and archive where you want them to nest, and be opposite of where you don't want them to nest.
 

Edited by Full_Frontal_Yeti, September 7 2023 - 11:32 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Remove the lid of the outworld and direct a fan towards them.

[antsriondel]

Update! 

 

Liometopum colony three: Their pupae are developing but have not started to darken. Queen Sierra has layed a nice pile of eggs and their brood pile is increasing in size by the day.

 

 

Liometopum colony four: They are doing great and Queen Samah has been laying eggs like crazy. They are over fifty workers but are on pace for one hundred before year end.

 

 

Camponotus hurculeanus: They are still in their outworld! No matter what I try wether that is putting a fan above their outworld for THREE DAYS they will not move.

 

 

Pheidole anastasii: I do not know how they did this but three of their workers managed to escape through the cotton block. I reinforced and they are doing great even with a reduced worker population. They have two larvae one way bigger than the other

(Major larvae?) and a good pile of eggs. I love this colony (and I am also searching for names)

 

 

Manica Queen: Doing good still just a pile of eggs but that is expected. 

 

 

Lasius Queens: I only took a picture of one of these Queens as I don't think the other is fertile. She has decided to not lay eggs. Is this normal after three weeks in my care?

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to read my journal! God bless. 

 

[antsriondel]

Hello! It is update time!

 

Liometopum colony three: Doing good and I think they just got a new worker! This has taken forever and I am so happy for them.

 

 

Liometopum colony four: They are doing great! I would estimate they are somewhere around 75-80 workers and have some major larvae in the brood pile! 

 

 

Pheidole colony: Okay I need help guys, both of their workers randomly died so the colony is down to zero workers and one larvae. Does anyone have any advice? Is this Queen doomed?

 

 

Camponotus hurculeanus colony: One of their workers finally decided to try out their nest but ran out quickly after I had taken a photo.

 

 

Manica colony: Doing great! I believe she has some larvae but it is hard to tell.

 

 

Lasius Queen: Still no eggs.

 

Thanks for reading my journal! God bless. 

[Jonathan5608]

Give the pheidole queen some nectar and don’t touch her for two weeks

Edited by Jonathan5608, September 21 2023 - 6:33 PM.