30 replies to this topic

[azzaaazzzz00]

Note: I've never been good at keeping semi-claustral queens, I'll be asking quite a few questions...prepare

ANYways, I caught this queen on May 15. I was sooooo close to letting her die because I had not springtails. Luckily I found 2 springtails taking a swim in a puddle (I may have blasted a hole in the dirt I made with a hose, washing them out). She hasn't gotten eggs as far as I know. Pictures when I caught her (I will take up to date pictures today sometime):

That's it for the moment!

[Lamarr]

Raising a semi-claustral queen is a challenge! Hopefully, she will lay eggs soon.

Edited by Lamarr, May 21 2022 - 11:10 AM.

[azzaaazzzz00]

I hope so too, the sand in the test tube might make it hard to see eggs/brood. Here are the pictures I took yesterday, forgot to put them on here though . You can see the springtails I fed her in the little nest hole she made. The second springtail is hid by the one in front:

sorry for the terrible quality... I want to get a good camera this year for my birthday so people won't have to stand for ants that look like blobs.

Edited by azzaaazzzz00, May 21 2022 - 12:01 PM.

[azzaaazzzz00]

Updateee: Today I saw that the she has puilt a mini nest with the sand. The it has 3 entrances, I'm glad to see she is building although I will have no idea if she has eggs or not considering it will probably be inside the nest. I gave her more sand in case she would like to expand a bit.

Edited by azzaaazzzz00, May 22 2022 - 10:21 AM.

[azzaaazzzz00]

Not really and update sort of update but today I accidentally nocked down a teeny tiny dit of her sand tower. I also peeked into the little chambers and saw some white ovals, not sure if their eggs or just sand. They were pretty spread apart soooo I'm guessing it's sand. I'll try to get pictures, their pretty small

Edited by azzaaazzzz00, May 23 2022 - 1:59 PM.

[bmb1bee]

I'd say that some darker substrate, like dirt, would be better to see the eggs. No need to change anything right now though.

[azzaaazzzz00]

Ok, thanks how would I move the queen into a new test tube? because she already built a tiny nest would she be willing to leave it?

[bmb1bee]

I wouldn't change anything to the test tube at this point. She may already have eggs, a darker substrate would just be easier to see them in, but you already have sand in the tube. Getting her to switch right now would probably stress her out and cause her to eat her eggs, if she does have any. Not to mention that transferring her to another tube might cause her to lose some eggs.

[azzaaazzzz00]

I caught a tube of springtails today, I'm going to try to culture them to feed the queen. What should I give the springtails to eat?

[FloridaAnts]

I caught a tube of springtails today, I'm going to try to culture them to feed the queen. What should I give the springtails to eat?

Yeast, rice, and moldy substances are good food for springtails. They literally multiply in just a dozen days.

[azzaaazzzz00]

By rice do you mean cooked?

[FloridaAnts]

I believe either works, as it just needs to mold.

[azzaaazzzz00]

oh so do I leave the rice in the test tube to mold? I'm putting in a few cooked rice grains because I feel like it would mold faster (I really don't know).

[azzaaazzzz00]

I dumped the springtails into the queens test tube. It was really difficult because the springtails kept jumping around, and then one genius springtail had the awsome idea of taking a tour of my face. After I got all the springtails I could catch in the test tube, I realized the queen escaped...I freaked out but saw the queen holding a dead springtail confused and running in circles. I picked her up and got her in the test tube but unfortunatly she lost her prized springtail. I really hope she has eggs now, I still have to check everyday to see if she's able to catch the live springtails (or if she even bothers). I'll have to go back to hunting down springtails everyday again if she can't catch the ones in the tube. I'll try getting pictures today,  maybe tommorow.

Edited by azzaaazzzz00, May 29 2022 - 10:38 AM.

[bmb1bee]

You should try out a Petri dish setup, since it seems like test tubes are hard to feed springtails to your queen with. All you need is a Petri dish and some damp soil (at least that’s what I used for my Hypoponera queen).

[FloridaAnts]

You should try out a Petri dish setup, since it seems like test tubes are hard to feed springtails to your queen with. All you need is a Petri dish and some damp soil (at least that’s what I used for my Hypoponera queen).

Sorry to sort of clutter the journal, but do they not dig too deep in it? Or is it just until they get workers? I may try this with other semi-claustral queens.

Also, why don’t you put a Cotten ball and straw in the center? It would have to be small so I guess it wouldn’t do much.(Could she fit through a coffe stir?). This would replicate a nest and outworld so you could put springtails in one area, and she could nest in the other.

Edited by FloridaAnts, May 29 2022 - 12:18 PM.

[azzaaazzzz00]

You should try out a Petri dish setup, since it seems like test tubes are hard to feed springtails to your queen with. All you need is a Petri dish and some damp soil (at least that’s what I used for my Hypoponera queen).

Yea I'll try that, I was thinking about it but remembered that I have no fluon or barrier, but now you brought it up, I forgot that Ponera Pennsylvanica can't climb smooth surfaces. I'm a little worried that the queen might build her way out with substrate or that she gets killed from intruders (ants, spiders, etc.).

 

 

You should try out a Petri dish setup, since it seems like test tubes are hard to feed springtails to your queen with. All you need is a Petri dish and some damp soil (at least that’s what I used for my Hypoponera queen).

Sorry to sort of clutter the journal, but do they not dig too deep in it? Or is it just until they get workers? I may try this with other semi-claustral queens.

Also, why don’t you put a Cotten ball and straw in the center? It would have to be small so I guess it wouldn’t do much.(Could she fit through a coffe stir?). This would replicate a nest and outworld so you could put springtails in one area, and she could nest in the other.

 

Good idea never thought of that. I'll put an extremley thin layer of sand in the outworld so that the queen doesn't nest there.

[azzaaazzzz00]

So, I have bad news and good news. The bad is probably worse than the good news is good. Anyways, I'm going to start of with the bad news, the "queen" I've been taking care of may not be a queen at all. The reason I suspect this leads to the somewhat good news, I caught another Ponera pennsylvanica queen today at the park. This queen is definitly a queen, it has a much bigger gaster (the gaster is also much longer) and is much larger in general than the star "queen" of this journal. I really don't want to believe that the current queen in the sand test tube is not a queen at all but it seems pretty likely. I also may or may not have stole the queen I caught today from a already established colony.

[FloridaAnts]

So, I have bad news and good news. The bad is probably worse than the good news is good. Anyways, I'm going to start of with the bad news, the "queen" I've been taking care of may not be a queen at all. The reason I suspect this leads to the somewhat good news, I caught another Ponera pennsylvanica queen today at the park. This queen is definitly a queen, it has a much bigger gaster (the gaster is also much longer) and is much larger in general than the star "queen" of this journal. I really don't want to believe that the current queen in the sand test tube is not a queen at all but it seems pretty likely. I also may or may not have stole the queen I caught today from a already established colony.

The one in the pics looks like a queen, did you grab workers from the colony?

[azzaaazzzz00]

I swiped up a single worker from the colony so I can compare it to the first queen. I havn't compared them yet but looks the same if I remember correctly.I couldn't get anymore workers because they ran away.