27 replies to this topic

[westhollywoodant]

I got two colonies of Aphaenogaster occidentalis, A-Colony and B-Colony (https://www.formicul...talis-b-colony/).
A-colony here has a bunch of larve and about 15-20 workers.
Recieved end of May.
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May 31st
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May 31st

A lot of the Larve have turned to Pupa.
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June 12th

Edited by westhollywoodant, July 26 2022 - 9:51 AM.

[TacticalHandleGaming]

You'll love these ants! My colony has been so fun to watch grow. The feeding response itself is worth it alone! 

[westhollywoodant]

Thanks! The only thing I honestly hate about this species is they don’t have social stomach so they are tedious feeding and very messy from what I’ve seen so far. It’s way more chill with social stomach species Based on my limited experience haha. But still cool 😎

[TacticalHandleGaming]

Mine have been great about taking their trash to the forging area. Biggest issue I've had is them clogging the occasional liquid feeder. 

Edited by TacticalHandleGaming, June 22 2022 - 9:23 AM.

[westhollywoodant]

Oh interesting. I don’t use a liquid feeder as they don’t have social stomachs so feel like it won’t be very useful as only workers on surface will get it. They love fruit flies though and keeps the waste down. Only give them like half a dozen a week as of now.

[TacticalHandleGaming]

They still seem to get the sugars to the colony. I think they just have very small social stomachs. So it's not the most efficent way for them to get sugars. 

[westhollywoodant]

Oh interesting. From what I’ve researched they don’t have a social stomach and I have never seen either of my colonies do trophalaxis (however you spell it 😂).
But yeah, interesting 😎🐜

[TacticalHandleGaming]

My queen is still alive somehow if that's the case, so I must be doing something right. 

[westhollywoodant]

Right. They bring food into the nest and then the queen eats directly from the source. Just like the larve 👍🏼👍🏼😎

[westhollywoodant]

I encourage you to do more research on the species so you have a better understanding of how they feed 😁 you feed your ants 6 fruit flies a day, the same reason they have such a strong response to feeding. Otherwise they would only need to send a considerably smaller amount of workers out. They bring food into the nest to be shared by all due to the lack of social stomach. They don’t have a small one, they simply don’t have a social stomach.
From what I’ve researched anyway 🐜💚🍻

Edited by westhollywoodant, June 22 2022 - 11:54 AM.

[westhollywoodant]

Up to around 25 workers not and two Male alates. They must of been well fed as I believe the workers lay eggs and typically eat them but if well fed they will develop into male alates.
June 18th, 2022
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June 18th, 2022
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June 18th, 2022
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June 18th, 2022
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Edited by westhollywoodant, June 22 2022 - 6:01 PM.

[westhollywoodant]

Up to about 30 workers and half a dozen males. Colony seems to be doing well. 

June 24th

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[TacticalHandleGaming]

Interesting. I've yet to have any alates at all. Yet I have several hundred workers. 

[westhollywoodant]

The workers lay eggs and typically just eat them. Which is how once the colony gets big it is able to self maintain to a certain degree. But if plenty of food is provided then some of the workers eggs will advance to larvae and then will develop into males. Cool, but they don’t do anything and take away from colony’s food. So not good but also not terribly bad. The guy I got the colony from must of fed them very well and as a result I got the a handful of larvae from the workers.
From what I have researched anyway.
That is also a development from the absence of a social stomach.

[westhollywoodant]

So one of the Alates seems to have been mating or at least tried to mate.

Interesting! 

I have a video of it but this site won't let me upload. Bummer. But interesting all the same. 

 

[westhollywoodant]

I was able to grab some screenshots from the video. 

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[westhollywoodant]

I connected a Mini Tower from AntsCanada to the colony last night and they really like the moist substrate and have tunnled to the bottom already. Seem to be excavating a chamber now. like 10 workers have been staying in and working in the mini tower. The queen and the rest of colony are in the flat formicarium still.

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Got some good Macro shots of the queen. 

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June 27th 2022 

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[westhollywoodant]

Colony seems to be doing well. Hard to tell if brood pile is just slowing or if they have most in the soil part of the nest. They are still building and digging in the mini tower. 

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Most of the late stage larve and pupa have emerged as workers and a handful of male alates. 

July 6th 2022

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July 6th 2022

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[westhollywoodant]

Gave them some walnut crumbs they loved. 

Couple more macros of worker and brood. 

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[NotAxo]

I wish we had aphenogaster in India ;-;