20 replies to this topic

[Emmanuel]

I noticed a nuptial flight in my yard yesterday, brought out my test tubes and a UV light and caught 19 queens. Now I'm looking at feeding and caring for them, will keep a few for outworlds or towers and sell the rest.  What do you recommend, this is my first big catch and I have been keeping ants for two years?   I have honey  and seeds.

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[FinWins]

Dang, I knew it, I thought that Pogonomyrmex would be flying yesterday and I missed out

[dspdrew]

If it was Socal, it must be P. subnitidus. I actually caught some about a month ago. Strange they're flying again.

[FinWins]

Actually where I’m at I have P. californicus and P. magnacanthus at my local park.

[dspdrew]

This is awfully late for P. californicus.

[dspdrew]

Actually, where are you located specifically?

[dspdrew]

Obviously the desert or the P. magnacanthus are misidentified. Not sure where all-red P. californicus would be in the desert.

[FinWins]

Well I caught two different species of Pogonomyrmex I know that one is P. californicus and the other species is much smaller and all red

[dspdrew]

Well I caught two different species of Pogonomyrmex I know that one is P. californicus and the other species is much smaller and all red

 

Still have no idea where this happened. Are you near the coast or in the desert?

[FinWins]

So I’m located in northern San Diego county and the P. californicus are the bicolor variant but not the complete black gaster one they still have some red on their gasters.

[Emmanuel]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.  Hi Drew, you're my hero, I'm honored you are commenting on my first post!

 

I'm in North County San Diego, near Fallbrook and Bonsall.  We're in an oak riparian wetland, with some open grassy fields (mostly mustard).  I haven't been doing this long enough to know what species they are, but they're definitely harvesters.

 

I caught another 6 queens the next day, and now have 21 total.  I fed them all a dollop of hard honey/comb and some birdseed.  They all seem to be laying eggs, and are eating the honey.  I think they might be getting moldy though, how do I know and what do I do if they are molding?  I sterilized the tubes before I put them in, but I'm worried they may have been contaminated while I was feeding.

 

I'll post pictures shortly.

[Emmanuel]

    here are the pics one queen is dead and one has escaped

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[dspdrew]

They're probably P. subnitidus. If you look at them very closely and see spines (the thorn like things on the back) like in the picture, then you'll know.

 

[mmcguffi]

I think they might be getting moldy though, how do I know and what do I do if they are molding?  I sterilized the tubes before I put them in, but I'm worried they may have been contaminated while I was feeding.

 

I've never had a serious issues with letting tubes get moldy/bacteria-y, but in the future if you use distilled water you can drastically increase the amount of time until contamination. Using those blue pva sponges instead of cotton also helps quite a bit

[FinWins]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.  Hi Drew, you're my hero, I'm honored you are commenting on my first post!
 
I'm in North County San Diego, near Fallbrook and Bonsall.  We're in an oak riparian wetland, with some open grassy fields (mostly mustard).  I haven't been doing this long enough to know what species they are, but they're definitely harvesters.
 
I caught another 6 queens the next day, and now have 21 total.  I fed them all a dollop of hard honey/comb and some birdseed.  They all seem to be laying eggs, and are eating the honey.  I think they might be getting moldy though, how do I know and what do I do if they are molding?  I sterilized the tubes before I put them in, but I'm worried they may have been contaminated while I was feeding.
 
I'll post pictures shortly.

I live near that area too and the Pogonomyrmex I caught are P. californicus and P. magnacanthus also I ID’d them and they are definitely P. magnacanthus. I will start another thread to in the case anyone has comments on the subject. magnacanthus look like.

[Nikipedia]

What should Emmanuel do about the mold. Can he transfer the queens to new tubes, even if they already have eggs? How do you avoid mold in the first place? Were his tubes too moist? Should the seeds not contact the wet cotton?

[Emmanuel]

just changed my profile pic just so you know.

[Emmanuel]

some of them have eggs stroon every should I be concerned about that?

[Straywolf94]

I wouldn't worry about the moldy water behind the cotton.  It is mainly there to provide moisture and humidity.  Pogonomyrmex are semi-claustral and plugging up the end of the test tube prevents them from scavenging for seed.  Best setup for them is to put the test tube in a box/foraging area with a cork at the end that has a drilled hole to allow them to come and go as they please.  In this kind of setup, you can also provide a 2nd clean test tube to allow them to move out of the dirty one.

 

Put the seed and water source outside in the foraging area.  I would also start with smaller seed like poppy, sesame, grass, etc.

Edited by Straywolf94, July 28 2022 - 8:48 AM.

[Nikipedia]

Are Pogonomyrmex polygynous? Will his remaining queens be able to forage in the same area, say, an outwirld?