26 replies to this topic

[AntsTopia]

Hi everyone, I am AntsTopia and I am new to formiculture.com. Though I have been keeping ants now for over 4 years so please treat me as a normal keeper not stupid ya know. Even though I’m new to this website doesn’t mean I’m not a good ant-keeper. Anyways I caught a single Camponotus flordanius queen 15 days ago walking alongside my pool. She had a fat gaster full of eggs. I was really exited because this was my first C. flordanius queen that wasn’t found in the pool drowning.
Anyway I put her in a XL testube and tossed her into the droor. No wait I didn’t toss her lol. Anyway a week later she had 13 eggs (counted). 1 week after that they hatched into small larvae. And that where I am at now. I heard a lot about that it would be best for me to heat her up a bit to make the larva's growth speed up. I don’t like heating cables but I do have a bearded dragon cage that I like putting my grown colonies there but the light is ok for them because it doesn’t stress them out as much as I think this queen would be. So if you guys could vote above wether or not to place the queen in the heat ant get stressed because of the light. Thank you! I will be updating this journal August 10th and will be replying to people before the 10th. Bye! Be uploading pics tommorow.

[ColAnt735]

Welcome to the forum! You should make a journal for your other colonies as addition to this.

Edited by ColAnt735, August 2 2022 - 4:08 PM.

[AntsTopia]

Sure I do it tomorrow as fast as possible.

[ANTdrew]

Heating test tubes directly can cause dangerous amounts of condensation. If you are in Florida, finding a warmer spot for your queen should be no problem.

[AntsTopia]

Ok I’ll try not to put them so close to the heat lamp say 7 inches away?

[AntsTopia]

8/8/22

First Cocoon! With more on the way. The larva are much bigger now and should pupate tomorrow or the next day. So far we have 1 pupae. It should hatch in a week or two. Fingers crossed that this queen successfully raises nanitics and does not kill her cocoons. I hear a lot Camponotus and lasius queens do that. Here’s a picture of her. 
 

Pictures:

https://drive.google...ew?usp=drivesdk

[FloridaAnts]

Heating test tubes directly can cause dangerous amounts of condensation. If you are in Florida, finding a warmer spot for your queen should be no problem.

This is true, but I found that floridnaus queens aren’t affected by humidity if they are not drowning in it. If you heat you queen above 85, her brood will drown. My queens are at 84 and develop fairly quickly.

Also, you can adjust them to light. Mine are in full light and have 9 cocoons and eggs.

Edited by FloridaAnts, August 8 2022 - 10:09 AM.

[AntsTopia]

Thank you for this info, I don't have to worry anymore I guess about the lights. The queen is doing just fine now hopefully the cocoon hatches soon.

[AntsTopia]

So no updates really beside the cocoon is getting darker every day and we have 4 large larva ready to pupate. I'll posts pictures when we get our first nanitic as well as more cocoons. I have to say Camponotus floridanius is very elusive and this is my first colony of this species. but wow the growth of this camponotus is insane. So it's around day 15 and she has cocoons so this has been really special.

[AntsTopia]

8/18/22
Queen has second cocoon now and more on the way! I can see the outline of the worker ant inside of the old cocoon, she should be ready to pop out any moment.

[AntsTopia]

8/18/22
WORKERSSSSSSSS
Finally after coming home tonight i get to see 1 queen with a stumbiling nanitic getting fed and cleaned by the queen! The other cocoon is getting a bit dark now and we should have 2 nanitics by next week!

[AntsTopia]

Pictures:

Attached Images

• 
• 
• 

[FloridaAnts]

Is there only 4 cocoons?

Also, I would highly recommend getting an outworld before 20 workers. I have experience, and it wasn’t a good one.

[AntsTopia]

Ok say an AC test tube Portal? The colony has 1 cocoon and 2-3 mature larvae.

[FinWins]

Ok say an AC test tube Portal? The colony has 1 cocoon and 2-3 mature larvae.

That would work or tubs & tubes method, Or a very small gypsum, plaster, or Ytong nest (aka THA nest) would also work well

[FloridaAnts]

Ok say an AC test tube Portal? The colony has 1 cocoon and 2-3 mature larvae.

If you already have it, use it but clog the plugs with cotton. They will outgrow it within a few months, so keep that in mind. They do much better when they have a lot of extra space, I am not sure exactly why but queens I raise in large tubes have 12 nanitics vs the 4-5 in small tubes. A ytong nest wouldn’t be great long term due to the ants getting majors at 20 workers so I highly suggest something that S. Invicta can’t get out of(Acrylic nest, tough materials, etc)

[AntsTopia]

8/22/22
First Feeding and First Move!!!

Worker is dark and mature so I gave them a drop of green colored honey. The worker swelled up very large and fed the queen and swelled up again and fed the queen again. They did this cycle about 3-4 times until queen and worker and larva were swelled up with green honey. So then after 2 hours I decided that I should move the queen into a small nest with a outworld. I connected them to the nest and the worker explored it and then moved the brood into the nest. The worker proceeded to drag the queen to the nest by her front leg lol. So the queen is now happy in their new home. I will update when the other cocoon hatches as well as take pictures tommorow (maybe the next day because I'm getting a Xbox).

[AntsTopia]

FIRST Protein meal!!

I took it easy on this colony at first so I put 1/2 of a cricket inside their outworld. The worker drunk the blood of the cricket. The she proceeded to drop the cricket into the small nest. From there they butchered the 1/2 of the cricket and ate the meat and discarded the exoskeleton of the cricket. They fed the larva and it looks like the queen will be popping the second batch of eggs any minute. If any body here has watched minuscule the movie, the queen is like the black ant colony’s queen with the sugar block that made her make a lot of eggs. Anyway here is pictures:

[AntsTopia]

Ok sorry everyone for the delay I went in vacation up to Orlando and got in a pretty bad car crash. I’m ok tho thanks to the painful airbag. When I got back from Orlando I cracked a wood piece and I found a good colony of C. Flordanius they had a huge heaping pile of cocoons. They must have had 700-800 cocoons. Their fat queen went to the nearest exit and escaped but I didn’t care about that all I wanted was those silky cocoons. Quickly I scooped up 100-150 cocoons and some workers. “Coughs” (literally coughs) about that, well when i aspirated the Camponotus workers well… 

DAMM it hurt I felt like I was breathing fire but instead of it going out it was going in. Anyway I had a sore throat and my lungs burned. When did Camponotus have so much Formica acid? Anyway some ant keepers think brood boosting is unethical even cruel to the host colony but if you saw that pile, huh. Anyway so I got home and what do I see? A fat queen with 2 workers, 5 cocoons, 1 large larvae, and a huge batch of eggs. Anyway I’m gonna add the cocoons tomorrow since I am really tired. Also pictures tomorrow as well. Thanks guys for following this journal it really means a lot! Byee!

[AntsTopia]

Hi guys! I have added cocoons to the colony. I decided to give them a hybrid nest camponotus for the time being with all the brood they have. The colony accepted the brood readily and even the queen helped the 2 workers drag the cocoons back to the nest. Some of cocoons were big and some were small. In the morning their was at least 3-4 active super-majors. I have never seen a camponotus grow that big! It even beats castenaus in my opinion. Here's some pics

Attached Images

• 
• 
• 
•