8 replies to this topic

[ZTYguy]

Recently I have come across a nuptial flight of Veromessor stoddardi. This is in my opinion, quite a rare species of Veromessor in California. I have caught in total 8 queens and I hope to catch more. I will only be keeping 1 out of the total 8 as I have been sending them out to friends and fellow anters. My hopes is that these people will come forward with journals of their own. Anyways these queens are quite gorgeous with a dark maroon head with a black thorax, while the gaster tends to vary to each queen with slightly more red or black mixed in. This is a relatively smaller species being slightly smaller then andrei In terms. I am unsure of habitat specifics as I have not found a nest yet but I have commonly found queens in areas covered by dried up hay and shrubbery.

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[DaAnt]

Where did you find them? Also what seeds are you feeding them?

Edited by DaAnt, June 10 2022 - 10:46 AM.

[ZTYguy]

Where did you find them? Also what seeds are you feeding them?

I found them in a Location Called the Oat Mountain, but the exact location is private property (which I have gotten permission to collect ants on). I find them on the fence line though and the trails surrounding the property are right next to the area of which I have found them. 
 

To answer your second question, I will be using a mix of Kentucky Blue Grass and Poppy Seeds.

[ZTYguy]

Update 6/10/2022

Found another queen at 9:00. I am starting to find queens of this species consistently at 9:00-9:30pm. I have still not located a nest entrance yet as that will take some snooping of the area. This species is described as being solitary foragers (lack of foraging trails) and are crepuscular.

[ZTYguy]

Update 6/12/2022

 

All but 2 queens have eggs. They are being put in the incubator due to more space opening up. 

[DaAnt]

 

Where did you find them? Also what seeds are you feeding them?

I found them in a Location Called the Oat Mountain, but the exact location is private property (which I have gotten permission to collect ants on). I find them on the fence line though and the trails surrounding the property are right next to the area of which I have found them. 
 

To answer your second question, I will be using a mix of Kentucky Blue Grass and Poppy Seeds.

 

Okay, thank you.

[ZTYguy]

Update 6/27/2022

 

Both queens have larvae, one of which is way farther along but I will sadly be giving up one of the queens. While in shipping one stoddardi queen died (this being a queen I was sending to a friend) so I am going to give them one of the queens. I feel fine with doing this as to get to the spot it is only a 10 to 15 minute drive so I’m not worried. Again if anyone would like to be put on the waiting list for them please DM me. 

Edited by ZTYguy, June 27 2022 - 7:23 PM.

[ZTYguy]

8/8/2022

 

As of now the remaining colony I have is sitting at around 10-15 workers with a hefty amount of brood. These have been pretty easy-keepers as they do sustain themselves extremely well off of purely seeds. As of now they are on a diet of blue grass seeds and the occasional mealworm here and there. They like heat but they do not need to be “baked” as my colony is sitting on a foam pad on my floor. I will say my floor is exceptionally hot for a floor but they are in general a really cool and easy to keep species. 

[ZTYguy]

Update 10/11/2022

Colony is now up to around 120 workers. The brood pile never ceases to amaze me. It doesn’t seem to decrease in size even as the population rapidly increases. Currently there are minors and medians. Technically there are small “majors” but they are no where near the size of full mature colony size majors. The colors on these ants is also amazing. They have a gorgeous light maroon color that throughout the stages of maturity gradually gets darker and then contrasted against any equally gorgeous chocolate brown.

Nesting wise in the last update I believe they were still housed in a 20mm test tube or in a small tubs n tubes setup however as of now they reside in a Petri dish set up. They will likely outgrow this setup in a few months but if gives me enough time to get them a new formicarium.

The colony approximately 1-2 hours after being dumped into the outeorld of their new enclosure.

Edited by ZTYguy, October 13 2022 - 7:26 AM.