5 replies to this topic

[pauldandler]

12/12/2022

 

Hi formiculture, I have decided to make a journal outlining the progress of my 2021 and 2022 season Novomessor cockerelli and 2022 season Pogonomyrmex rugosus. This is my first journal, so I will probably get some stuff wrong. I am completely open to suggestions as to how I should structure it. 

 

Novomessor cockerelli:

 

At the moment I have 2 of these colonies: a 2022 season one in a test tube with 16 workers and a nice brood pile, and a 2021 season one with around 500 workers in a custom ultracal nest I made for them. At the moment, I am feeding the small colony a tiny piece of cooked chicken and a small drop of hummingbird nectar every 2-3 days, and keeping them at warmish room temperature with a heat mat under them (~90 degrees on the hot side)

I'm feeding the large colony about half a teaspoon of chicken every night, and I keep a test tube feeder full of nectar for them. 

 

Both colonies have a nice brood pile for the worker count, and are growing nicely at the moment. These ants are super awesome to watch; they are one of the largest ants in California and look like spiders when they walk around. They are also really good at folding themselves up like battle droids in their nest, to save space. 

 

Pogonomyrmex rugosus:

 

I used to have around 8 small colonies from queens I caught, but traded some off and I have 5 of them now. Two of the queens were caught in the middle of summer, and their colonies are at around 30 workers and 60-70 workers. I am keeping one of them in a little plastic box with test tubes for a nesting area, and feeding them a pinhead's worth of cooked chicken every night, along with occasional bluegrass seeds. 

The other 4 colonies are around 5-10 workers each, and are being kept in a test tube with occasional chicken bits and seeds. I am keeping all of the rugosus under the same temperatures as the novomessor for now, since I'm too lazy to do something else lol. Rugosus are also really easy to keep, so I'm pretty sure I will be able to get all the colonies to a nice size before I leave for college next September. 

 

That's about it for now! I have some pictures of said colonies below. I have some other ants too, and I might be making a journal for some of them in the near future.

 

 

Edited by pauldandler, December 12 2022 - 6:28 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Great start so far. My only structuring tip is to use bold font in your headings/ subheadings.

[T.C.]

Great start so far. My only structuring tip is to use bold font in your headings/ subheadings.

TEACHER TALK


Great colony though!

[pauldandler]

12/15/2022

 

I accidentally used a pva sponge that was too small for the largest rugosus colony, and the tube flooded, drowning some of the brood. Most of it is still alright, and I moved them into another plastic tubs and tubes nest. I have a really nice dirt mix that I collected near entrances to wild rugosus colonies, and it is full of nice little rocks and various weeds and seeds. It's pretty cool to watch them move seed husks and pebbles around, and I'm happy that the setup looks more natural now.

[pauldandler]

1/5/2023

 

I went to visit relatives for a week, so and I was able to leave the large Novomessor colony in the care of a friend while I was gone. I got them back a few days ago and was happy to see that they were doing well! I got a little tired of the red sand in their outworld, so I swapped it out for some of that desert gravel I collected a while ago. Much happier with the overall look. Watching the ants forage with a more natural substrate makes me happy lol.

 

The small Novomessor colony has been moved into a small tubs and tubes setup in a little box from a Daiso store. Both colonies are growing nicely for the time being. 

 

The rugosus are approaching 100 workers and don;t really have any real updates at the moment. 

 

Edited by pauldandler, January 5 2023 - 2:45 PM.

[Locness]

Very nice, glad to see a fellow Orange County resident!