7 replies to this topic

[ItalianTermiteMan2.0]

Yesterday i did a bit of special maintenance to my largest colony of Hodotermopsis sjostedti dampwood termites and found this beastie that i want to share with you: a cute (your mileage may vary) teneral soldier!

 

This guy/gal (in Hodotermopsis both soldiers and false workers can be of either sex) has just molted from the presoldier stage and is still almost fully unsclerotized and much less aggressive than a mature soldier. Cuticle sclerotization and behavioural repertoire will complete in a few days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Flu1d]

This forum truly benefits from your contributions!

[ANTdrew]

Truly awesome!

[T.C.]

What setup do you have them in?

[ItalianTermiteMan2.0]

This forum truly benefits from your contributions!

 

Thanks!

[ItalianTermiteMan2.0]

What setup do you have them in?

 

This specimen's colony, which is my largest, is housed in a large plastic tub half filled with soil and nest/feed inside a thick birch slice and several large white-rot oakwood pieces, but i'm also keeping a pair of small colonies that i originally fragmented from the large one (this species readily produce neotenics) in smaller containers fully filled with shreds of white-rot oakwood, where they are also mostly visible as they build galleries and rooms on the bottom, as these fragment colonies have started to lay many eggs it seems they take well to such setup. When i can i'll post pics aswell.

[ItalianTermiteMan2.0]

Ok, here i am with the pics:

 

 

 

 

This is where i keep my largest colony: a large plastic tub with a layer of soil at the bottom, then large wood pieces (a birch log and a few white-rot oakwood chunks, all pressed toghether) and finally a topmost layer of shredded white-rot oakwood that i added mainly to better mantain moisture. For ventilation i simply keep the tub's lid slightly ajar.

 

 

 

 

This is an example of the setups where i keep colony fragments. As you can see, it's nothing more than a small ventilated plastic container fully filled with shredded white-rot oakwood (which is very friable) and a few layers of non-treated toilet paper on the top.

 

 

 

 

As you can see here, the termites congregate at the bottom of the setup and can be observed by simply flipping it.

 

 

 

 

Some eggs.

 

 

 

 

A soldier.

 

[JesseTheAntKid]

They would look terrifying if it weren't for the teensy eyes. They look so cute!