131 replies to this topic

[Yourbasicantkeeper]

Wow! 19 workers! They are thriving so far. 

[100lols]

My Camponotus colony that is also in a diapause/hibernation state is huddle together exactly the same way. It's so cute lol!

[Ernteameise]

My Camponotus colony that is also in a diapause/hibernation state is huddle together exactly the same way. It's so cute lol!

I love it that on this forum, we can talk about how cute these ants are.

If I tell "normal" people how cute they are, or show cute ant pictures, the reactions are much more varied and "bewilderment" might be the best outcome....

[100lols]

I feel like after looking at ants for hours upon end, how could I not find them beautiful? Those people just don't get it :shrug:

[AsdinAnts]

Camponotus are beautiful ants ngl

[Yourbasicantkeeper]

How are they doing?

[Ernteameise]

How are they doing?

Same as above. Sitting around in a huddle. Not moving much.

[BleepingBleepers]

 

How are they doing?

Same as above. Sitting around in a huddle. Not moving much.

 

I wasn't really sure about the whole huddle due to hibernation etc, but mines finally started doing the same. I posted the picture in my CA02 journal where they just idle around in their travel tube. I'm trying to cool them down right now so I can do a really REALLY late cooldown for them, prob from feb to near end of April, new to ants so learning.

 

I'm guessing you plan to put yours back in heat at like, mid Feb? Almost time to wake them up, eh?

[Ernteameise]

 

 

How are they doing?

Same as above. Sitting around in a huddle. Not moving much.

 

I wasn't really sure about the whole huddle due to hibernation etc, but mines finally started doing the same. I posted the picture in my CA02 journal where they just idle around in their travel tube. I'm trying to cool them down right now so I can do a really REALLY late cooldown for them, prob from feb to near end of April, new to ants so learning.

 

I'm guessing you plan to put yours back in heat at like, mid Feb? Almost time to wake them up, eh?

 

I think I will slowly get them out of it beginning of March. See how they will feel about it.

Right now, they are still huddled up, but I see them foraging every now and then- there is water, ant nectar and some juice jelly on offer even during hibernation. Just in case.

[Ernteameise]

What a great little colony!

Diapause is over, the larvae who had stayed in arrested development over the past few months have developed and new larvae have been produced.

The queen also has become nice and fat / physogastric.

 

I just gave them fresh sunburst nectar and a small cricket and some juice jelly.

The one forager who is always around is also becoming bolder and I can see her around for longer periods of time.

 

 

[Ernteameise]

Right, I am very excited, because my parcel from TarHeel ants arrived today and my small Camponotus piceus founder colony could more to a new MiniHearth.

 

The new Mini Hearths, including red covers:

 

 

 

I just dumped them in there from their (now totally empty, all water used up) test tube.

 

 

I just think they are beautiful:

 

 

 

It only took them about 30 mins to move into the new nest, here is the very moment:

 

 

 

 

Right, I am curious how this colony will develop.

There is now a race on- depending on which of my founder colonies grows faster (the Lasius or the Camponotus), that colony will be rewarded with the that fancy decorated XXL Mini Hearth which I have sitting around. My bets are actually on the Lasius.

But we will see.

 

This is the price:

[Ernteameise]

Update 1 day after the move.

 

The fancy new ant shelf!

 

 

I now see these girls more often than before foraging outside. They constantly have 1-2 foragers walking around.

In this species, the small workers do the foraging, while the majors sit around in the nest and maybe help with larger items and digging (in the wild).

 

 

Their first big meal of the season:

 

 

And here is the colony inside, together with their brood:

 

[Ernteameise]

So, I have now fixed the heat cable to the mini hearths.

As usual, what I bought was total overkill. The heat cable I bought would be long enough to heat a swimming pool.

The end of the cable I am now also using to heat the Messor colony.

I also am not impressed with the look of the heat cable swinging around everywhere, but luckily, I life in a rooftop flat, and in summer it will become so hot, that no heating is necessary.

Until then, I will have to live with the ugly esthetics.

 

At least the girls have it cozy:

 

 

 

Since today is Easter, I also served my ants a nice Easter dinner (fruit jelly, crickets and some fish food jelly)

 

 

I have reported before that the colony had at first settled away from the water tower. Well, after the heat cable was fixed to the back, this has happened:

 

 

 

As you can see, the ants looks very healthy and very well fed. Most of the larger workers look pretty much like repletes.

And the queen also looks as if she is planning for a big summer with lots of kids.

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

i notice a couple things about the heat cable setup.

 

1: most heat cables should not be allowed to touch themselevs. Wherever a heat cable overlaps and comes into contact with itself it is likely to overheat at the point of contact. it is suggested to have at about .5"-1" of air gap.

 

2: the heating cable in contact with the water tubes/nest mates may cause the water to evaporate too fast, over saturating humidity in the nest, and causing condensation to form on everything.

 

For my use, I found blue-tak and painters tape worked great to hold the heat cable to the nest in places it didn't show as much from the main viewing front.
Also i use nest mates in the same way you use the test tube. I just place them in the outworld and don't use the nest ports. They last longer than most tiny water dispenser, they don't get drained into the outworld like those others for me more commonly are. And they take up a lot less room than full test tube.

 

nice images btw. I like seeing how people manage their space to provide space for colonies.

[Ernteameise]

Thank you very much!!!

OMG, I am too new to this.

Yes, I checked how hot the cable was getting, and it is only getting warm, when I touch it with my bare skin, it is comfortable warm (like a hot bath) but not hot.

However, I did not pay attention that some of the cable was touching other parts.

I have now separated the parts of cable that were touching each other, and they are now at least an inch / 2cm apart.

Thank you, you have probably prevented a fire hazard in my living room!!!!!!!

I paid attention to the water tower issue, I have seen that other people had that issue, so the cable is not directly touching any water source.

The nest-mates you see hooked up- they are all empty, no water in them.

So far, I have not seen any condensation, and the setup is now running for 8 hours.

I will keep the "nestmate in the arena" idea in mind. Right now, the colonies are small and do not need much space, but I can imagine that when the colonies grow, this will be a very good idea!

 

I am honestly glad I do not need to heat these nests like this for more than 6-8 weeks- in summer, my flat will be an average 25 degrees centigrade (up to 30-32 degrees, depending on if we have a hot summer or not) and there will not be any heating necessary.

 

Also, the girls are very happy with the heat- they have become very active.

 

Anyways, great advice, I love this forum. So many helpful people.

[Ernteameise]

The heat is really doing them a lot of good

 

[Ernteameise]

We just had the hottest couple of days ever recorded on this time in April in Germany (up to 30 degrees centigrade).

My ants love this heat.

This colony has also produced a pile of larvae, but seeing them side by side with my small Lasius niger colony, they seem to grow much slower.

Even if you look at this nice physogastric queen.

They are also much less active.

But from reading other journals here, this appears to be normal for Camponotus, they seem to be happy just sitting around, being fat.

 

 

Just have a look-

while the Lasius are swarming their cricket, the Camponotus send one single forager:

 

Edited by Ernteameise, April 7 2024 - 4:54 AM.

[Ernteameise]

I take it back, after 1 hour, they actually have started quite a party:

 

 

Still, not as active as the Lasius.

[Mushu]

Nice pictures. In general Camponotus are slower growers, so my bet is your Lasius will win. I had the same idea as you and was looking for colonies that stay smallish that aren't bullet/trapjaw ants. I also was looking into acorn ants, but they were a bit too small for my taste.  It's nice that Camponotus piceus seem to only get to 1k workers, I would love to find a Camponotus species in California with that growth rate. I am curious how big they can get in captivity. 

[Ernteameise]

Nice pictures. In general Camponotus are slower growers, so my bet is your Lasius will win. I had the same idea as you and was looking for colonies that stay smallish that aren't bullet/trapjaw ants. I also was looking into acorn ants, but they were a bit too small for my taste.  It's nice that Camponotus piceus seem to only get to 1k workers, I would love to find a Camponotus species in California with that growth rate. I am curious how big they can get in captivity. 

Yeah, I also think that my Lasius will simply outgrow the Camponotus piceus pretty quickly. No competition.

There is actually a paper on Camponotus piceus (it is an awesome paper going into a lot of details, but it is in GERMAN, with only an English abstract https://www.zobodat....8_0351-0364.pdf). Anyways, in this paper, they also describe how Lasius niger (which right now lives in a Tarheel ant nest just centimetres away from the Camponotus!) is one of the worst enemies of the C. piceus and they will kill them without mercy, even while the Camponotus are much bigger than the Lasius.

But Lasius niger is much more aggressive and opportunistic.

 

I like this small colony. I do not expect them to grow very big, and they take everything slow and without urgency. Some people might call them boring, because not much is happening in their colony, but I just love how pretty they look. They are very good looking ants.

 

I also have a colony of acorn ants (Temnothorax) and yes, they are tiny, but they are sooo cute and actually very interesting to watch. And one can use a magnifying glass.

Edited by Ernteameise, April 8 2024 - 11:58 AM.