220 replies to this topic

[kiedeerk]

Castaneus brood progressing quickly.

Lasius neoniger out of diapause

Formica queens all started laying eggs

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[kiedeerk]

Formica queen continues to lay eggs

S molesta brood pile

T curvispinosus

C castaneus pupae pile growing

P Rhea room full of majors/super majors

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[kiedeerk]

Formica colonies developing well. larvae and pupae already

Camponotus castaneus now has a large pile of pupae

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[BleepingBleepers]

Awesome job dealing with so many different species of ants!

 

I don't know how some of you guys do it, I think my hands are full with just the two I have. I also love taking pictures and videos, so I enjoy the pictures you take too. Pictures are worth a thousand words like they say. Thanks for sharing!

 

 

P.S. Part of me does wish that you have some comments that I can read along with all your pictures, to give insight on what your thoughts on for each picture posted, guess to kinda read on what's going through your mind. Though that is a lot of species to cover and we each have our own way of going about it.

[kiedeerk]

Moved my odontomachus clarus into a different set up.
The problem with odontomachus species is that they require quite high humidity and constant supply of substrate to help their larva pupate. They also have a tendency to move substrate out of their nest causing their larva to fail to pupate.

I have a colony of Odontomachus haematodus that had 1000 workers at one point but I am seeing the same problem with workers not covering the larva with substrate to help them pupate. I believe for Odontomachus naturalistic set up is probably best for them. It will limit your observation of them. They also require very high insect feeders and will require daily feeds.

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Edited by kiedeerk, February 11 2024 - 6:22 PM.

[kiedeerk]

Moved my Novomessor albisetosus colony into a horizontal nest for better pictures

Pheidole rhea restarting their exponential growth phase

Formica colony went from 4 to 15 workers

Camponotus castaneus eclosed many new workers

Bonus pictures of Odontomachus haematodus workers sharing food
Odontomachus clarus workers

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[kiedeerk]

Monthly update. Weather is still cold where I live. On one warmer afternoon, I found a small colony of temnothorax pergandei in a sandy area. Queen has laid a good batch of queens and eggs since capture.

Otherwise my colonies are doing well. Except for the loss of my odontomachus clarus queen. Unsure the reason but she died randomly one day. Still have 50+ clarus workers that will live out their lives. Odontomachus are quite difficult in my experience. I still have a large haematodus colony but they are quite specific in terms of humidity and availability of substrate to pupate and the constant requirement of large protein source.

Below are some pictures of my other colonies.
1-3. Temnothorax pergandei
4. Solenopsis molesta huge brood pile
5. Polymorphism of pogonomyrmex badius
6. Camponotus castaneus queen has been busy with egg production
7. Camponotus chromaoides walking up from diapause
8. Formica subsericea
9. Formica pallidefulva
10. Pheidole rhea majors working on seeds
11. Novomessor albisetosus queen and her brood

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[kiedeerk]

Haven’t updated my Myrmecocystus placadops 01 colony in a long time. Main reason was it was very hard to take pictures in their old set up. Today, I decided to move them into a new nest that I made years ago that was just sitting there. It is a two level nest with two sided viewing for better lighting and easier time to take pictures.

They have being doing well. Worker count probably 200+.They can be quite picky in terms of proteins. The biggest repletes are size of small grapes.

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[GOCAMPONOTUS]

Wow that is a big replete!

Edited by GOCAMPONOTUS, March 27 2024 - 6:56 PM.

[Ernteameise]

Oh wow.

I just absolutely adore honeypot ants.

This is a dream species.

[kiedeerk]

1. M placadops 01 is settled in their new nest. They are very picky eaters in terms of protein source and would refuse many insects I have given them. They currently just take termites

2. Temnothorax pergandei colony doing well after capture. Large brood pile.

3. Massive brood pile of solenopsis molesta

4. Novomessor albisetosus queen in detail surrounded by her brood and workers

5. New addition to my colonies. Yellow morph Camponotus nearcticus

6. Along with nearcticus, Camponotus subbarbatus colony also found by accident recently. Both queens started to lay eggs immediately

7. Camponotus chromaoides progressing well

8. Camponotus castaneus in their full set up

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[kiedeerk]

1-3. Native Camponotus species doing very well. Brood pile is healthy.

4. Temnothorax pergandei doing very well. I have them inside a tiny nest and I don’t think they will get very large so it fits them perfectly. Queen and workers have been busy.

5. Pogonomyrmex badius colony has reached sexual maturity and have produced many alates which coincides with their nuptials coming up. Usually they fly mid to end of may through June.

6. Odontomachus haematodus colony is becoming too much of a hassle due to their high protein requirement. I am also going on vacation for a month so not sure what will happen to them.

7-8. Novomessor albisetosus colony doing well even being neglected. All desert or harvesters in general are low manintenance. As long as they have water and seeds or nuts. I forget about them for weeks at a time and their brood pile still continues to grow.

9-13 M placadops 01 colony and her highness. They are growing but not as fast due to their pickiness about proteins.

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[kiedeerk]

New colony: Trachymyrmex septentrionalis

I caught this colony in mid April. This is the time of year, they move to the surface to warm up. The colony is only a couple inches underground. The fungus is also very tiny, a few pin head sized grains. fast forward 2.5 weeks, the workers have grown the fungus greatly. Fungal garden is now bigger than a quarter. Workers also seeded the fungus to other parts of the nest. The workers have been eager to use wild flowers and roses so far. Fungus is growing rapidly, doubling in size every week.

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[GOCAMPONOTUS]

Do the P.badius have female alates or just males? Also nice colonies and great pics.

[kiedeerk]

Do the P.badius have female alates or just males? Also nice colonies and great pics.

Males and females. But males outnumber queens 10:1 at least

[Ernteameise]

It is always a joy looking at your great pictures.

Keep them coming.

Also, very exciting colonies!

[The_Gaming-gate]

I wish I had a Trachymyrmex colony. Their fungus growing habits seem amazing.

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, May 2 2024 - 3:00 AM.

[Virginian_ants]

Do you know a good spot to get Trachy's I've been hunting for them for a while.

[kiedeerk]

Do you know a good spot to get Trachy's I've been hunting for them for a while.

Look on inaturalist but they only nest in sandy soil so near the coast. First landing and Virginia Beach have them

[Virginian_ants]

I will probably find some in the summer. Thanks