21 replies to this topic

[Tanks]

I ordered a colony of Myrmecocoystus melliger colony and on 7/13/23 they arrived. I was happy to see the colony arrive safe and sound, they came with 4 workers, a gorgeous queen, and lots of brood! Once they had settled in I gave them a piece of mealworm and some sugar water. I am super excited to watch this colony grow and get repletes. As this is my first time keeping honey pot ants tips would be appreciated. Here are some photos, enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Tanks, July 16 2023 - 6:43 PM.

[Tanks]

It seems that they enjoyed the cricket leg I gave them, and some of the larva began to spin their cocoons! I also gave them an out world with a sugar water feeder and saw one worker go back and forth with sugar water. If you flash light on the queens gaster you can see the stored up blue sugar water.  I'll send pics later

Edited by Tanks, July 17 2023 - 11:29 AM.

[Tanks]

The colony is doing great! I'll most likely update this journal when something happens like if they get another worker. But for now here are some pictures: 

[BleepingBleepers]

Looking great!

Love the pictures!

[100lols]

Subbed!

My M. Mimicus queen has had larva for awhile… waiting for them to pupate… can’t wait to see the timeline of how the brood develops for you!

[Tanks]

Subbed!

My M. Mimicus queen has had larva for awhile… waiting for them to pupate… can’t wait to see the timeline of how the brood develops for you!

Does the queen have sand in her test tube? Also a bit of food could help, maybe you should try giving her a small drop of honey or a small bit of cotton soaked in sugar water.

[100lols]

Subbed!

My M. Mimicus queen has had larva for awhile… waiting for them to pupate… can’t wait to see the timeline of how the brood develops for you!

Does the queen have sand in her test tube? Also a bit of food could help, maybe you should try giving her a small drop of honey or a small bit of cotton soaked in sugar water.

Yes, she has sand in there with her and I’ll try giving her some sugars. Thanks for the suggestions!

Upon further inspection, she has at least 3 pupae that have not spun cocoons hopefully at least one makes it…

[Tanks]

Hopefully. That might be because the sand she has is wet so if she has some larvae still try giving her dry sand.

[Tanks]

THEY GOT A NEW WORKER!!!

 

As soon as I saw the brand new worker I noticed how much sugar water she had in her social stomach it was super awesome to see. She's kinda like a replete but mini. This colony should have some more workers on the way, the queen also laid a batch of eggs. I also observed that they like to go to the outworld and gather sand to put at the nest entrance, and it's pretty fun to watch. Does anyone know how big the full sized repletes get? And for the people who have kept species of  the genus Mymecocystus what is your colonies favorite type of protein?

[100lols]

Looking good!

 

"Termites, scale and other insects, sap and nectar from flowers, and honeydew from aphids (Cazier and Statham 1962; Snelling 1976; Blom and Clark 1980; Hölldobler 1981). A general scavenger (Snelling 1976; Fisher and Cover 2007; Wehner 2020). Hölldobler (1981) observed M. mimicus carrying seeds." source: https://ielc.libguid...ts/honeypot-ant

 

I watched some videos and saw "LightsCameraAnts" feeding his honeypots red runners and fruit flies.

 

[Tanks]

Thanks

[Tanks]

So I gave them another cricket leg and they ate some but not as much as I thought. The queen got a bit stressed out but other than that the colony is doing good, she also layed some more eggs. I will once again update this journal when they get a worker or if something else important happens. I plan on moving them into a mini hearth once all of their cocoons hatch out.

[Locness]

Very nice, looking forward to seeing a replete. The black exo contrasts well with any fluid.

[Tanks]

Well, I wasn't expecting to update this journal so soon.

 

They got another worker! That brings them to a total of six workers. I didn't expect them to hatch out a new one so soon. When I first saw it it kinda looked like a ghost. Their test tube is going to be due for a change soon but hopefully they get enough workers so I can move them into a mini hearth before the water reservoir dries out. I also gave them a small piece of cricket because they have a lot of larvae. Here are some photos of the colony.

[Tanks]

Very nice, looking forward to seeing a replete. The black exo contrasts well with any fluid.

Thanks, I'm also excited to see replete and I totally agree with you, their shiny black exoskeleton is really awesome

[Tanks]

The queen died guys, I'm sorry.

[BleepingBleepers]

The queen died guys, I'm sorry.

Dang man sorry to hear that. It was looking quite promising. The workers and eggs were coming along and she just up and died? The heck?

 

Any thoughts on why?

[Tanks]

I don't know I have heard about some queens just dying off so I think that's what happend.

[kiedeerk]

They were doing quite good. The only thing I see is that the queen was a bit on the skinner side. My Myrmecocystus queen acted like a replete once her first set of workers arrive and was bloated to the max with sugar water. Once replete workers arrive they started to take on that role.

Honey pot can sometimes do that. That’s the reason I bought a couple queens so my journal doesn’t just end due to random death. So far all three are doing fantastic.

[Tanks]

They were doing quite good. The only thing I see is that the queen was a bit on the skinner side. My Myrmecocystus queen acted like a replete once her first set of workers arrive and was bloated to the max with sugar water. Once replete workers arrive they started to take on that role.

Honey pot can sometimes do that. That’s the reason I bought a couple queens so my journal doesn’t just end due to random death. So far all three are doing fantastic.

They had sugar water almost 24/7 and once they got a new worker they kinda turned her in to small replete.