Well it has been a while but I've really been having fun with the antkeeping hobby this summer and wanted to come do some updates.
Last year I ended up getting pretty bad pneumonia right after my last few updates and it just knocked me on my butt. For a few months afterwards while recovering I had no motivation to do anything, I barely kept my colonies going with the minimum amount of effort, and I sort of resented even the thought of my responsibilities. It was a weird time in my life, but it did pass and eventually they became a source of amazement and joy again.
After my recovery I made some new "tubs and tubes" setups using the hobby lobby display cases, and honestly, they work great! Fairly cheap and easy to make, easy to maintain, and good views. I've been very happy with them. They were essentially just the last tubs setup I made except with the higher quality display cases from hobby lobby. For the record the cases I used are found here: https://www.hobbylob...1412/p/80957046
Here is a photo of the setup I've been (mainly) using, I just put test tubes inside.
So I ended up releasing most of my excess colonies, keeping two Lasius and two Tetramorium colonies. I kept the Lasius colony I found with my daughter, the one with the damaged gaster, and one other (L2, for what is is worth). From the tetramorium colonies, I kept "C" and "E"
I was very delayed dealing with diapause going into the winter during my recovery from pneumonia. I was very, very unsure of putting my ants into the fridge and ignoring them for months. I used a thermometer and took readings from multiple locations in my fridge and determined my cheese drawer (???) was the “warmest” spot in the fridge, maybe 40-41*F. I was still nervous about putting them in and ended up splitting the difference, hibernating one colony of Tetramorium (“C”) and one colony of Lasius (L2). I’ve read T. immigrans does not need diapause, but given I caught them up here where winter gets quite cold, decided I’d try it with one colony. I’ve also read Lasius DO need it, but I was just very nervous about putting my favorite colony in a fridge and messing it up and killing them, so I wussed out, thinking “I can maybe diapause them later if it really becomes a problem.” To prepare them I gave lots of sugars and left them next to my bedroom window (hoping it was colder than the rest of the room) for a few weeks.
As to the colonies today, everyone is doing well, although the path has been mixed. Starting with my T. immigrans colony E, who I did not diapause. They have been growing rapidly, and are by far my largest, most successful colony. They are in one of my display case tubs setups, I’ve given them two test tubes. Added second when first was almost dry months ago. They never bothered moving out and are just split between the two, both ants and brood, and “for science” I am just letting them be instead of forcing a move. I am wondering if the single water tower keeps humidity in the whole nest high enough the last little bits of water behind the cotton aren’t diffusing out. Or if the tower is itself enough humidity.
Just a nice picture of one of the brood piles. Both tubes are filled with it.
I am thinking I want to move this colony into a “cooler” formicarium, maybe something dirt or digfix based once they get more numerous. These ladies seem fairly close to bullet proof and eat anything I give them.
T. immigrans colony “C” is the one I put through diapause. When I took them out, I thought everyone except the queen was dead, literally 100% of the workers. Fortunately many of the very, very dead looking workers did eventually wake up. Perhaps 1/3rd of the starting workers survived diapause. Despite starting the spring at a big disadvantage, this colony has exploded. They are less numerous than colony E, but are growing fast. I believe I will continue to diapause this colony and see how it compares to E as time passes. Coming out of diapause I placed this colony in a Wakooshi Venus nest. I really like this nest, it seems very practical for a smaller colony. When one tube dried out I just put in a second and unblocked the hole. Small outworld works well for feeding and escapees are never an issue since ants would need to crawl across fluon upside down. I am a big fan and would order more except my tubs setup works plenty fine as well!
Lots of brood in both tubes
Finally while taking photos the queen got angry at me and starting running around. Noticed she is missing part of one of her front legs! At least she seems none the worse for it.
Moving on to L2, my Lasius colony I placed in diapause. I am afraid to say they did very poorly. I had almost a 100% death rate with workers. Initially I believed only the queen survived, but fortunately two workers eventually revived. I believe(?) some of the brood survived as well based on time to new workers, but I could be wrong? Did not take good photos. Initially I put this colony in a tubs and tubes setup, however they were too timid to come out and get food, even if placed right at the test tube entrance. I ended up demoting them to “test tube in a dark quiet drawer” status, only coming out to feed or remove old food. They are now back up to 7 workers and a fair brood pile. When the current pupae group hatches their numbers should more than double and I hope to return them to the tubs setup.
My final colony is Lk, the Lasius colony I caught with my daughter. She is the one with the damaged gaster, whom I did not place in diapause. She was kicking [censored] until early spring, whereas the colonies growth rate slowed down substantially. While there was still developing brood it became so slow I felt I had to place them into diapause. Given my experience with L2’s diapause going so poorly, I ended up buying a wine cooler allowing me to slowly adjust the temperature down. I started them in diapause in late june, decreasing their temperature 1 degree F every other day till I hit 46. Unfortunately, the cooler crapped out on me when it got hot and would not keep the temperature down unless I ran the A/C all the time. So the ants are back in the fridge at 40*F until I can consistently get the cooler working, or replaced, or whatever the issue is. Plan is to keep them in for 3 months and hope for the best! No photos sadly since they're wrapped up in the fridge.
I am sad to report my quest for new colonies this spring and summer has been a total bust. Despite looking constantly everywhere I go, and carrying tubes around so much my wife is making fun of me, haven’t found any promising candidates. I found a batch of parasitic lasius earlier in the summer in a relatives swimming pool, however they all rapidly died. I collected some local lasius workers and tried varying introduction methods, but the queens never did anything but kill them. None of them ever removed their wings. Was fun to try regardless. I found a TON of Tetramorium immigrans queens, but did not feel any need to have more of them. If I don’t catch anyone new by end of summer I might allow myself to order one new colony online.
That’s where I am at! Always appreciate any advice/insight/etc from ya all. Especially if anyone knows where I went wrong with the diapause and/or if my new plan with the wine cooler is likely to work better.
-Propo
I'm definitely going to order a few of those hobby lobby cases and give it a try maybe with epoxy glue next time, and if I still don't like that I'll pick one up. I see plenty of them on amazon for ~12-20 bucks, which seems like a small investment all considered!
. Will have to look into trying again for the next generation! I've got a bag of grout from hobby lobby and I plan on giving it a shot next time around as well. I'll pickup some vermiculite locally in lieu of a sand topper, the moisture absorbing characteristics sound promising!
and all their sisters indeed died in around a week.
