27 replies to this topic

[AntsCali098]

First of all, the title is inspired from Cheeto's Pheidole journal.

 

To my delight, I was able to catch 4 different Pheidole during my trip to around Yucca Valley, after the rainstorm. I was there August 28th-29th. 3 of those 4 now have nanitics. I was also able to capture a P.navigans queen last night in the neighborhood. These desert Pheidole are some of the coolest species in America in my opinion, so I am really excited to keep these    This journal will cover those 5 "phabulous" Pheidole species. 

 

Pheidole cerebrosior

 

These gals just got their nanitics yesterday, and I have 2 colonies. These were perhaps the most common pheidole queens around in Yucca Valley, and they lay quite a bit of eggs. Both colonies seem to have brood of all stages and they both have 1 worker so far. I love their vibrant yellow. Both these queens have been doing great and seem to be pretty chill overall, like most of the other Pheidole. I expect 10-15 nanitics which is a pretty good first gen. These workers are so cute when young 

 

Colony A

 

Colony B

 

 

Pheidole hyatti

 

These ants are so cool. They are the most developed out of all my pheidole with about 10 workers and some brood. I am in love with the queen, with her large gaster and "rustic" look, and the workers with their long bodies and antennae, they are such such an awesome species. I think these are my favorite of all these Pheidole and I can't wait for them to continue to grow. I caught 2 when anting, but one died. I am glad the other made it and am really excited for these 

 

 

Pheidole pilifera Group

 

So far, it seems like these are basically smaller and less interesting xerophila, although they are Pheidole, so they are cool   They have black workers and a queen with a red head. The red head is what I like the most so far about them. I hope their majors have red heads as well similar to xerophila. This queen was the 2nd to get nanitics after the hyatti and has 2 right now. If anyone could provide further info on these I'd love it, sinch I don't think there is much out there on these. Exited for this colony to get going like the others!

 

 

Pheidole navigans

 

I've kept these a few times before, even keeping a full sized colony once. Unfortunately, the park I used to get more of these at is being taken over by invasives, so was only able to get 3 this year, 2 pretty much confirmed infertile. This queen was my only catch of last night after a hot day, and its probably the best species in the neighborhood    Hoping she lays and isn't infertile like the others.

 

 

Pheidole xerophila

 

The reason I put this gal last is because she is probably infertile    This sucks because this species is absolutely beautiful. The queen and majors have amazing red heads. I sold all but 2, but one died and this one's eggs aren't developing. At least I still have a beautiful queen.

 

 

 

Thanks for checking out my journal! May all these colonies be "phabulous" ones   

Edited by AntsCali098, October 6 2023 - 6:22 PM.

[100lols]

What a phabulous start to your Pheidole journal!!! Super excited to follow as I plan on catching some of these species next year.

I’m also bummed about the xerophila queen being infernal because the three queens I found this year died on the way home from the desert. I’d love to see some of those majors in captivity! Here was a colony I saw out in Borrego Springs:

[ANTdrew]

That’s one heck of a Pheidole collection you got started!

[AntsCali098]

What a phabulous start to your Pheidole journal!!! Super excited to follow as I plan on catching some of these species next year.

I’m also bummed about the xerophila queen being infernal because the three queens I found this year died on the way home from the desert. I’d love to see some of those majors in captivity! Here was a colony I saw out in Borrego Springs:

Strange that mine were infertile, even when they were dealates. There's always next year!

That’s one heck of a Pheidole collection you got started!

Thank you!

Edited by AntsCali098, October 7 2023 - 8:46 AM.

[bmb1bee]

You should make a CA Pheidole collection. 

[AntsCali098]

Definitely. Gotta get all them pheidole.

[ANTdrew]

Pheidole is the new Pokemon.

[bmb1bee]

Completing the Ant PokeDex is under way!

[ANTdrew]

Completing the Ant PokeDex is under way!

Only 4,996 species left to get ‘em all!

[AntsCali098]

Gotta catch em all!

[AntsCali098]

New colony alert 

 

Pheidole californica

I got these gals from Jeff, they seem to be a very nice and healthy colony   They have quite a few workers (maybe 30) and a decent brood pile. They also seem to have recently got their first major, so expecting some more soon! I'd like to move them to a mini hearth soon since I'm sure its gonna be hard to feed them in their test tube without workers escaping. I was amazed by them when they were unboxed and happy that they got off to a good start!

 

 

Pheidole cerebrosior

Still have 2 of these colonies, but likely am selling one, so I'll probably focus on colony A in this journal. This colony is doing quite well and both have a lot more workers then before. I counted 9 workers and a small brood pile, a nice first gen. There would be even more, but because of the heat combined with the pva sponge, they lost about 4 workers due to a small flood. Luckily it wasn't more.

 

 

Pheidole pilifera group

They lost a couple workers that drowned in their honey, but are also looking alright with 4 workers and a small brood pile at the moment.

 

 

Thanks for checking out my journal!

[antsriondel]

Come on man! Let a man dream about Pheidole.

[100lols]

New colony hype!!! That’s awesome man. Looking good.

Try soaking some cotton or tissue in the honey before feeding to avoid workers drowning. I use cotton and it holds a good amount of the sugar source you use! Sponge works well too actually.

[AntsCali098]

New colony hype!!! That’s awesome man. Looking good.

Try soaking some cotton or tissue in the honey before feeding to avoid workers drowning. I use cotton and it holds a good amount of the sugar source you use! Sponge works well too actually.

Thanks for the tip! I used to soak cotton in nectar so I'll probably just go back to that for the smaller gals.

[AntsCali098]

The Pheidole californicus have moved to a mini hearth (:


Apologies for the lower quality picture, I was only able to get this before they hid in a hole opening of the hearth.

The hyatti will also get a mini hearth soon, I just am waiting for one more generation of workers to eclose. It's almost impossible to feed these without them escaping. They are fast and get stressed pretty easily now that the queen has workers.

In a picture, you can see her gaster peeking out under some cotton. Its weird how much the queens calmness gets affected when workers arrive.



Thanks for checking out my journal!

Edited by AntsCali098, November 9 2023 - 6:12 PM.

[100lols]

Cotton looks super clean still though!! Can’t wait to see how they both look in their minihearth after a few months. So awesome!

How often are you feeding??

[AntsCali098]

Cotton looks super clean still though!! Can’t wait to see how they both look in their minihearth after a few months. So awesome!

How often are you feeding??

Can't wait for these gals to grow to their full size!

I feed them kind of on a loser schedule. I try to feed the larger colonies a bit more than the smaller ones, and they usually get fed once every 5ish days. I'll continue to feed them more as they grow.

[AntsCali098]

I'm down to just 3 Pheidole colonies, the hyatti, pilifera group, and 1 cerebrosior. The xerophila I haven't checked on in a while, but I'm 99 percent sure she is infertile. The californicus somehow escaped from their mini hearth. I hope to catch some fertile xero this August.

 

Pheidole cerebrosior

Both colonies A and B were looking great for a while, growing to about 30 workers. One day, colony B's queen randomly died, not sure why. Colony A was going strong in their test tube for a while, but one hot day the pva blue sponge leaked a lot of water. I had to evacuate them into a larger bamboo style tube, but a lot of the brood died.

 

They are still alive, with the queen and 5-10 workers still going, so hopefully they recover. No pictures of these since I want to leave them undisturbed to recover. Plus, the bamboo style tube isn't the best for filming.

 

Pheidole pilifera group

These aren't doing well, only aboyt 5 workers. I don't have a lot of hope for them sadly, since they just haven't grown. Hopefully they get a needed boost this spring/summer.

 

Pheidole hyatti

This colony is doing by far the best out of all my Pheidole. They are growing even faster then my Tetramorium immigrans right now, which is saying something. Recently, they got their very first major, and a pretty good sized one for their first.

 

 

I also noticed a large major larvae, so they are definetly pumping out the majors, which I'm really happy with  . These gals are suprisingly very neat, since most Pheidole I've kept are the opposite. They've established a nice neat trash pile in a corner of the outworld. The workers lug in the mealworms I put in very quickly for such a small colony. They eat all they can and then put the remains in the trash pile.

 

The only problem I've noticed is they are stressed easily, queen running around and all, when I move their mini hearth to check on them. I estimate 30 workers for this colony, with a great healthy amount of all stages of brood. Here are some photos:

 

 

Thanks for checking out my journal!

[ANTdrew]

Hyattii for the win!

[BleepingBleepers]

Loving and appreciating the pictures and the details you put into this journal.

 

Good luck with your colonies!