27 replies to this topic

[AntsCali098]

A lot has happened since I last updated.

 

Unfortunately, I'm down to just one colony. All the colonies previously mentioned here have died out.

 

The hyatti was doing amazing for a long while, but they mysteriously died out. My theory is it was just due to the queen refusing to lay. Pheidole workers generally don't live too long, as short as 3 months, so the nanitics (which were about half the colony) likely died from old age. After that, all the other workers mysteriously died. Since the queen wasnt laying any eggs, the workers were not replaced like normal. They had a full liquid feeder, water, and hydration. The queen is still alive, but I'm doubtful that she will lay again. I put her in a test tube setup and will try to not disturb her for a while.

 

The cerebrosior never recovered after their flooding incident, and the queen died about a week back.

 

The pilefera group's queen also recently died for an unknown reason. 

 

It's sad, but I have managed to catch a Pheidole navigans colony, and they have around 100 workers. I put them in a Creamato-proof outworld from ANTdrew, which they seem to like. I love watching this colony's foraging activity, they are always scouting around. I'm happy that I finally found an outworld that is able to keep this species fully contained, all the others I've tried with P.navigans in the past have given me problems. This is when the colony wasn't in it yet

 

 

They are pretty active and always love their food. There is also a good amount of brood, so hopefully this colony can take off.

 

 

I'm hopeful I can catch some more cool desert Pheidole this summer and add them to this journal, but for now, it will just follow these gals.

 

Thanks for checking out my journal!

Edited by AntsCali098, April 29 2024 - 12:31 PM.

[100lols]

Sorry for your losses!!! I have some stuff for you if you want…. Let me know!!!


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[AntsCali098]

It's been a while, but I'm back!

 

The navigans are doing well, up to about 200 workers. I don't have any pictures, because its hard to get the tube out of the outworld without escapees. 

 

The big focus of this update is my two new colonies from 100lols (hinted at in the last reply lol). They are Pheidole vistana and yaqui. Thanks again 100lols!

 

Pheidole vistana

This colony is fairly large, at about 150 workers. They are housed in a cool diy setup, the nest being flat. This makes it very good for viewing, and its easy to see the brood and queen. I leave a cover on it when I'm not observing:

 

 

So far, I just love how beautiful this species is. The workers have long legs, and an almost brown and yellowish color. They can speed around the setup easily, and are some of the fastest ants I've ever seen. The majors of this species are very impressive, and quite a bit larger then the workers. They have a darker color, and a very large head. The queen is surprisingly large compared to the workers, probably at least 3 times the size. The species seems a lot larger then most Pheidole, even the workers. They seem to be a bit larger then hyatti.

 

This colony in particular seems pretty healthy, and have a good amount of brood, mainly larvae and pupae. They love their food, and I love how they are able to cooperate to lug it back to the nest in one piece with workers and majors on all sides. Heres a few pictures:

 

 

Pheidole yaqui

This colony is even bigger then the vistana, and when I say bigger, I mean it. They are easily the biggest colony I've ever kept, and my rough estimate is 600-700 workers and two queens. They were a nightmare to move into their new mini hearth xl from their old tubs and tubes setup, and it took me about 2 hours to separate them all:

 

 

After i was able to, they settled into the mini hearth xl well.

 

 

They had a ton of trash in the outworld, and I used the cleaning tower method to clean a lot of it up. I might add another mini hearth soon, because the outworld is just too small for them. They always swarm it whenever I go in to feed them, and I have to make sure I keep the fluon fresh so they don't escape all over the place.

 

Inside the nest after a few weeks, the queens have laid a ton of eggs. They already had a mountain of mostly larvae and pupae, so the colony is growing rapidly. If it gets to the point that they reach an exponential size, I do have an ac hybrid nest that can fit all the workers. I know those nests aren't the absolute best quality, but they can sure fit a ton of ants. I bought another mini hearth recently and have 3 others on stand by so i can use those to expand as the colony grows. I'm prepared for a massive colony so I'm hoping to raise they to that point. I took a ton of pictures, so heres a photo dump:

 

 

Thanks for checking out my journal!

Edited by AntsCali098, July 10 2024 - 7:28 PM.

[NotAxo]

That is a massive and impressive colony! By the looks of the new out world, I'm guessing that these gals absolutely wreak havoc on you? Your fluon bill is definitely expensive right?

[AntsCali098]

That is a massive and impressive colony! By the looks of the new out world, I'm guessing that these gals absolutely wreak havoc on you? Your fluon bill is definitely expensive right?

Thanks! And yeah lol. I make sure to put a thick layer of fluon every time so it lasts a while, but they still manage to break through rather quickly. 

Edited by AntsCali098, July 11 2024 - 10:11 AM.

[AntsCali098]

Pheidole navigans

Since last update, the Pheidole navigans have been doing the best, and have certainly taken off. I remember hearing somewhere that these gals only grow to 500 workers at max size, so now they should be close to that. Honestly, I probably should be feeding them more, but despite the underfeeding, they have still grown quite a bit. I think this is mostly due to my limited check-ups on the test tube, because they usually just come pouring out onto my hand, but when I checked the tube this week, I was excited to see a growth of about 200 workers since last update. 

 

If they happen to grow over what I thought their max size was, I'll have to either add another test tube, or give them an entirely different setup, although their current one is working well. Now, I remember why I loved my old navigans colony. They will eat just about anything and grow fast even with limited feeding. 

 

Here is some of their feeding activity plus the test tube, which isn't full because about 30% of the colony is out eating. I think it might be time to add another test tube:

 

 

Sorry if the quality is on the lower side in the video, I think youtube messed it up a little.

 

Pheidole yaqui

Nothing much has changed with these. I did decide to give them a 2nd mini hearth since they were a bit cramped in the old one. Other then that they haven't grown much, and I've tried to feed them every other day. They still have a ton of brood. The vistana are the same, except I should feed them more protein so they can grow more.

 

Thanks for checking out my journal!

[Ants_Dakota]

Why did your pva sponges flood, do you know? I have wanted to try them for a while, but I didn't know they had any downsides.

[AntsCali098]

Why did your pva sponges flood, do you know? I have wanted to try them for a while, but I didn't know they had any downsides.

Yeah, I'd say that's their only downside. They tend to flood. Make sure you don't push them down too far then. You should be fine most of the time, but they flood after a while when pushing them a bit too far.