21 replies to this topic

[AntsCali098]

Its time for my second desert ant journal, and its an awesome species, Aphaenogaster meggommenta 

 

Never heard of them? Well hardly anybody keeps them, let along getting them to workers. I am really excited for this semi rare species. They are extremely nocturnal so I was lucky to spot one at my blacklight. I originally thought this was M.navajo in the darkness, but I identified her later. Super glad I caught her, because I assumed she was infertile since she was still flying fine, but she shed her wings when I git home and laid 6 eggs in her test tube.

 

She now has one worker and one that is very close to eclosing, maybe a few hours. I noticed the worker helping the developed "pupae", cleaning her legs  . The queen took about a month and 15 days to get her first nanitic. She was pretty chill in her founding stage, but is now a bit more jumpy after her first worker eclosed. From my observations, this is pretty common. Maybe because the young worker is weak, so her mother is more defensive over the worker? I also noticed the same thing with my P.hyatti, found in my Pheidole journal.

 

Heres a picture and a video of the colony:

 

 

(the video is currently uploading so it may not show up if you are reading this shortly after it has been posted)

 

Hoping for an awesome Aphaenogaster meggommenta colony in the future!

 

Thanks for checking out my journal 

Edited by AntsCali098, June 5 2024 - 5:02 PM.

[100lols]

Wow!!! I really love yellow ants… I have a feeling this species is going to be so cool. Wishing you the best

[bmb1bee]

Will be following this journal carefully. 

[ANTdrew]

Excellent! Aphaenogaster are perhaps the best ants to keep.

[AntsCali098]

Excellent! Aphaenogaster are perhaps the best ants to keep.

They are underrated!

[AntsCali098]

It's been a while since the last update due to the slow growth of these beauties. They are now up to 6 workers but have quite an appetite. They are still my most relaxed ants, and they hardly care when exposed to light.

In my experience, they've been quite slow growers. My theory is that they start to grow faster with more workers, similar to Camponotus.

They currently have some small larvae and a batch of eggs.

[bmb1bee]

Would recommend fruit flies or termites. Small and soft-bodied insects could boost their brood production, like with my Camponotus and Formica. They go more crazy with those than they do with dubias and mealworms lol.

[AntsCali098]

Would recommend fruit flies or termites. Small and soft-bodied insects could boost their brood production, like with my Camponotus and Formica. They go more crazy with those than they do with dubias and mealworms lol.

I've wanted to get fruit flies for a while. I do prefer the pre-killed feeders, but if I see some I might get them.

[AsdinAnts]

omg, those ants are absolutely stunning! I would love to keep a colony of those. I love the pale yellow coloration on those ants. Keep going and I hope you get a very big colony of these ants.

[ANTdrew]

Would recommend fruit flies or termites. Small and soft-bodied insects could boost their brood production, like with my Camponotus and Formica. They go more crazy with those than they do with dubias and mealworms lol.

I've wanted to get fruit flies for a while. I do prefer the pre-killed feeders, but if I see some I might get them.

Fruit flies should also be fed pre-killed to prevent grain mites. I use a fluon lined funnel to shake a bunch into a test tube that I then pop in the freezer. I then dip them in boiling water a few seconds. Most commercial fruit fly cultures are literally teeming with grain mites.

[AntsCali098]

Would recommend fruit flies or termites. Small and soft-bodied insects could boost their brood production, like with my Camponotus and Formica. They go more crazy with those than they do with dubias and mealworms lol.

I've wanted to get fruit flies for a while. I do prefer the pre-killed feeders, but if I see some I might get them.

Fruit flies should also be fed pre-killed to prevent grain mites. I use a fluon lined funnel to shake a bunch into a test tube that I then pop in the freezer. I then dip them in boiling water a few seconds. Most commercial fruit fly cultures are literally teeming with grain mites.

Thanks for the suggestion. That seems like a good idea

[100lols]

Absolutely stunning!! Also I do agree, and feel some soft bodied insects are important plus the more variety the better!!

[dspdrew]

 

 

 

Would recommend fruit flies or termites. Small and soft-bodied insects could boost their brood production, like with my Camponotus and Formica. They go more crazy with those than they do with dubias and mealworms lol.

I've wanted to get fruit flies for a while. I do prefer the pre-killed feeders, but if I see some I might get them.

Fruit flies should also be fed pre-killed to prevent grain mites. I use a fluon lined funnel to shake a bunch into a test tube that I then pop in the freezer. I then dip them in boiling water a few seconds. Most commercial fruit fly cultures are literally teeming with grain mites.

Thanks for the suggestion. That seems like a good idea

 

 

I just recently started using fruit flies myself. Luckily I never got any grain mites in my culture and I've been breeding my own ever since, grain mite free. I found the easiest way to breed them in smaller amounts for feeding ant colonies. I'll post a thread on it later.

[100lols]

Would recommend fruit flies or termites. Small and soft-bodied insects could boost their brood production, like with my Camponotus and Formica. They go more crazy with those than they do with dubias and mealworms lol.

I've wanted to get fruit flies for a while. I do prefer the pre-killed feeders, but if I see some I might get them.

Fruit flies should also be fed pre-killed to prevent grain mites. I use a fluon lined funnel to shake a bunch into a test tube that I then pop in the freezer. I then dip them in boiling water a few seconds. Most commercial fruit fly cultures are literally teeming with grain mites.

Thanks for the suggestion. That seems like a good idea

I just recently started using fruit flies myself. Luckily I never got any grain mites in my culture and I've been breeding my own ever since, grain mite free. I found the easiest way to breed them in smaller amounts for feeding ant colonies. I'll post a thread on it later.

Cool! that would be awesome, *edit: thank you Andrew!!!

Edited by 100lols, December 21 2023 - 11:01 PM.

[AntsCali098]

I took some nice photos of this colony, so this will be a bit of a photo dump. The eggs have grown into larvae, and much faster then I expected, as they are already almost pupae 

 

[bmb1bee]

I absolutely love these new photos of them, especially the 4th and 5th ones. Keep up the good work in caring for these desert gems!

[michiganantsinmyyard]

Crazy beautiful ants.

[BleepingBleepers]

Very cool looking ants and neat pictures! Good luck on your colony!

[AntsCali098]

Eggs!



The queen laid for the first time since last year, and the colony is well on their way to a good future! They remain at 6 workers.



Thanks for checking out my journal!

[bmb1bee]

That looks like mold on the sponge. I'd move them to a fresh tube if I were you, as the mold I get in some of my tubes seems to grow over and kill the eggs if not taken care of.