9 replies to this topic

[michiganantsinmyyard]

Week 1: 

 

This is the first week I have taken my Myrmica queen out of hibernation. She was caught during August, and hearing that they might not lay eggs before hibernation and because I wasn't prepared to take care of her, I put her in my fridge until today. This day marks the 3 1/2 month mark, and it seems like to me this would simulate a winter well enough for the queen.

 

I put a little depression in the cotton because I was afraid of her losing moisture, and she seems to be using it well. I know her hiding in it is a sign of stress, but that was because fumbled and dropped her test tube when I was warming her up, and she doesn't seem to have dug any deeper in the cotton so no worries of drowning. So far I am feeding her a little honey and a piece of rehydrated krill, which I really hope she takes because my fruit fly stocks are running dry. I don't think I'll be updating this much, as founding isn't very eventful, but I will make sure to update this if anything interesting happens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[michiganantsinmyyard]

Sorry for bad picture quality, I am only able to use a normal Iphone 14 camera for pictures, and I wanted to be quick so I wouldn't disturb her too much.

[ANTdrew]

Good luck! Try to get a clip on macro lens for your phone. I like the Leknes brand sold on Amazon.

[michiganantsinmyyard]

Week 1: Continued.
I've ordered the macro lens for my phone, but for now I have to make do with some flashlight adjusted pictures. The queen is much more active and less shy after a feeding of krill and honey. You can see her colours in these two pictures quite good. I probably won't upload anything else until I have acquired the lense, or she lays any eggs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by michiganantsinmyyard, November 20 2023 - 7:13 PM.

[michiganantsinmyyard]

Week 2: Lense! And finally some good photos.

As the title suggests, the lense for the camera finally came! I got some good pictures of the queen in her test tube, hopefully I can get an identification with them. 

No eggs or larva so far, but I'm not worried.

 

 

[100lols]

Wow! Great investment. The pictures are gorgeous. Really hope she gets workers!

[michiganantsinmyyard]

If anyone does have any idea about species, or even what group it is in, please share! 

[michiganantsinmyyard]

Update!

 

Finally! She laid eggs. After all this time of taking care of her, I thought she may have been infertile, or just not eating any food I gave her. But I recently disturbed her to add food to her test tube, and saw her picking something up. 

Upon closer inspection, they are most definitely her children. 

I can't really tell if it is eggs or early stage larvae, but either way it proves she is capable of laying.

[michiganantsinmyyard]

Journal isn't discontinued, but nothing particularly exciting has happened. There are some small larva, and some more eggs, but nothing exciting. Until I see large noteworthy larva or pupa, I won't update this journal.

[ANTdrew]

It is winter now. I wouldn’t expect much from northern ants like these.