8-30-2017

 

On 8-4-2017 I found a bunch of these queens running around at night in Lucerne Valley, California. They probably just flew that morning. This is the first time I've ever caught queens of this species.
 
It's been three weeks now, and not a single one of them have laid one egg. I've never seen anything like this.

Update 10-29-2017
 
Well, about nine of these finally laid eggs, and four of them got their first workers about a week ago. The largest colony has three workers, and I moved it into a small starter formicarium.
 

 
 
I decided to see if I could get some of the others to lay some eggs by boosting them with a worker each, so I gave three of them each one Camponotus fragilis pupa. I know these are both from two different subgenera, so the chance of this working out is probably pretty small. The next day I checked on them, and there were no pupae to be found anywhere. I've always been a little confused about ants not being able to eat anything but liquids, because I've seen stuff like this happen before. All three pupae are completely gone without a trace of anything left behind. Did the queens really consume the entire pupae, cocoon and all? I'm thinking of putting another one in there and getting some time-lapse video of it.

Nice colony, and I like the contrats in color of the queen

Update 6-10-2018
 
I eventually ended up feeding all the queens with no workers or brood to my other pets, but now I kind of wish I didn't. Amazingly all of these queens laid more eggs in May. Some laid more than they did originally. I still have all four colonies, and not one of them has lost a single worker yet. Of the workerless queens, I only kept two, and they both have a few eggs now.

Update 6-10-2018
 
I eventually ended up feeding all the queens with no workers or brood to my other pets, but now I kind of wish I didn't. Amazingly all of these queens laid more eggs in May. Some laid more than they did originally. I still have all four colonies, and not one of them has lost a single worker yet. Of the workerless queens, I only kept two, and they both have a few eggs now.

 

Glad I kept mine, they all have pupae now with lots of brood as well. It's crazy. Better late than never.

finally, an update

Update 6-6-2019
 
I sold all of the previous colonies months ago.
 
On 7-24-2019 I found more of these queens in Landers, CA. Most were still running around, while some of them were in the process of digging their nests. It was funny how some of their founding chambers looked exactly like the big huge ones that Myrmecocystus mexicanus make. These queens are like the ones we got from Lucerne Valley last year--gasters mustard-colored with very little, if any black. I only collected five of them, and put them in test tubes. So far with the exception of one, like the ones last year, they still haven't laid any eggs. It's interesting that one of them this time actually did lay eggs. I'm assuming these will wait until next spring to lay their eggs again. It makes me think one of these might be incorrectly ID'd.
 

these look awfully similar to my camponotus turkestanus

Looking great! What do you find as the most successful food for them?

Looking great! What do you find as the most successful food for them?

Same as any other Camponotus - sugary liquids and insects/meat.

Update 6-11-2023
 

It's been a long time since I updated this journal. All the colonies I had either died or were sold years ago.

 

I traded some queens with nurbs for a bunch more of these queens last season, and ended up selling all but three of them. All three are doing great with around 30 or so workers each. These, C. fragilis, and C. sansabeanus seem to be the only three species that do well for me - interestingly all from the desert.

Glad to see your back on your journal!

Update 11-16-2023
 

I sold one of the colonies and only have two now. I moved them both into my large starter formicariums and they both have a little over 40 workers each now.

 

 

 

These are definitely my favorite species of Camponotus here in CA.

Uhg making me want another colony… (not that I’ve kept these in the past, but adding another colony atm isn’t ideal for me.)

Edited by 100lols, November 18 2023 - 4:54 PM.

Uhg making me want another colony… (not that I’ve kept these in the past, but adding another colony atm isn’t ideal for me.)

They’re easy to add, but hard to keep well!