20 replies to this topic

[AsdinAnts]

This Journal is about an argentine ant colony that i’ve collected from the wild about 1 week ago. I decided not to collect any brood, just a queen and about 20 workers. I moved them into a tiny (wouldn't say formicarium, but formicarium) I think they like it, but seeing as they moved into the formicarium then moved into a vinyl tube that connected them to an outworld, then they moved back into the formicarium again. I’m pretty sure they are in the formicarium to stay as of now.

Edited by AsdinAnts, December 18 2023 - 6:33 PM.

[AsdinAnts]

this is a photo that i took of them when i first moved them in, i also gave them some sugarwater that was colored blue from byformica.

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Edited by AsdinAnts, December 18 2023 - 6:30 PM.

[AsdinAnts]

Will be adding more pictures for them either today or tomorrow. (edit for photo: The queen has been busy, and laid a whole nother batch of eggs. I’m pretty sure that one or two of them will hatch soon since i also saw some eggs when i first got them.

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Edited by AsdinAnts, December 19 2023 - 6:00 PM.

[100lols]

These ants are so hardy. I once accidentally had a queen survive in an unhydrated setup for a month before realizing she was in there still. The workers perished so I released her to join the argentines outside.

Good luck with this colony.

[AsdinAnts]

dang, how long ago was this? Also thanks.

[100lols]

It was this year. They would have survived well in captivity I think. It’s pretty cool how you can just keep collecting more and more queens and adding them to the colony lol.

[AsdinAnts]

honestly, its really cool! It’s just that those ants are the only ones I can find around my house besides brachymyrmex patagonicus. I wish there were more native ants around. There are solenopsis xyloni and Pogonomyrmex species around my neighborhood, but they’re pretty rare.

[AsdinAnts]

okay, so while I just gave them a fresh piece of a worm, I saw that the queen was below the vinyl tubing connecting the outworld to their nest. I also saw some workers just wandering outside the nest with eggs in their mandibles. Does anyone know why this is happening, also here are some pictures of the queen under the vinyl tubing, and their setup. (ik their kinda bad, i was in a rush)

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[AsdinAnts]

also I know that the nest looks too big for just those tiny ants, and it is, but the three little openings on the red film can be placed with blockers to block parts of the nest. I used all the blockers so that the ants have a very little room to themselves.

[ZATrippit]

Could the workers have been moving the eggs to another nest site?

[AsdinAnts]

probably, I just saw that the colony has moved back into the vinyl tubing.

[AsdinAnts]

It’s also pretty common, argentine ants have more than 100+ satellite nests per colony.

[AsdinAnts]

THIS JOURNAL IS NOW DISCONTINUED. I was going to feed them another piece of worm when i realized that none of the ants were in the tube or in the outworld. Once I have made sure, I checked inside the nest and there was nothing there except for one worker. The colony has escaped somewhere into my room (I think that they are inside the spot where I am keeping my termites because the termite enclosure is open) idk what to do honestly lol

[AsdinAnts]

update, they are not inside the termite enclosure.

[ANTdrew]

R I P

[AsdinAnts]

I FOUND THEM!!! so, I left a test tube out hoping that they would move in, and they did! I recollected the colony (Some of the workers are still in my room, the ones that ran away) and now I have the queen and most of the workers back! first picture is where I found them, and 2nd is when I moved them into a test tube setup. I think for now i’ll keep them in the tt.

[AsdinAnts]

pics

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[AsdinAnts]

I just fed them some blue nectar from Byformica. You can see one of the workers drinking the nectar. I am so happy i found them lol 😅

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[Mirandarachnid]

That is so lucky! Glad they came back!

[AsdinAnts]

me too!