59 replies to this topic

[AsdinAnts]

Today, at 1:16 pm I got my apheanogaster occidentalis colony that I bought from jeffpbalderson, pretty cool guy! They arrived safe and look to be healthy, They currently have four workers, and tons of eggs! I will take photos of them once I find my macro lens again 😔

Edited by AsdinAnts, January 24 2024 - 9:36 PM.

[AsdinAnts]

Okay, so I have decided to move the colony away from their original test tube into a brand new one since the original tube had no more water. Since this species is pretty active, I also gave them an outworld despite how tiny the colony is right now. The queen is absolutely beautiful, and so are the workers! I’ve gotten a semi decent picture of the queen and workers, also mb, there are actually 5 workers! (The picture was taken with minimal light)
edit: sorry that this picture doesnt show their colors, they are a beautiful dark red and black.

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Edited by AsdinAnts, December 28 2023 - 10:26 PM.

[AsdinAnts]

They have moved into the test tube that I connected into their outworld, they are about to have a sixth worker, I can tell because one of their pupae is turning really dark.

[AsdinAnts]

Okay, so, quick question about my Aphaenogaster Occidentalis colony. Do Aphaenogaster Occidentalis inbreed, and if so, what time/point in the colony do they? I also would like to know if A. Occidentalis are escape artists, I’ve already found a worker outside of its test tube just crawling around (they are also connected to an outworld, so that may be how they escaped). Another question i have about A. Occidentalis is if they are able to lay “haploid eggs” i’m not talking about the queen being able to do this, i’m talking about the workers. I read on a website somewhere that A. Occidentalis workers are able to lay eggs that the queen is able to eat, since they don’t have social stomachs. The website also stated that if the eggs aren’t able to be eaten by the queen in time, they will turn into drones. I highly doubt this since the workers don’t have the reproductive organisms (I think) to lay eggs like a queen does, but I’m just asking since mostly everyone in this website has kept Aphaenogaster before. It would be very much appreciated if anyone has any information abt them.

Edited by AsdinAnts, December 30 2023 - 9:13 PM.

[michiganantsinmyyard]

Okay, so, quick question about my Aphaenogaster Occidentalis colony. Do Aphaenogaster Occidentalis inbreed, and if so, what time/point in the colony do they? I also would like to know if A. Occidentalis are escape artists, I’ve already found a worker outside of its test tube just crawling around (they are also connected to an outworld, so that may be how they escaped). Another question i have about A. Occidentalis is if they are able to lay “haploid eggs” i’m not talking about the queen being able to do this, i’m talking about the workers. I read on a website somewhere that A. Occidentalis workers are able to lay eggs that the queen is able to eat, since they don’t have social stomachs. The website also stated that if the eggs aren’t able to be eaten by the queen in time, they will turn into drones. I highly doubt this since the workers don’t have the reproductive organisms (I think) to lay eggs like a queen does, but I’m just asking since mostly everyone in this website has kept Aphaenogaster before. It would be very much appreciated if anyone has any information abt them.

While I don’t know the answer to your question I do know that workers that produce infertile eggs do become males.

[AsdinAnts]

Their pupae has eclosed, I have also just feed them a maggot. They have a small batch of eggs with one small larvae. I will update them again on the 7th (dk why I said the 7th, I’m pretty impatient 🥳)

Edited by AsdinAnts, January 18 2024 - 8:11 AM.

[AsdinAnts]

oh also, on the third I found my macro lens again. I took a picture of them and I forgot to post, anyways here are some photos of the queen holding a batch of eggs.

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Edited by AsdinAnts, January 5 2024 - 7:25 PM.

[AsdinAnts]

js fed them a canned mealworm, if you guys want to see some videos of them check out my youtube channel, AsdAnts.

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Edited by AsdinAnts, January 6 2024 - 10:25 AM.

[AsdinAnts]

they have a really good sized batch of eggs, and one medium/small larvae.

[AsdinAnts]

I just feed them a baby earwig, I’m not sure if they accepted it or not. The queen and a few of the workers are just nibbling at it.
edit: They accepted it! I saw one of the nanitics dragging it to where they have the larvae, and the worker put a larvae on top of it! (there are a bunch of small larvae and new eggs, also the one larvae that was small, is now a decently sized larvae. You can also see the food inside of it’s stomach. 🥳)

Edited by AsdinAnts, January 18 2024 - 8:14 AM.

[AsdinAnts]

They have larvae of all sizes, and are eating fairly well. The only thing that they have acceptedas of now are mealworms, baby earwigs, and a tiny piece of chicken that I have given them. The queen laid another batch of eggs around 1-2 days ago. There is one larvae that looks like it’s ready to pupate. (I have them on heat so it’s sped up) I’ll add pictures once my wifi is up and running again. (usin my signal to post this.)

[AsdinAnts]

here are some photos, one was taken around a week ago, another was taken 2 days ago.

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[AsdinAnts]

the hugest larvae that they have is (I think) in prepupal stage. The neck/head of the larvae is elongated and taking the form of a head. I have been offering the colony SO. MUCH. PROTEIN. 💪 The colony has twice, maybe thrice as many eggs as they had in the last photos, they also have larvae of all sizes.

Edited by AsdinAnts, February 1 2024 - 3:39 PM.

[AsdinAnts]

I left to vegas around 5 hours ago, before I left, I gave my ants a prekilled cricket. I gave them a cricket around 2 weeks ago and they absolutely destroyed that thing! I’ll update them again and show a picture of the cricket once I get back home (coming home from vegas on the fourth)

Edited by AsdinAnts, February 4 2024 - 2:32 PM.

[Artisan_Ants]

I left to vegas around 5 hours ago, I left my ants a prekilled cricket, seeing as the cricket I gave them was DESTROYED. I gave the nanitics and the queen a full grown cricket, and they ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED THAT THING. The crickets legs were all gone, its antannae, the two back things, its eyes, and there was a hole in the middle of the cricket.

Yeah. The genus of Aphenogaster tend to be very carnivorous; more carnivorous the Camponotus. Some studies even show that they can even eat dry/dehydrated food. Obviously not as protein rich as a normal protein source though.

Edited by Artisan_Ants, February 2 2024 - 4:27 PM.

[BleepingBleepers]

Very cute watching your colony start out. The little workers are very adorable. Hope your colony thrives and keep up with the pictures as I enjoy those too.

[AsdinAnts]

Thank you bleepingbleepers.
I’m not sure what's happening with one of the more mature larvae that my colony has. The larvae is like half pupae half larvae, I’m not sure if the larvae is in prepupal but it seems to
small to become a pupae right now. The larvae is not eating but I also don’t think it’s dead since the ants are still caring for it.

[JesseTheAntKid]

They're doing awesome, Asdin! As for your pupal and larval dilemma rn, I wouldn't worry too much, just let the ants take care of it in this situation

[AsdinAnts]

Thank you Jesse, and okay.

[TacticalHandleGaming]

Mine love crickets, fruit flies, dandelion seeds and byformica sunburst. I know a lot of people say Aphaenogaster can be dirty, but I've found in my case at least both my colonies are clean freaks and move their trash as far away from the nest as possible.

You'll really enjoy them once their population explodes, they get very aggressive towards protein.