98 replies to this topic

[The_Gaming-gate]

3/11/24 - "Start of an Empire"

 

 

 

Starting with bad news, the original queen has sadly died. But the other queen housed in the AntsCanada test tube is doing great! She has ripped off her wings and is drinking a lot of water. But more importantly, has a clutch of 10 - 12 eggs which she guards. In fact, she likes to stand above those eggs preventing me from taking pictures. I don't know how to tell how recently they were laid, but my guess is about 5 days ago, as it got quite hot then, and this probably prompted the queen to lay eggs. 

 

 

Some adapter plugs, tubing, and a test tube portal arrived today, and will be installed as soon as she gets her first workers. She's doing very well, much better than the original queen. I hope this one lives, she seems like a good mother. So, what are your thoughts. What should I do to keep her fate away from the one which plagued the original queen? Add your ideas below! 

 

But before you do that, enjoy pictures!

 

Dead body of original queen. Notice how no fungi or parasites have sprouted; body in good condition.

 

Queen stands beside a large clutch of eggs. They are hard to see and blurry (didn't want to take a long time as this would stress the queen) but you can tell they are eggs.

 

 

 

 

[Artisan_Ants]

As usual, keep her in a dark spot and check on her once a week to make sure everything is going well. Founding queens tend to stress quite a lot on recent checkups so try to limit them. Other than that, 10-12 eggs sounds like a healthy queen to me. Good luck!

[The_Gaming-gate]

As usual, keep her in a dark spot and check on her once a week to make sure everything is going well. Founding queens tend to stress quite a lot on recent checkups so try to limit them. Other than that, 10-12 eggs sounds like a healthy queen to me. Good luck!

Thanks! I'm going to try to check on her every 5 - 7 days, as I think that shouldn't stress her out.

[Artisan_Ants]

As usual, keep her in a dark spot and check on her once a week to make sure everything is going well. Founding queens tend to stress quite a lot on recent checkups so try to limit them. Other than that, 10-12 eggs sounds like a healthy queen to me. Good luck!

Thanks! I'm going to try to check on her every 5 - 7 days, as I think that shouldn't stress her out.

Yeah, that should work great. Good luck!

[The_Gaming-gate]

Thank you, Artisan_Ants
A quick question, for a first meal, would a pinch of sugar count as nutrition, or do they need honey? I’m a bit scared to drown the nanitics.

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, March 13 2024 - 12:44 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Thank you, Artisan_Ants
A quick question, for a first meal, would a pinch of sugar count as nutrition, or do they need honey? I’m a bit scared to drown the nanitics.

Soak a drop of sugar water in a bit of cotton or paper towel. None of the ants will drown that way.

[The_Gaming-gate]

Thank you, Artisan_Ants

A quick question, for a first meal, would a pinch of sugar count as nutrition, or do they need honey? I’m a bit scared to drown the nanitics.

Soak a drop of sugar water in a bit of cotton or paper towel. None of the ants will drown that way.

ANTdrew, thanks for saving some future nanitics from a watery doom.

[The_Gaming-gate]

The queen’s eggs have not yet hatched, but I noticed she moved 2 - 3 eggs to the edge of the test tube, and kept the rest in the pile. I have no clue why she did this.

In this picture, you can clearly see her egg pile.

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Edited by The_Gaming-gate, March 15 2024 - 3:16 AM.

[Artisan_Ants]

Beautiful queen you go there. I find that even without adding water, my small ants species don't drown. It's kind of strange but at least its less work.  I appreciate it.

[The_Gaming-gate]

Beautiful queen you go there. I find that even without adding water, my small ants species don't drown. It's kind of strange but at least it’s less work. I appreciate it.

Thanks for the info! Do you think ants can eat peanut butter?

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, March 16 2024 - 8:00 AM.

[Artisan_Ants]

Beautiful queen you go there. I find that even without adding water, my small ants species don't drown. It's kind of strange but at least it’s less work. I appreciate it.

Thanks for the info! Do you think ants can eat peanut butter?

Probably, unless there are some chemicals that are not for animal consumption (I mean dogs can eat them so I’m kind of doubting that they put chemicals in peanut butter). So yeah the probably can eat peanut butter but in small portions (in this case, very small dues to the size of your Solonopsis). Good luck!

[The_Gaming-gate]

Beautiful queen you go there. I find that even without adding water, my small ants species don't drown. It's kind of strange but at least it’s less work. I appreciate it.

Thanks for the info! Do you think ants can eat peanut butter?

Probably, unless there are some chemicals that are not for animal consumption (I mean dogs can eat them so I’m kind of doubting that they put chemicals in peanut butter). So yeah the probably can eat me peanut butter but in small portions (in this case, very small dues to the size of your Solonopsis). Good luck!

Great, thanks! Now I have a protein version of honey.

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, March 17 2024 - 8:41 AM.

[The_Gaming-gate]

I was walking in my yard and uncovered the brood chamber of a *mature* S Invicta colony. It’s a bit too moist for me to dig it up now, but later today I am going to go back and grab about ten pupae to boost the queen with.

[Artisan_Ants]

I was walking in my yard and uncovered the brood chamber of a *mature* S Invicta colony. It’s a bit too moist for me to dig it up now, but later today I am going to go back and grab about ten pupae to boost the queen with.

That would be very useful. I haven’t brood boosted myself but I’m definitely on it to try this year.

[The_Gaming-gate]

I was walking in my yard and uncovered the brood chamber of a *mature* S Invicta colony. It’s a bit too moist for me to dig it up now, but later today I am going to go back and grab about ten pupae to boost the queen with.

That would be very useful. I haven’t brood boosted myself but I’m definitely on it to try this year.

I’m going to do the boost in a few days, as I don’t want to stress the queen.

[The_Gaming-gate]

A question, do I need to put booster brood in a outworld and let the queen pick it up from there, or is it fine if I just throw booster pupae in the nest?

[Flu1d]

For one S. invicta queen that I decided to brood boost, I put brood directly into her tube and she loved that.

[The_Gaming-gate]

For one S. invicta queen that I decided to brood boost, I put brood directly into her tube and she loved that.

Thanks! I was scared to disturb her.

[The_Gaming-gate]

Hm. Are you sure this is Solenopsis invicta? It looks a little too... Stout.

On second thought, she does look a bit like a Crematogaster. My newest queen is invicta though.

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, March 19 2024 - 12:27 PM.

[The_Gaming-gate]

3/19/24 - "Brood Boost"


Today I went to my local invicta colony, and flipped a few stones before running into a brood chamber. It was mostly alates, but I got about eight worker pupae, and two small larvae. The brood was introduced to the queen, who immediately picked them up and moved them toward her egg pile. I do think I got a major pupae, which will likely eclose soon (due to amber coloring). I also noticed the queen laid more eggs, possibly doubling her egg pile, and I believe I saw a small larva. But enough words, time for pics!

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Edited by The_Gaming-gate, March 19 2024 - 12:59 PM.