90 replies to this topic

[Ernteameise]

Right, so today I took a few more pictures.

I get the impression the colony becomes more relaxed when I clean and feed them, as well as when I try to take pictures.

So here are is a picture of the girls foraging. Only the normal workers forage, the majors only come out at exceptional circumstances.

 

 

And here are pictures of them taking care of the brood.

You can see that they chop up the tubifex worms into small pieces and then place these on top of the larvae.

 

 

 

Her majesty is also well, you can see her at around 3 o'clock on this picture, right next to a major.

 

 

I really have to say that I love these girls.

When I got them, someone told me that these girls were "boring" and nothing much happening and the other person gave their colony away in the end because of that.

I do not share this experience.

Yes, these ants are more shy then some of my other ants.

But if you have some patience, they are just a joy to observe.

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

Right, so today I took a few more pictures.

I get the impression the colony becomes more relaxed when I clean and feed them, as well as when I try to take pictures.

So here are is a picture of the girls foraging. Only the normal workers forage, the majors only come out at exceptional circumstances.

 

And here are pictures of them taking care of the brood.

You can see that they chop up the tubifex worms into small pieces and then place these on top of the larvae.

 

Her majesty is also well, you can see her at around 3 o'clock on this picture, right next to a major.

 

I really have to say that I love these girls.

When I got them, someone told me that these girls were "boring" and nothing much happening and the other person gave their colony away in the end because of that.

I do not share this experience.

Yes, these ants are more shy then some of my other ants.

But if you have some patience, they are just a joy to observe.

I agree with this statement, even thought cryptic/small species are more calm, they also are more enjoyable because of their calm nature, like how In one of the posts/updates where you upgraded their nest, the ants were so chill that you did not even realise that the nest did not have a cover

 

I also enjoy how they pick their food and their feeding habits compared to a ravenous mob that wants Food + one of your fingers

Edited by OwlThatLikesAnts, December 7 2024 - 5:22 PM.

[antsriondel]

Right, so today I took a few more pictures.

I get the impression the colony becomes more relaxed when I clean and feed them, as well as when I try to take pictures.

So here are is a picture of the girls foraging. Only the normal workers forage, the majors only come out at exceptional circumstances.

 

 

And here are pictures of them taking care of the brood.

You can see that they chop up the tubifex worms into small pieces and then place these on top of the larvae.

 

 

 

Her majesty is also well, you can see her at around 3 o'clock on this picture, right next to a major.

 

 

I really have to say that I love these girls.

When I got them, someone told me that these girls were "boring" and nothing much happening and the other person gave their colony away in the end because of that.

I do not share this experience.

Yes, these ants are more shy then some of my other ants.

But if you have some patience, they are just a joy to observe.

I've always wanted those ants since I saw them featured in an Ant Holleufer video. They look really good, I'm excited to watch their growth!

[Ernteameise]

 

 

I agree with this statement, even thought cryptic/small species are more calm, they also are more enjoyable because of their calm nature, like how In one of the posts/updates where you upgraded their nest, the ants were so chill that you did not even realise that the nest did not have a cover

 

I also enjoy how they pick their food and their feeding habits compared to a ravenous mob that wants Food + one of your fingers

 

Yes, I am with you on that. Watching these small, slower and shyer ants is very rewarding.

I know that some people only like their ant colonies when they have explosive growth, are voracious eaters and enjoy the excitement of having a 100 aggressive escapees during feeding and cleaning...

But there is something very zen about watching these small colonies going about their business, carefully chopping up food and caring for the larvae.

It is also great that the defense mechanism of this species is not attack or running away, but forming a ball of ants, so I can open up the nest without any issues and do some spot cleaning.

They are just chill.

[Ernteameise]

 

 

I've always wanted those ants since I saw them featured in an Ant Holleufer video. They look really good, I'm excited to watch their growth!

 

In my book, these are a really great rewarding species. They are very fascinating to watch, the size differences between the different castes are amazing and they are really easy to care for.

Yes, they are not the most flashy species, they are a bit shy and nocturnal, but if you take your time observing them, there is a lot to discover.

Plus, I still cannot get over the fact that in this species, the majors keep their ovaries and they are used as battery hens to feed the colony when food outside is scarce.

What an interesting adaptation!

I personally have not observed this behavior yet (I might also feed them too well), but it is good to know that I could leave this colony alone during a holiday period without any issues.
 

[MyrmecologyMaven]

Amazing thread! These have been one of my favorite ants because the majors look so cool! I wish California and the rest of the US allowed ants like this that pose practically no risk to the environment. But I understand why the US is so strict. Argentine ants are basically all I see around where I live now.

[Ernteameise]

Amazing thread! These have been one of my favorite ants because the majors look so cool! I wish California and the rest of the US allowed ants like this that pose practically no risk to the environment. But I understand why the US is so strict. Argentine ants are basically all I see around where I live now.

Well, having done my PhD partly on the impact of introduced species and diseases...

you actually never know if a species will be harmful to a new environment or not.

Too many times, it ended in disaster.

I am from Europe, where ants can be traded without any problem and you can buy virtually any species online. And yes, this included heavily invasive species!

So the laws in the US make a lot of sense.

I wish the laws were much stricter here.

And yes, Europe already has a invasive ant problem, just look at the largest supercolony on the planet. 6000km long along the mediterranian coast.

 

Anyways, I am still happy about the Acanthomyrmex girls. They are a joy.

[Ernteameise]

So in the past 2-3 weeks, I have noticed that they hardly have any new larvae and that they have finishes the brood cycle of the brood they had.

They have also pretty much stopped taking protein, only taking a worm / mosquito larvae or two and that is it.

I am not sure why that is.

Maybe these ants, even if they come from the Thailand rainforest, have some type of seasonal rhythm?

Probably tied to the daylight cycle?

The watertower is kept at a nice moist level, and the ants have their heat cable and this has worked well all the previous months since I got them.

But now?

Yes, it is possible that it is cooler in my room (I only have the central heating on low when I am at my full-time job) and that it is still cooler despite the heat cable.

And of course it is now winter in Germany, and we have long, dark nights and the ants have no lighting and are dependent on daylight.

 

I hope it is nothing to do with mold or the book-lice that are running around in all my formicaria (I have so far not observed the book-lice being a nuisance, however).

 

These ants are not very well studied and not many papers are out, so I am wondering what is going on.

 

The queen is still alive and well, as far as I can tell, so maybe she is just taking a break.

 

Here you can see the colony, with only a few pupae left to enclose and a few larvae stuck to the side walls

 

 

Here you can see the queen- she is at about 10 o'clock in the picture

 

 

And this is the current heating arrangement

 

 

I will see how this develops and report back here.

Edited by Ernteameise, January 1 2025 - 6:54 AM.

[Yusteponant]

 

Amazing thread! These have been one of my favorite ants because the majors look so cool! I wish California and the rest of the US allowed ants like this that pose practically no risk to the environment. But I understand why the US is so strict. Argentine ants are basically all I see around where I live now.

Well, having done my PhD partly on the impact of introduced species and diseases...

you actually never know if a species will be harmful to a new environment or not.

Too many times, it ended in disaster.

I am from Europe, where ants can be traded without any problem and you can buy virtually any species online. And yes, this included heavily invasive species!

So the laws in the US make a lot of sense.

I wish the laws were much stricter here.

And yes, Europe already has a invasive ant problem, just look at the largest supercolony on the planet. 6000km long along the mediterranian coast.

 

Anyways, I am still happy about the Acanthomyrmex girls. They are a joy.

 

Pretty sure its the pesky argentine ants! They basically wiped out all of the other ant species in LA I have only ever seen Pogomyrmex or Formica once.

[MyrmecologyMaven]

 

 

Amazing thread! These have been one of my favorite ants because the majors look so cool! I wish California and the rest of the US allowed ants like this that pose practically no risk to the environment. But I understand why the US is so strict. Argentine ants are basically all I see around where I live now.

Well, having done my PhD partly on the impact of introduced species and diseases...

you actually never know if a species will be harmful to a new environment or not.

Too many times, it ended in disaster.

I am from Europe, where ants can be traded without any problem and you can buy virtually any species online. And yes, this included heavily invasive species!

So the laws in the US make a lot of sense.

I wish the laws were much stricter here.

And yes, Europe already has a invasive ant problem, just look at the largest supercolony on the planet. 6000km long along the mediterranian coast.

 

Anyways, I am still happy about the Acanthomyrmex girls. They are a joy.

 

Pretty sure its the pesky argentine ants! They basically wiped out all of the other ant species in LA I have only ever seen Pogomyrmex or Formica once.

 

Yeah, I only find them now. If I go to an area like the woods I have a chance of finding formica or solenopsis but not often. Mostly argentines.

[Ernteameise]

Update for these weird and wonderful girls!

 

Right, when I reported last time that they had no brood no more.... well, I seem to have to overlooked the elephant in the ant nest.

There is "a" brood.

A very large one.

One huge fat larva.

The reason it took me so long to notice is- as soon as I sneak up on the girls, they seem to play rugby and all jump on top of the larva in a protective huddle. Nothing to see here. Move on!

I have no idea if this is a queen larva or a major larva, but it seems to take all the effort and energy this colony can provide.

 

Sorry for the low quality pictures, but as I have said before, they are hard to take pictures of.

 

Here you can see the ants sitting on top of that larva:

 

 

This is the colony.

At about 1 o'clock you can also see a worker holding a bunch of eggs in the mandibles.

There is also that 1 single male that they still keep around for some reason (the black one with wings).

And the scrum around their one fat larva.

 

 

If you look closely at the pictures I have posted previously (see above) you can already see the distinct "scrum" of ants sitting huddled together- so that fat larva has been around for a while.

 

And here are some pictures of these eggs they are carrying around.

I am not experienced enough to tell of these are trophic eggs (the majors keep their ovaries and act as battery hens for the colony) or if they are fertile eggs laid by the queen.

The next generation so to speak.

I will have to keep observing and see if more larvae develop in the coming weeks.

 

 

 

If anyone has ever experienced something like this in their own colonies, please chime in.

I am not sure if what I am seeing is natural behavior or artificially produced due to captivity.

But compared to my other ant colonies, these ants are just a bit "weird".

I find it exciting to observe, just because it is so different, on the other hand, I also worry a bit since the colony took a break from growing (not sure if it is normal for tropical species to do so?).

Edited by Ernteameise, Today, 2:44 PM.