This will be my first post on this forum and what better way to introduce myself then through one of the greatest genera of ants on the planet… Myrmecia!
This journal will be an all genus inclusive compilation of every Myrmecia species which I keep. I will go over the nests I house my ants in, what temperature gradients I find to be suitable, food sources that are most readily taken, etc. Below is a list of what species have and are currently being featured on this journal.
Seen On This Journal:
M. brevinoda
M. fulviculis
Update (06/06/2024)
M. fulviculis
I acquired this colony on 06/05/2024 and they currently have 1 Queen and 5 workers.
The colony is housed in a small formicarium where they prefer to place their eggs in the corner of the nest closest to the water tower. They currently have a pile of roughly 10-15 eggs and a single pupae. I have been told that their average egg to worker period is roughly 1 month (30 days).
They were offered a prekilled and then chopped meal worm pupae. They seem to have left it discarded so I will attempt to find other sources of foods which they will hopefully intake. I was told that this colony will take crickets so I plan on replacing the mealworm pupae with a small prekilled cricket. Along with protein I offered them a small dish of sugar water which they quickly covered with substrate so I will clean out that dish and offer raw honey instead.
M. brevinoda
I acquired this single queen on 06/05/2024 and she currently has a single small-medium sized larvae however, after settling in I hope she begin producing more eggs.
This queen is currently housed in a tubs n’ tubes setup however, I have ordered a ytong formicarium for her to be housed in though I am considering keeping her in the current setup if she begins to lay again. Unlike smaller species such as M. fulviculis, the egg to worker period for brevinoda is upwards of six moths (~180 days).
This queen was offered a prekilled and chopped mealworm pupae which she seems to have taken some notice too however had not brought it back to her larvae so as I will do with the M. fulvipes colony, I will also offer her a prekilled and chopped cricket. This queen has also been given a small dish of sugar water which she has paid no attention to. I will also give her a small dish of raw honey today and see if she takes to that instead.
Edited by Coastline_Ants, July 7 2024 - 6:09 PM.
