92 replies to this topic

[cooIboyJ]

I’ve decided to start an ant keeping journal on my two Brachymyrmex patagonicus ant colonies. The first ant colony which I’ve caught around a month ago has 1 queen, five pupae and around ten larvae. The pupae are starting to go from white to a light brown. In colony 2 I have thirteen queens and a few eggs. I caught these queens around a week ago. I’ll send some pics next time I check on them.

Edited by cooIboyJ, July 26 2024 - 11:11 AM.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

luck on the queens!

[cooIboyJ]

I checked on the first queen today and she now has around seven pupae. I won’t be checking on the thirteen queens yet because I don’t want to disturb them as much. The pupae of the first queen are getting darker. (Sorry for any bad pictures; I’m not the best at taking pictures)

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[cooIboyJ]

I’ve checked on queen 1 again today and all but one pupae have turned to a light brown, does this mean that they will enclose soon?

[cooIboyJ]

I’ve checked on her again and the pupae are a lot more brown than when I last checked. I hope the pupae enclose soon.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

You should check on them less to avoid stress.

[cooIboyJ]

I have noticed that the queen is very little light sensitive; whenever I check on her she just acts normal (at least I think so) but I will still check on her less.

[cooIboyJ]

I’ve checked on both of the colonies and i don’t think the one with thirteen queens has any eggs yet but they are crowded on the cotton. The one with only one queen still has pupae but now she has ten of them and they are getting a lot darker than before.

[cooIboyJ]

I’ve checked on the solo queen and the pupae are becoming a color similar to a light grey and I saw some pupae which didn’t have cocoons, any idea of why they don’t have cocoons?

Edited by cooIboyJ, August 12 2024 - 1:19 PM.

[mbullock42086]

I’ve checked on the solo queen and the pupae are getting a color similar to a light grey and I saw some pupae which didn’t have cocoons, any idea of why they don’t have cocoons?

formicines will sometimes  remove the cocoon right before the pupae transform into callows, they need help escaping the cocoon because their mandibles are not sclerotized and too soft to bite anything.

  
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Edited by mbullock42086, August 12 2024 - 1:21 PM.

[cooIboyJ]

I’ve checked on the solo queen and the pupae are getting a color similar to a light grey and I saw some pupae which didn’t have cocoons, any idea of why they don’t have cocoons?

formicines will sometimes  remove the cocoon right before the pupae transform into callows, they need help escaping the cocoon because their mandibles are not sclerotized and too soft to bite anything.
  
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does this mean that they will turn into workers soon?

[Artisan_Ants]

 

 

I’ve checked on the solo queen and the pupae are getting a color similar to a light grey and I saw some pupae which didn’t have cocoons, any idea of why they don’t have cocoons?

formicines will sometimes  remove the cocoon right before the pupae transform into callows, they need help escaping the cocoon because their mandibles are not sclerotized and too soft to bite anything.
  
.

does this mean that they will turn into workers soon?

 

It is still the same thing as a cocoon only with no casing around it. It doesn't really affect the growth of the ant in any way besides making it more vulnerable.

[RushmoreAnts]

 

 

I’ve checked on the solo queen and the pupae are getting a color similar to a light grey and I saw some pupae which didn’t have cocoons, any idea of why they don’t have cocoons?

formicines will sometimes  remove the cocoon right before the pupae transform into callows, they need help escaping the cocoon because their mandibles are not sclerotized and too soft to bite anything.
  
.

does this mean that they will turn into workers soon?

 

The darkening of color means they will eclose soon. As for the pupae without cocoons, 'naked' pupae as they're called, larvae need substrate to spin cocoons in the first place. A test tube often doesn't have the substrate necessary for the larvae to spin cocoons, and they just form naked pupae instead. It's harmless, nothing to be concerned about. As previously mentioned they are a little more tender and vulnerable than cocooned pupae, but other than that they're the same. The ones that did spin cocoons probably used the few cotton strands they had available. 

[cooIboyJ]

As mentioned before, some of the pupae are turning a grayish blackish color (around the same color as the ant workers) and it looks like the cocoon is thinning, so does this mean that the pupae will hatch into workers soon? Because before the pupae were darkening into a light brown and I thought they were going to hatch soon but now they are darkening more and I want to know if their pupal stage is coming to an end.

Edited by cooIboyJ, August 12 2024 - 6:35 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Yes, it does.

[RushmoreAnts]

They should eclose about 2-4 days after they start darkening, depending on species.

[cooIboyJ]

Nanitics!!!!!!!!!!! I didn’t get any pics but there are four tiny worker ants running around and helping feed brood. I gave them their first meal earlier today, it was just a tiny bit of honey but I put them back in their towel before I could watch them eat because I didn’t want to disturb them too much.

[Artisan_Ants]

Nanitics!!!!!!!!!!! I didn’t get any pics but there are four tiny worker ants running around and helping feed brood. I gave them their first meal earlier today, it was just a tiny bit of honey but I put them back in their towel before I could watch them eat because I didn’t want to disturb them too much.

Congrats! Make sure to feed them shortly after or at least in the next day (anywhere within the week is fine) If they don’t accept (which is natural) it’s because the queen is feeding them her “soup” from her broken down wing muscles like what she feeds to the nanitics as they were larvae. Feed them honey or sugar water. Honey can be diluted with a drop of water if you want to dilute it at all, (my B. depilis colony at about the same age was fed a very small drop of honey that wasn’t diluted and they where still able to drink it without drowning) all though it is still recommended to do so as these guys are a whole step smaller than S. molesta. Once again, congrats with the nanitics! Looking forward to seeing all these colonies grow!

[cooIboyJ]

They ate all of the tiny drop of undiluted honey I gave them.

[cooIboyJ]

How often should I feed them? Once a day? Every two days? Twice a day???