26 replies to this topic

[RushmoreAnts]

Tetramorium immigrans
Update 1

July 30, 2024
 
Hey guys, I'm back! I was super busy these past few months, and haven't had time for ants, unfortunately. But now my schedule has cleared, and I was thrown back into the hobby, in fact right in the middle of a Tetra nuptial flight. These little [censored] had the audacity to fly on the 4th of July, almost like a slap in the face to all of the American ants these invaders have displaced. While I am saddened by their single handedly tanking ant biodiversity all over the continent, I still respect the hardiness, impressive growth, and aggressiveness these ants offer to ant keepers. 
 
Anyways, I caught 27 of these queens on my driveway. I simply couldn't allow these queens to found colonies in my yard and displace the last of the Lasius colonies holding the line against three maturing Tetra colonies that barely had a few dozens workers 4 years ago. However, I couldn't bring myself to kill the queens either, as they are still queens in the end. So why not have them kill each other? Naturally, chill. For those who didn't know, Tetramorium immigrans founds colonies via a method called pleometrosis. Multiple queens found the colony to increase resources and the number of nanitics (first workers). I noticed these queens' nanitics appear larger and healthier than single-queen nanitics. I have read other posts which claim that queens usually begin killing each other within two weeks of being placed together, though from my personal experience with South Dakota Tetras the queens are not aggressive towards each other, but once workers eclose (hatch) they choose the healthiest and fittest queen and slowly dismember the others by slowly chewing off their limbs and antennae, leaving them blind and immobilized and let them starve to death. Heartwarming, I know. It does, however, allow the most successful queens to be selected through natural processes. 
 
I divided the 27 queens into 5 groups. Groups A, B, and C each originally had 5 queens, and groups D and E had 6 queens. All colonies just got workers yesterday, and I fed them for the first time today. They are in homemade test tube-pencil case formicaria. Over the next year or so I will choose the healthiest colony to keep and give the others away to other ant keepers in my area. If you're from South Dakota and are interested in one of these colonies, hit me up and DM me!

 

I got the photos from these videos, which you can watch here on Imgur.

 

Colony A
This colony had 5 original queens, and one queen died within one week of having them. Now they have roughly ~15 workers. When I checked up on them today one queen was sitting alone at the entrance of the nest, a possible sign she is being rejected by the colony. If she doesn't escape she may be on the chopping block soon.

 

4 days after capture

 

26 days after capture

 

Colony B
All 5 original queens are still alive as of yet. The workers are hardening and beginning to forage, so we'll see how long that lasts. Pleometrosis is like some Game of Thrones plot.

 

4 days after capture

 

26 days after capture

 

Colony C
Two queens died within a week of capture, the most of all the colonies. They have 3 queens currently, and around 10 workers. They also have the smallest amount of brood of the colonies, though it is still substantial. The fact this colony is the least successful is a testament to just how successful all five colonies are. 

 

4 days after capture

 

26 days after capture

 

Colony D
The best of the five, this 6-queened colony still has all 6 queens and has shown no signs of disposing of any queens, though some queens are noticeably skinnier than others. It has around 20 workers now, and should be around 30 by the time all nanitics are finished eclosing. This is the colony I'm considering keeping as of now, though colonies B and E are also options if they possibly overtake D in the future. A and C are noticeably behind the other three, and likely won't be chosen.

 

4 days after capture

 

 

Tetramorium immigrans Colony D 7/30/2024 (youtube.com) (Sorry, it uploaded as a short, and Formiculture doesn't support shorts.)

26 days after capture

 

Colony E
My other six-queened colony is also very successful, with around 15 workers. While still behind Colony D, they are about tied with Colony B for 2nd place. Like colony D they are showing no signs of disposing of any of their queens as of yet. All queens have all their limbs in tact from what I can see. We'll see how the purge unfolds over the next couple weeks. 

 

 

4 days after capture; the eggs appear scattered because I accidentally rolled the test tube.

 

26 days after capture; as you can see, everything turned out alright... for now.

Edited by RushmoreAnts, December 7 2024 - 8:52 PM.

[RushmoreAnts]

Update 2

August 6, 2024
 

Alright, lots of lore and gore coming out of these colonies this time around. They are finally choosing their supreme and only monarchs. I also have more accurate worker counts and have reevaluated the colonies I'm likely to keep, and all estimates are within a margin of +/- 3 workers.

 

Colony A
A is actually one of the boring colonies, it has yet to kill off one of its queens and holds steady at 4. However in terms of numbers it holds second place, with a worker count of ~25.

 

 

 

 

Colony B

We have a winner! B is the first colony to officially reject all of its excess queens, bringing the grand total down to just one. Its worker count is only at ~17, though it may shoot up through the ranks as they have a very large and healthy pile of large larvae.

 

 

 

Recently rejected queen, was being attacked by workers before I disturbed them for the photoshoot

 

Graveyard. Queens the colony killed and workers those queens killed

 

 

Colony C

The other boring colony, C has also yet to kill off any of its queens, though since it has the lowest starting queen count at 3 that also means that statistically and now in reality they have the fewest workers, at ~15. Still more nanitics than your average 1 queen colony, though.

 

 

 

 

Colony D

Colony D, while at the top of its game in the first update, has proven that nature is very unpredictable. About two days after I posted the last update, this colony became the first to execute any of its queens and killed off one. The next day they killed off two more. A couple days ago they killed off a fourth. Now it seems like they're beginning to reject the fifth one. It's been a long bloodbath. Worker count is at ~20.

 

Tetramorium immigrans Colony D 8/6/2024 (youtube.com) (Sorry again, this video also uploaded as a short. Again, colony D is the victim here.)

 

 

 

Colony E

This colony used to be boring. Not so anymore, especially recently. A couple days ago they killed off their first queen, and have spent at least 48 hours gruesomely torturing her to death in their outworld. I believe she only died just yesterday. I thought they may stay at 5 queens for a while, but I was very wrong. This morning I checked on them to see two of the queens fighting, a first in keeping Tetras. A few minutes ago I checked on them, and all four of the remaining extra queens were being attacked simultaneously by multiple workers. It's a warzone in their test tube. I believe Colony D's population dropped since their literal battle royales were so bloody, as several workers died attacking the queens. Colony E, however, has over 30 workers and appear to be much more competent in restraining the queens before execution, and worker loss seems to be much lower despite the chaos. Even if they do lose a lot workers, they can take it. They are by far doing the best, and I am strongly considering keeping this colony permanently. If by some freak of nature colony A or C remains polygynous I will keep one of them as well. 

 

 

 

 

Queens fighting

 

Brood (Sorry the quality is so bad for Colony D and E, their test tube seems to obscure my camera's view.)

 

The queen that was tortured for over 2 days is finally dead. This was outside the test tube so the quality is much improved.

 

 

Here's the colony rankings so far:

Workers:

E - 30

A - 25

D - 20

B - 17

C - 15

 

Queens:

A - 4

C - 3

D - 2

E - 1

B - 1

Edited by RushmoreAnts, September 30 2024 - 2:16 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Savage!

[RushmoreAnts]

Update 3

August 20, 2024

 

So I have some sad news. Colony E started to kill its queens like usual. However shortly after the last update they got a little too "savage" and killed ALL of them. They are now queenless, and I will definitely not be keeping them. Well, one less colony I have to get off my hands. As to not waste resources, I fed their brood to my Formica cf. pallidefulva and Formica cf. incerta colonies. I didn't brood boost my other colonies since I didn't want to skew their natural development, as that will determine which colony I end up keeping, thus feeding them to the Formica seemed like the logical alternative. 

 

Formica cf. incerta 1 week after consuming Colony E's brood

 

Formica cf. pallidefulva 1 week after consuming Colony E's brood

 

As you can see, they benefitted greatly from the protein boost, which prompted both queens to lay more eggs. This was the cf. pallidefulva before the boost:

 

The remaining colonies have massive brood piles, and consume equally massive food portions for colonies their size. I feed them three times a week, with either a whole mealworm or third of a large superworm. They always hollow out the mealworms and get over halfway done with the superworms.

 

Colony A

As of today, this colony finally started killing off its queens. Workers are attacking all three undesired queens at once. Besides that, they are now doing the best out of my four remaining colonies, with around 30 workers and roughly 90 larvae and pupae, and over 100 eggs. The floor is a carpet of brood several layers deep, and the cotton is decorated with large larvae. Yesterday the first workers of this massive next generation eclosed, and they're longer, beefier, and have larger heads than the nanitics. While the nanitics triggered queen killing in the other colonies, it seems like this second generation triggered it in Colony A. As of now this is the colony I am thinking of keeping. As you've seen over these past couple updates that could very well change. Colonies B and D are not far behind.

 

 

Sorry for the bad quality, I take my pictures outside in natural light, and today it was cloudy and raining.

 

 

Undesired queen being attacked

 

Colony B

With around 25 workers and ~70 larvae and pupae, Colony B is also making a name for itself, being the first colony to kill all of its undesired queens and the first to recover from worker losses, and is roughly tied with Colony D for second place. The cotton is molding, though the ants don't seem to mind, and still keep some larvae on the cotton. I couldn't determine how large their egg pile was, as it must be hidden under the larvae and pupae.

 

 

 

 

Colony C

So unfortunately this colony suffered from test tube flooding, and they lost roughly half of their brood. They moved to the far side of the test tube near the entrance.They were doing the worst out of all the colonies anyways, with around 20 workers and ~40 larvae and pupae before the flooding, so I'm not very concerned. Interestingly, this colony stands as the only colony to not kill any of its queens yet. This is likely due to their smaller workerforce, and will probably kill their extras once they start catching up with the other colonies. They have roughly 30 eggs.

 

 

 

 

Colony D

Near-peer to Colony B, Colony D has killed the last of its undesired queens and stabilized. When killing the last queen, however, they were attacking both remaining queens at the same time, and I was worried they would go the route of Colony E. Fortunately the workers came to their senses before that, and didn't form an anarchical coup poised to overthrow the government. I was also unable to determine the egg count for this colony.

 

No more annoying YT shorts for this colony!

 

 

 

Rankings

Workers:

A - 30

B - 25

D - 25

C -20

 

Queens:

C - 3

A - 1

B - 1

D - 1

E - 0

 

Larvae & Pupae:

A - 90

B - 70

D - 70

C - 20

E - 0

Edited by RushmoreAnts, September 30 2024 - 2:17 PM.

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

What was the worker carrying in her mandibles in colony D?

 

(Formica was enjoying their rice  ) 

Edited by OwlThatLikesAnts, August 20 2024 - 1:42 PM.

[RushmoreAnts]

What was the worker carrying in her mandibles in colony D?

 

(Formica was enjoying their rice  ) 

She was carrying a piece of grout from the outworld. They brought a lot of debris into the test tube to make it homier. 

[RushmoreAnts]

Update 4

September 10, 2024

 

They're dead. Thanks for reading, it's been fun. I suppose I'll have to try again next year. Just kidding, they're not dead. Except Colony C. Yep, they decided to follow Colony E's example and kill all of their queens. Which, to be honest, if I were to sacrifice any colony it would be them, as they absolutely fumbled the ball compared to their peers. I'm more relieved than anything that I have one less Tetra colony to blow resources on. On another interesting note, Colony D found a small breach in their enclosure, and a couple workers made their way next door to their friendly neighbors Colony B and A's enclosures. They got 360 no scoped instantly. To prevent World War III, I put a great deal more distance and shelving between the three colonies, until I find new homes for two of them. There have been no further incidents. To be fair, though, they can take the hit:

 

Colony A

This is my colony. I claim it. It's been 3 weeks since the last update, but for them it may as well been a year, as they breezed past the 100-worker mark sometime last week. To boot they have ~150-200 large larvae and pupae in que. They did have some test tube flooding, however. 200 is AFTER the test tube flooding wiped out some 80 brood. Like I said: they can take a hit. Their queen is an absolute unit, and I would not be surprised if they reached 1,000 workers by Christmas. Think about it: they have 100 workers now, 200 in que, and they're only 9 weeks old. It's over 15 weeks until Christmas, and Tetras grow exponentially. You do the math. Due both to their exploding growth and the test tube flooding I will move them into a formicarium shortly, as in by next update. 

 

 

If that doesn't look quite like 100 workers to you, I can assure you the rest are broiling in primal fury the outworld.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colony B

Now that Colony C was removed by their own choosing, Colony B is the short guy in their friend group, with *only* ~50 or 60 workers, and an equivalent amount of brood in que. They are doing extremely well, don't get me wrong, though they are still growing noticeably slower and eating less than A and D. You see: now that colony C's gone, I needed someone to crap on. I love you, Colony B. 

 

 

 

 

 

Colony D

In second place, Colony D is also thriving with a healthy ~80 workers and ~120 mature brood in que. I originally predicted this colony would do well, and I was right, though Colony A exceeded expectations. I suspect Colony E may have surpassed even Colony A if they were still around, however, though I am still proud of A and D's great accomplishments. Good news, I have a potential home for this colony, a friend whom is curious about ants, and if he decides to join the party I'll give him this colony. So Colony D may be the first colony to say goodbye to this journal by positive partition and not a Marxist-style Proletariat uprising. Also note in the pictures they were very efficient at moving the brood to the other side of the test tube, and I was unable to capture all of the brood in one shot. The queen even hopped on her private jet and burned some fossil fuels on a grand tour of their outworld.

 

 

 

 

"Yay Chiefs!" -The queen, probably

 

 

On a different note, happy 11th Anniversary to Formiculture! This place is amazing, and has been instrumental to my journey as an ant keeper. Thanks to everyone who makes this place special.

Edited by RushmoreAnts, September 30 2024 - 2:18 PM.

[Ants_Dakota]

Really good shots with only a macro lens!

[RushmoreAnts]

Supplemental Update 4.1

September 15, 2024

 

Colony A

The test tube flooding was worsening, so I quickly moved them into a Por Amor large Cryptic Insert I just received a couple weeks ago. Quality is amazing, it's really easy to see them and video them. I was able to get more accurate worker count, which is ~120, and brood count is still over 200 in spite of the flooding. I managed to save several dozen drowning brood with a Q-tip. This is temporary only due to the fact that they will outgrow it in literal weeks.

 

See for yourself:

Edited by RushmoreAnts, September 30 2024 - 2:18 PM.

[ANTdrew]

That is a cool looking nest.

[RushmoreAnts]

They call it a 'Cryptic Insert' but to me it's perfect for any ants 1-4 mm in length. Those chambers are the size of wild Tetra colony chambers from what I can gather. They really love it. I'd recommend it as a founding nest for Tetramorium, Lasius, Crematogaster, and other ants around that size. It's also ~$7 USD, which is a steal for a nest that can hold hundreds of small ants. The thing about these Tetras is their days in the hundreds are numbered.

Edited by RushmoreAnts, October 11 2024 - 2:43 PM.

[RushmoreAnts]

Update 5

September 27, 2024

 

Originally these colonies were kept outside, as ants seem to benefit from the natural, warm temperature cycles. Recently, however, it's been cooling off from the 80s and 90s into the 70s. At night it can get into the 50s, which is not ideal for ant development. As such, I moved the Tetras, a couple founding Lasius queens, and a founding Myrmica queen inside and put them on heat (no, I will not be hibernating the Tetras; they don't need it, their stats are buffed). 

 

Colony A

Colony A settled into their insert nicely for the time. Unsurprisingly, they have already outgrown it, surpassing the 200-worker mark. Workers are beginning to congregate under the test tube to make room for the growing brood pile. Brood estimates are more difficult in this setup, though it is still well over 100 for large brood. Small brood is all but uncountable in that unholy mass of darkness. I don't even know if there's much at all. It probably exists, somewhere down there...

 

They will also need a new outworld as well as a nest very soon, as they are becoming more aggressive and unmanageable in a pencil case by the day. Having their test tube unsheathed sent dozens and dozens charging brazenly into the outworld, and I had dozens of escapees to deal with. They have no less than 20-30 workers in the outworld at all times, more when I feed them. It takes them about 24 hours to completely hollow out a large superworm chunk. This next generation has also been an upgrade in worker size, as I'm beginning to see nearly full-sized workers in the nest and outworld now, almost large as the wild ones, over 3 mm in length. This is occurring in all three colonies.

 

 

Colony B

This colony made like a TikToker and got offended when I made fun of their smaller colony size. They had a massive surge of new workers over the past couple weeks, soaring past the 100-worker mark. I believe they passed Colony D in workers and has a considerable brood pile. Colony A is still definitely in the lead, but B now has the full wrath of a cancel-culture influencer, so we'll see how that goes down. I also mistakenly placed a couple of Colony A's escapees into their outworld. They were swiftly dealt with. 

 

 

Their test tube is still difficult to view. Please bear with me here.

 

Colony D

Being passed up by Colony B, this is now my smallest Tetra colony. As such, I have given them the affectionate nickname "Little D." I need to take extra care they don't escape, lest they go out and buy a squatted truck. In all seriousness, they are still doing amazing, also soaring past the 100-worker mark, and is more competitive to Colony B than I originally implied. Pleometrosis chose these queens well, and all are equally worthy to mother a mighty empire. It's just that some queens (ahem, Colony A) are more equal than others.

 

 

Like Colony B, their test tube is also becoming more difficult to view. 

Edited by RushmoreAnts, September 30 2024 - 2:19 PM.

[RushmoreAnts]

Supplemental Update 5.1

October 3, 2024

 

Colony D

Seeing as I had no larger colonies previously and a passion for not keeping dozens of rancid, obnoxiously loud crickets in my house, these colonies have been on a superworm diet. Now that they're large enough to consume whole crickets, I stopped at the pet store and got a handful to diversify their diet, yet not so many that I'd have to keep them long term. This is how I intend to supply my colonies with crickets. All three colonies received two crickets.

 

Colony A was not having it, as the mere vibrations of their outworld being opened again sent them into a blind rage. They were in the mood to commit genocide, not eat. Out of necessity I had to kill a couple workers and let a few more escape, as opening the outworld again to return escapees leads to more escapees and more deaths. It's not like they're wanting in the numbers department, anyways.

 

Colony B was more apathetic to everything, sending only a few workers to investigate the cricket at first. They're just too cool to care.

 

Colony D went absolutely nuts over the crickets, sending dozens of workers to swarm them within 30 seconds. The only comparable feeding response I've seen in real life is a wild Prenolepis imparis colony Ants_Dakota and I were feeding while camping. Me opening the outworld scared many of them off, but they still kept a strong hold on the crickets:

 

 

You can also clearly see the size differences between the nanitics and younger generations.

Edited by RushmoreAnts, October 3 2024 - 8:08 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Why not just freeze a bunch of crickets? Dubia roaches last longer frozen, though, as crickets can eventually dry out in the freezer.

[RushmoreAnts]

Why not just freeze a bunch of crickets? Dubia roaches last longer frozen, though, as crickets can eventually dry out in the freezer.

Fair, though it was the drying-out part I was mainly concerned about. How long do they usually last?

[rptraut]

Hello RushmoreAnts;

I usually only buy a small number of crickets and freeze them as soon as I get home. I feed insects as a treat, so I don’t use a lot at one time. By buying a small number, more often, I can feed them fast enough that drying out, freezer burn, doesn’t become a problem. Having said that, I’ve fed crickets that were in the freezer for over a year in an airtight container, and they were fine. The storage time for most things in the freezer is one year before quality is affected, six months for delicate meat like fish.

To feed crickets, I hold them with wide tweezers while frozen and slice them in half, lengthwise, with a scalpel. You can then cut them into smaller pieces for smaller colonies. If you do this cutting while they’re frozen, there’s less mess from juicy bugs. I always remove the big jumper legs and feed them to my small ants. I cut the spiked part off and slice the meaty part in half, leaving a small bit uncut to hold them together.

One tip I can give you to protect anything from drying out in the freezer is to freeze it in water. Makes sense. Once your crickets are killed by freezing, I’d put a small number of them in separate containers, fill with water and freeze again. That way you can thaw a small number to be used right away. Putting them dry in an airtight container, or vacuum packing them, slows freezer burn too.
RPT

[ANTdrew]

RPT, that’s kind of genius to freeze in water. I wonder why I never thought of that!

[rptraut]

Hello ANTdrew;

My grandfather taught me that freezing method to preserve the delicate meat of the many Brook Trout we used to catch, but it works well to prevent freezer burn (drying) for any delicate meat or anything you want to keep longer than the recommended time. We’d put enough fish in a bag for one meal, fill the bag with water and freeze it. The fish would be as fresh as the day we caught them when we thawed them out. The same is true for crickets.
RPT

[RushmoreAnts]

Update 6

October 10, 2024

 

Ever since I moved these colonies inside and put them on heat they've been exploding. While each colony seems to have a slightly unique personality, all share these traits: they're hungry, ill-tempered, and carry themselves as if plotting your downfall.

 

STORM

These guys have a name now. As they become an established colony and enter a higher plain of existence, I thought it fitting to further make them my own with a name, moreover a name that suits them. I got the name from a local football team, the Sioux Falls Storm, although there is much more to the name than just that. This colony is developing towards what all Tetra colonies are destined for: to be nothing but a singular, cohesive blackened mass of swirling chaos, unified with the sole purpose of destroying everything in its path, almost like a storm. They are not a storm or the storm, just STORM. They are STORM. It is one. Get out of its way while you still can.

 

STORM has over 200 workers and over 200 large larvae and pupae, implying its intent to at least double in size in the next couple weeks. To put its growth into perspective, during the first 8 weeks since capture STORM grew from 0 workers to 50. From 8 weeks to now (about 4 weeks), they more than quadrupled that. Within two more weeks, they will double that again. As such, it by far outgrew the Por Amor cryptic insert, and I proceeded to move it into a Buckeye Myrmecology medium Rock Nest I had laying around, which I used to house a colony of Crematogaster cerasi in. It was the perfect size to move in comfortably, and it already fill several chambers of the nest. By my estimates the maximum capacity for that nest is in the ballpark of 2,000 workers, which should last it another few months.

 

This commodious nest led STORM to tone down the panic and aggression when checked on, as its units can freely rush around inside the larger nest without needing to pour into the outworld and erupt onto my desk.

 

 

 

Their current setup. Ants_Dakota and I plan on having an outworld-making festival this weekend, so they will get a brand new outworld soon. 

 

 

Colony B

Colony B barely holds onto the lead over D, barreling past the 150-worker mark. Lately this colony took STORM's spot as the most annoying to feed, with workers flooding into the outworld every time I even open their outworld. They know what's up. They are getting close to outgrowing their test tube as well and have workers and brood in all sections, from the cotton all the way to the entrance.

 

 

Colony D

While passed by Colony B, Little D is certainly no slacker either. They are also somewhere around the 150-worker mark, just waiting to take back the number 2 spot. Unlike Colony B, their brood is currently lumped together into a single giant bouncy ball sized mass right next to the cotton. My guess as to why would be that Colony B's test tube has a more even moisture distribution, allowing them to keep brood in all parts, while Colony D's test tube has a higher moisture concentration only near the cotton, like the majority of test tubes. In any case, both colonies have massive brood piles now and rivaling worker counts. Due to Colony D's population being generally further from the entrance, their panic response is slower than Colony B's, giving me ever so slightly more time to feed and record them. However, once they do start pouring into the outworld, they're just as bad as Colony B.

 

 

 

Colony E

Yep, this colony still exists. Sort of. As of late I forgot about them, seeing as they have no queen and no future. After killing all their queens, they realized their mistake, and finally chose their favorite queen, albeit too late. In the video below, the workers can be seen carrying around and grooming their 'queen', if you can call that headless, half-gastered corpse a queen. I find it pretty hilarious, though at the same time it is deeply saddening, as if their trauma does not allow them to accept the fact that she's dead.

 

Edited by RushmoreAnts, October 10 2024 - 6:12 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Almost makes me want to keep Tetras again!