89 replies to this topic

[cooIboyJ]

I know its a little bit late to start a journal but I have been occupied with my Brachymyrmex patagonicus colony and my Solenopsis invicta colony now has nanitics!!! I am surprised the queen got nanitics so soon especially since i was using an oversized test tube. So i got a big test tube like thing (to show how big it is, you need one cotton whole cotton ball to plug the entrance) and since i was out of test tubes at the time and that was all that i had available. I am going to petco today to get some lizard jelly to feed them for their first meal. Once they have more workers I'm going to give them a small fly i caught from the park.

[Stubyvast]

Wow...this is gonna be big! I know for a fact that RIFA grow huge. Check out AntsCanada's latest videos about his colony! That's only after two years! Looking forward to following this journal.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

It it just me of doesn't Mikey have S.geminata? Not Invicta? 

Anyhow good luck @coolboyJ

[cooIboyJ]

The ants haven’t touched the jelly I gave them; the queen looks like she really wants to go and eat it but the workers don’t care.

[cooIboyJ]

They have more workers every time I check up on them, but they still haven’t touched the jelly.

[cooIboyJ]

They have finally started eating the jelly.

[cooIboyJ]

I thought I’d post it here but I have a question. My brothers colony of solenopsis invicta has four workers and he really wants to move the ants into a formicarium he bought but we want to wait until he has enough workers to move them in. How many workers should he have when he moves them into the nest? (The nest isn’t big, so we don’t have to worry about them not being big enough for the nest).

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

Do you have any pics of the nest?

[cooIboyJ]

Pics:

[cooIboyJ]

The red things in between the chambers are dividers.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

I would say at least 25-50.

[cooIboyJ]

I would say at least 25-50.

is the number because they need that many workers to move all the brood and such or is it because they need that many to fill the nest? Because if it is the latter then we could move them in right now because every chamber in the nest is the size of a founding nest.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

About how many workers do they have right now?

[cooIboyJ]

Around five but there are about six more about to eclose.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

wait for them to eclose.but that is bare minimum

[cooIboyJ]

I gave my colony a fly and a few hours later it was gone. They really like flys like my Brachymyrmex patagonicus

[Ants_Dakota]

I gave my colony a fly and a few hours later it was gone. They really like flys like my Brachymyrmex patagonicus

Flies, whether fruit flies or house flies, are some of the best foods to feed young ant colonies because of their thin exoskeleton. New colony nanitics for many species refuse to drag large insects(ie. mealworm or superworm halves) into the nest, whether because of genetics, foraging techniques and habits, or weight of the insect. Flies are far lighter and also appear to have easier to digest or consume forms of protein(ie. meat vs. stew) than other insects.

[RushmoreAnts]

It it just me of doesn't Mikey have S.geminata? Not Invicta? 

Anyhow good luck @coolboyJ

They are geminata; they are actually native to Arizona and New Mexico, pretty close to the Vegas area. In terms of growth they're about the same as invicta, still crazy. Even little Solenopsis molesta up here has an insane growth rate, though not as impressive as their 'fire ant' cousins.

[AntsGodzilla]

nice

[ANTdrew]

nice

Posts like this are in violation of rule 4. Just use the like button in the future or post something meaningful.