July 27, 2024: First Impressions
First time keeping these ants from Stateside Ants, and I have to say they are unlike any of the other ants kept. Not only one of the largest, but definitely the "skinniest" looking ants I've seen in person. She kind of reminds me of a Xenomorph from the Alien movie series.
She had defecated a bit and/or ate some eggs because there was a weird smear at the bottom, most likely due to shipping. Didn't take any photos so I could keep her undisturbed in the dark. At the time, she had 1 pupae, 4 larvae, and 3 eggs.
Super excited to start keeping them!
August 19, 2024: A Gruesome Beginning
Unfortunately the queen killed her first nanitic a day after hatching. It kind of looked deformed or weak when I first saw it so that could be the reason; it was sitting still, almost curled. She also ate 2 of the larvae, but luckily she laid more eggs and one made it to the pupae stage.
September 16, 2024: Safe Hatchling
Glad to say this nanitic made it safely into the world. Unfortunate there's been a decrease in eggs though. Maybe some were trophic eggs? Whatever the case, we're down to 3 eggs now. I've been using a heat cable at the far end of their test tube for heat. Not sure if that's a cause since they need it for growth.
October 14, 2024: A New Home with Food Galore
Leaving home for a few weeks, so I transferred them into a tubs and tubes setup with an extra tube of water just in case they run out. Here I can also experiment with what foods they like. If any fellow keepers have any insight of what their favorite foods are, I would greatly appreciate it! I've tried giving them crickets, fish food, almonds, dandelion seeds, chia seeds, quinoa seeds, sesame seeds, and of course, honey.
One of the eggs developed into a larvae now as well. Hoping these 3 will make it to the next season. If not, this one worker will have to work hard to satisfy this queen.
