15 replies to this topic

[dspdrew]

4-20-2013
 
I found this Pseudomyrmex apache queen in Southern California, April 8th 2013, on a dirt trail, apparently while it was out foraging.
Original ID thread: http://antfarm.yuku....62#.UZx0IvWL6IA.



Today I just found one egg in her test tube that she seems to be protecting.

[dspdrew]

Update 4-26-2013
 
I got home today and found four eggs now. I noticed she keeps digging deeper and deeper into the cotton on the water side of the test tube. Is this a problem? Should I maybe put her in something that would allow her to forage while her brood develops?



BTW, when I came back from a little hike today, I noticed she now has FIVE eggs. She laid another one while I was out for a few hours.

[dspdrew]

Update 5-3-2013

 

We're up to 7 eggs now.   It's strange how this ant lays one egg every couple days as opposed to all the other ants I've seen laying a pile of eggs all in one day, and then not laying anymore for quite a while.

[dspdrew]

Update 5-18-2013
 
She had up to nine eggs, but now it looks like there's only seven again. I'm not sure where the other two went. maybe she ate them for some reason. I can see a few have turned to larvae now also.

[dspdrew]

Update 6-29-2013

 

This queen has one huge appetite; any insect I throw in there, she will be munching on for hours after. She has recently added a few more eggs to her pile of brood again, after some of the first ones vanished. One of her larvae kept growing larger and larger, until it was actually thicker than her. This same larva very quickly thinned out and turned into a pupa--her first pupa (at least in captivity... since she is non-claustral, I have no idea how old she is and/or whether or not she had a colony already). You can see her and her brood in this little video I made a few days ago.

 

[dspdrew]

Update 7-13-2013
 
The queen's first worker (or at least first since I captured her) eclosed two days ago. In addition to that, she has four more large larvae, two small larvae, and two new eggs.

[dspdrew]

Update 8-10-2013

 

Well it seems the queen's only worker has died, and I have no idea why. She does have another pupa and a few larvae.

[dspdrew]

I actually find these ants almost every time I find this particular type of sage or salvia. Whenever I come across this plant, I look closely at it for a while, and eventually I'll see one running around on it. I've tried to figure out exactly what this plant is, but so far I can only guess it might be Salvia Pozo Blue, a hybrid of Salvia clevelandii and Salvia leucophylla (http://www.laspilita...alvia-pozo-blue). What I do know, is it smells like poop. Maybe someone else on here knows exactly what it is. Here's some pictures of it.




 
 
Edit: I was told this plant is actually White sage.

Edited by dspdrew, June 20 2020 - 7:31 PM.

[dspdrew]

Update 8-20-2013
 
Another nanitic eclosed yesterday, but has already died for some reason. Something did not look right about it yesterday, so I'm not very surprised.

Here's some pictures of it before it died.

[dspdrew]

Update 9-21-2013

 

Now the queen is dying. It looks like its gaster has collapsed near the end or something and now it hardly moves at all.

 

[nurbs]

This was my favorite out of all your colonies... kinda sad she died! haha

[Gregory2455]

I know this is a super old thread but I am having a hard time finding something my Pseudomyrmex apache queen likes to eat. What is that food you were feeding her with in this picture?

[dspdrew]

I think it was a subterranean termite, but I'm not sure.

[Gregory2455]

I think it was a subterranean termite, but I'm not sure.

Cool, I know where I can find some of those, thanks!

[ponerinecat]

the test tube looks to big, maybe that's why. sorry for reviving a super old journal. Have you fand any more?

[dspdrew]

No, but I haven't been looking either.