3 replies to this topic

[Confrere]

I caught this queen on May 27th, 2016 in my driveway in Vancouver, Canada. She was the first queen I found after a couple years away from anting. I decided to scan the driveway for a few seconds while taking out the garbage and barely saw her at the far corner. I sprinted over to catch her before she crawled under a car that as next to a fence. I was surprised I'd found a Camponotus queen since I've never noticed any in the neighbourhood. 

 

She has a couple of minor injuries which had me concerned for her survival. Part of one antennae is missing and there's a small on the front end of her gaster. The injured antenna doesn't seem to do much at times. Other than that she seems to be fine. 

 

Today (June 29, 2016) I woke up to the first worker. Another should be eclosing soon, you can see the darker pupa above the worker in the picture. There are currently 3 pupae, around 10 larvae, and 8 or so eggs. 

 

[CozmoDog]

Awesome ant queen i love Camponotus My Camponotus sanctus queen also misses half of her antennae which doesn't seem to bother her one bit she uses the antennae just fine but i think she has shorter range on that side  

[Confrere]

The colony is up to 3 workers now, and another pupae has darkened and should eclose within a few days. A larva that is nearly twice as long as the first generation has pupated(near the center of the picture), I can't wait to see how much larger that worker will be compared to the nanitics. Garbage is starting to build up on cotton on the water side of the tube. I might put it in an outworld soon so they can move garbage outside, and workers are starting to pull at the cotton.

 

 

Edited by Confrere, July 5 2016 - 11:32 PM.

[Confrere]

I was surprised at how much larger the 4th worker was compared to the first 3, and none of the new workers come close. You can see her next to the queen in the first photo. Today the 9th worker eclosed, and there's  plenty of brood. After winter hibernation one of the workers was eaten by the rest of the colony, but other than that they seem to be doing well.