14 replies to this topic

[benjiwuf]

This journal start is the same as for my Messor bararus colony. It is mostly a placeholder for the real start of the journal in a few days.

Edited by benjiwuf, January 8 2017 - 4:01 AM.

[benjiwuf]

So as with my Messor barbarus, the queen arrived today! she came with roughly 5 workers, and everyone looks healthy, happy, and calm given their last few day journey. i'm pretty sure you all know where and how i got them from the photos, so i won't go into those details.

 

[Mdrogun]

What happened to this colony?

[benjiwuf]

oh they're doing well, just no real news. they still have 5 workers, and bring cricket legs into their nest regularly. other than that i haven't seen any changes as i can't see the brood in the cotton. however, here is a short video anyway.

 

[benjiwuf]

Time these girls got some attention. they're foraging for anything and everything. they've lost 2 nanitics (1 to clay, the other to honey water that dried into a thinker honey). however from the 5 workers that arrive there is roughly 6 or 7 left in there (edit: just saw a rather impressive pile of eggs, larvae, and pupae for like half a second, so they should explode in population soon). So that's some good news about their reproduction. since i caught a few more of these girls they'll also be going in here. http://www.formicult...germany-190816/ If anyone would like me to add pictures of the new queens or the old colony feel free to request them. today i think i will be testing out some ant food i made (correctly this time).

 

Edit:  since the original queen and the new ones look different i'll update more with a 1. for the original Tetramorium caespitum, and 2. for the new Tetramorium queens (most likely Tetramorium impurum as Batspiderfish suggested).  

Edited by benjiwuf, August 20 2016 - 2:00 AM.

[benjiwuf]

I have 2 queens from the fresh flight in GroTubes who seem to have blocked themselves in and are seemingly quite happy. I also printed out a tiny formicarium i thought might be well suited for them as well. 

 It looks huge but is actually only large enough for the queens to pass through barely in the smaller tunnels. Most of the rest of the freshly caught queens remain in total darkness, and roughly 6 are exposed to ambient light. of all of these new queens, i've only seem one with eggs so far. The original colony i bought seems to be doing rather well also. i constantly see 2-3 nanitics wandering around. however they seem to only accept honey/sugar water, or insects. anything else just goes to waste.

[benjiwuf]

These girls are mostly doing well, i've only lost 4. two had their first nanitic, but one queen died so i'm going to try to introduce the brood to the other queen with one nanitic. The others that i let roam around in a foraging area are now back in a test tube to make room for another colony that needs a bit more foraging room. However they are growing quite rapidly. i estimate their population at around 10+, although i can only see the ones foraging without disturbing their test tube considerally.

 

[benjiwuf]

I've decided to conduct a hibernation test of my own with the large number of queens i collected. Roughly 10 queens are currently in hibernation in the basement, and 7 are staying in a cooler room. 

 

Now for the Update:

 

The queen i bought, is still going strong! They've uncovered their little claustral cell they had built so i can see them quite more clearly now. I have no idea how many workers they currently have, but i would have to estimate well over 20. My first picture is a shot of the whole colony as of this moment.

 

The other 5 queens out of hibernation are also mostly doing well. One queen has nothing, and the other 4 have produced their first workers, more eggs, and are beginning to explore the test tubes considerably more. All in all doing quite well. I will update with the other queens when they come out of the basement. for now they're on their own.

 

[ant fan]

Good luck with yours. They grow fast - Queen looks great!

[benjiwuf]

This is more of a photography test than an update. So far all remaining queens/colonies are doing well. No real new news to report other than i'm going to need to start working on selling these off or making homes for them. I'm also slightly hoping i can get a definite ID on these new queens from late 2016.

 

 

more pictures here

Edited by benjiwuf, January 8 2017 - 4:01 AM.

[Leo]

cool

[Connectimyrmex]

So as with my Messor barbarus, the queen arrived today! she came with roughly 5 workers, and everyone looks healthy, happy, and calm given their last few day journey. i'm pretty sure you all know where and how i got them from the photos, so i won't go into those details.

 

This is why I want to live in europe. I can buy any type of ant available from awesome shops. Heck, the tube is even neatly labeled!

[antgenius123]

 

So as with my Messor barbarus, the queen arrived today! she came with roughly 5 workers, and everyone looks healthy, happy, and calm given their last few day journey. i'm pretty sure you all know where and how i got them from the photos, so i won't go into those details.

 

This is why I want to live in europe. I can buy any type of ant available from awesome shops. Heck, the tube is even neatly labeled!

 

True but products go out of stock quickly because of so many orders.

[benjiwuf]

Photo update since I just received my new acrylic nest from Antkit. I moved one of the few remaining colonies I kept out of hibernation for my tests into it. Also, i have seen with my colonies that I did not hibernate all have mites. I'm positive it came from my mealworms that I've been feeding them, however they don't seem to bother the ants yet so I'm not terribly worried. Not that there is much anyone can do about mites (if someone suggests lemons I'm gonna lock my own journal  ). You can see quite a few on the queen in one of the pictures, and then most are gone. I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

 

 

[Californian Anter]

I think those are fine. Notice how they aren't congregated near the gaps of her exoskeleton, instead they are scattered randomly on her. Also, check out Drew's Veromessor Pergandei journal. His queen had mites similar to these.