15 replies to this topic

[Cole]

I found three pogonomyrmex queens at a rest stop in Delhi CA. I had to dig them up out of their chambers. Is it possible to get the species?

 

1.) Location of collection: rest stop.

2.) Date of collection: May 18, 2014

3.) Habitat of collection: Well it was a rest stop so basically pavement, dry grass, dirt, and some trees.

4.) Length: 10mm

5.) Coloration: All red with a single black stripe around middle of gaster.

 

 

 

e: Oh darn, I just noticed her leg is all messed up. Must have done that while trying to capture her.

Edited by Cole, May 18 2014 - 5:21 PM.

[dspdrew]

Might be P. subdentatus, but it looks like it might not have spines, so I really don't know. Down here without spines, the best guess would be P. californicus, but I don't know how far north those are found.

[Cole]

I managed to make them some new homes. I used an old salad container and two lunch meat cartons. I don't know if they'll work but we'll see.

 

 

 

[dspdrew]

Yeah, I find the easiest way to give them a little more than just a test tube is to just set the test tube in a small container so they can forage.

[Cole]

Do you cover the container with anything or do you just leave it open to the light? Right now I have it covered with an old t-shirt but I'm worried she'll think it's night time 24/7 lol. I thought about maybe covering the test tube itself with some dirt to make it dark for her.

[dspdrew]

Nope, I leave mine in the light. I have some plants under this light too, so it's on a timer that I change according to the seasons. If the ants want it dark in their test tube, they will stick stuff all over the sides of it to block out the light.

[Cole]

Okay, cool. I went ahead and made a little shelter out of construction paper to cover the test tube. She seems to like it under there so I think I'll leave it, it's easy enough to move to see how her colony is coming along.

[LAnt]

How are they doing?

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[Cole]

They're doing good so far. All three of them have eggs and appear to be healthy. I've tried giving them some honey but they weren't very interested. I think maybe I should try giving them some insects or seeds.

 

I found another Pogonomyrmex queen 3 days ago and she's just now started to dig her chamber. I'm keeping her in a 2 liter bottle setup like Dspdrew is using in his P. subnitidus journal. Here's a video of her at work:

 

[LAnt]

Good Luck with that! I'm pretty sure all of his colonies in dirt didn't turn out too well.

[Cole]

Well I ran out of containers and I didn't really have anywhere else to put her.

[dspdrew]

Keep them hydrated well. I think that was why mine stopped producing; I let the dirt dry out. This is why I am just sticking with test tubes only this year.

[Cole]

Okay, thanks I'll try and keep the dirt moist. Hopefully without drowning them!

[dspdrew]

I actually did that too a couple times, which you probably read about in my journal.

[Cole]

Oh dang, that sucks. I noticed it's a little hard to get the moisture just right in these bottle setups. I had this queen in a different bottle that I think was way too wet because she wouldn't even attempt to dig. I switched her to a new bottle with more of a moisture "gradient". The bottom is the wettest, the middle is just damp, and then there's a thin layer of dry dirt at the top. I stuck some pinholes in the bottom of the bottle for drainage and I'm thinking I might be able to just stick the bottle in a dish of water for a few minutes to let it soak up from the bottom instead of watering from the top where there's a risk of flooding the nest.

[dspdrew]

Yes, letting capillary action wick the water up is the best way. What happened to me, is some of the dirt got so dry, that it actually repelled the water for a while. It flooded some of the chambers and just sat there without soaking in. Once  it finally penetrated the dirt and soaked in, it was too late. The little drip setup I created solved that problem, because I had no way of letting it soak in from the bottom.