16 replies to this topic

[dermy]

I collected this colony a few days ago [approximately one week] it consists of 5 queens and around 100+ workers.

 

 

Sorry about the bad quality of the pictures.

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Edited by dermy, June 25 2014 - 10:25 AM.

[Crystals]

They are a good hardy species that doesn't mind moving when they need to.

I am looking forward to seeing how fast this colony will grow. 

[dermy]

So am I! Hopefully they grow really fast given that they have 5 queens.

[dermy]

Guess it's time to update! I cleaned out the nest and such yesterday[I hate the cotton they just ripped it up and made a mess] When I cleaned I got a few pictures of the colony, and when I added food into the foraging tank, I found three queens[one that isn't in too good of condition, but the other two are doing great. The larvae[that I boosted with] are growing still[I'm afraid they may be alates the larvae are bigger then the adult ants themselves!]

Here are a few pics for your enjoyment[some are really horrible esp. the egg pic]

Before cleaning when I bumped them:

In the cleaning bucket:[look at the mess with the cotton, never again! I used a towel this time :P]

 

Nom nom nom!

Edited by dermy, June 15 2014 - 9:38 AM.

[dspdrew]

What kind of a camera are you using to take your pictures?

[dermy]

An iPod still, I just did it outside and it looks better.

[dspdrew]

Actually, to be honest, I was wondering why they're so grainy/fuzzy most of the time. I didn't know you were using an iPod. Are you enlarging them?

[dermy]

Ah okay, yeah I enlarge/cut out the sucky parts. It works well for wasps[maybe because they are bigger.]

[dspdrew]

The more you enlarge them, the more the quality goes down, so it's best to try to take the picture with as little as possible to crop off.

[dermy]

Thanks for the info!

[dermy]

Here are a few new pictures. Some of them are really bad because I tried to take pictures through plastic that is dirty on the inside. But it shows the ants drinking from a droplet of water.

Messy out-world. I'm not looking forward to cleaning that out! I think I'm done using cotton swabs to feed/water the ants. Too much mess!

Sorry about the quality but it looked cool seeing them drinking from a water droplet. A queen even joined in!

[Michaelofvancouver]

Just wondering, dermy, do you have a smartphone? I find the iPod camera to be mediocre compared to iPhone camera. Or you could maybe buy an attachable macro lens for your iPod?

[dermy]

I wish! I don't have the money at the moment and such to buy anything. I will in the future though so these won't be my only pictures.

 

Update: I have decided to Free-Range this colony, hopefully it all works out.

[dermy]

:hmm: It didn't work  They got fried . Luckily I did with an invasive species not a hard to find species. Will try this free-range thing again. It's because I left them in the sun.

Edited by dermy, June 24 2014 - 2:59 PM.

[Mathiacus]

:-( not good. My Camponotus consobrinus colony in the upright formicarium was outside for a few weeks but they were under the proch out the back and only got an hour or two of direct sunlight. Only problem I had was another smaller species invaded and stole their sugar.

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[Michaelofvancouver]

Do you still have part of the colony left?

[dermy]

I did have part of it left, 3 queens and about 50+ workers but I decided to take them back to the colony and see if they would be accepted again. Which they were. So I have discontinued this journal. I may catch another Myrmica Colony later on though and test out the free-ranging thing again.