139 replies to this topic

[Annexis]

For your cup problem, ever think of just putting some holes in the side, and putting mesh on the top so they can't get in?

[AntsBrazil]

For your cup problem, ever think of just putting some holes in the side, and putting mesh on the top so they can't get in?

I'll let them without it because the permanent nest will not have the cup, so I just have to water the plaster more frequently. 

[AntsBrazil]

Update 01-19-17

 

The fungus is growing!

Looking at the fungus at the photo from the last update(01-18-17) the fungus seem to be growing a lot. I removed the old plants and placed new ones, while cleaning their trash I saw some pupae that seemed to be discarded, I don't know exactly why, but maybe they died or had problems and then the ants rejected them.

I'm offering the ants a lot of different plants to see which ones the prefer. Here's a video showing their current state.

 

Edited by JPSMedeiros, January 19 2017 - 7:06 AM.

[Nincadaguy]

Goodness, the queen is HUGE. 

[CrazyLegs]

Congratulations.

I had no idea the queen was so big.

[AntsBrazil]

Update 01-21-17

 

Bad news. 

Unfortunately one of the queens don't look very good, she is on the ground, not moving, probably not able to stand up and walk, the workers are trying to help her but I don't know if they will be able to. I talked with a friend and apparently she can have a parasite, also there's a brown spot on her plaster that I think is poop. I found this brown spot on all the setups where the queens died, so they probably poop before dying. 

Also another queen have this brown spot on her plaster, and one of her legs is not moving, I don't know if it wasn't moving before and I only noticed now, but I hope she survives.

Only the colony that accepted the plants are OK, and here's a new video, they started taking different plants, the fungus have a nice color now, with some red. 

 

 

[AntsBrazil]

Update 01-22-17

 

Really bad news.

Unfortunately 2 queens died, remaining only the colony that accepted plants. They seem to be growing a lot their fungus, the consumed an entire petal and an entire leaf in one day(in the video, recorded this morning, they had consumed only half of the leaf an the petal). They should keep growing "boom" until they cover the brood, and then they will start expanding according to the worker numbers.

About the queens that died, I don't know much, all queens had the same treatment and were from the same nuptial flight. Also seems strange that they died almost at the same time(maybe I did something wrong?). 

Now I don't know what to do with their workers, I will not brood boost the colony that is still alive to keep whatever killed the queen far away from them.

Here's again another short video.

OBS: Watch in 1080p for more details on the ants!

[AntsBrazil]

Update 01-23-17

 

Keep growing. 

Hello, I would like to know if everyone likes to watch videos or some prefer the images, I'm recording every day because in this stage the fungus change a lot everyday and I'm planning to make a video with all this updates showing the fungus "growing".

 

The colony is doing well, they are almost covering their brood and I can start to see some "chambers" being formed, chambers that they will use to store more brood.

I placed a plastic with a cotton ball soaked in water and other with honey+sugar+water. I saw they eating the honey water, but I don't know if Atta have the social stomach, because their gaster was always in the same size(the Camponotus when drinking can get their gaster quite bigger than before).

 

Edited by JPSMedeiros, January 23 2017 - 12:43 PM.

[MrILoveTheAnts]

I would be hesitant to put any type of sugary liquid in contact with plaster or hydro-stone medium you have for a base in their setup. Anything that promotes other types of fungus growing in there is a bad thing as there are kinds that will consume their fungus. Adult colonies are better about keeping such outbreaks under control but your colony is still young and might not be up to the task just yet. I know Drew just had a bunch of Acromyrmex colonies die on him from something happening to their fungus gardens.

 

In nature they do come in contact with flower nectar so it's likely they do consume it in some capacity, even as second hand mulch for their fungus. They may also chew up fruit as well and feed that to their gardens as well. Both plant nectar and fruit often have wild strains of yeast and other kinds of fungus on them though which is not what you want to be promoting. So use them sparingly.

[AntsBrazil]

They are not in contact with the plaster,  they are on top of a plastic. I fed them this because I was worried about them having no water or sugar, apparently they liked it. Thanks for the tips.

[Nathant2131]

This is such a cool journal! It is fun to see the fungus grow, I personally like the videos better.

[CrazyLegs]

The videos are great, it's almost like having a colony of my own to watch.

Good stuff.

[Nathant2131]

The videos are great, it's almost like having a colony of my own to watch.

Good stuff.

I agree. Especially when you are in Northeastern USA where there are zero ants to speak of during winter. 

[Connectimyrmex]

Sorry that two of your queens died

I'm glad that your healthy colony is accepting leaves! You'll have a full colony in no time! You could sell it to a zoo for a lot of money...

[AntsBrazil]

Update 01-25-17

 

They keep doing ok, there's a small brown spot near the fungus, but the queen looks OK, I hope it's nothing.

OBS: video recorded day 01-24-17, I'll probably post another update with a video showing the current state.

 

[T.C.]

This is so cool, I must say very good progress.

[CrazyLegs]

Fascinating!

It's hard for me to imagine this obese queen ever being able to fly anywhere.

[Connectimyrmex]

I still can't believe that this beautiful fungus garden came from a tiny glob of ant barf.

[AntsBrazil]

Thanks for the replies guys. It's pretty impressive. I imagine that flying would cost a lot of energy to them, and they can't really fly very precisely.

[Leo]

cool to bad no fungi growers live in hk