4 replies to this topic

[FSTP]

Here I'll be posting about A queen Pogonomyrmex I recently caught on 11/8/16, and hopefully her colony if it develops.

 

 

I caught the queen here in Fresno, CA. She was found off to the side of a dirt bike trail in a hard sandy compacted clay only a few cm's under the substrate.  Initially I placed her up in a test tube/syringe setup. At first in an empty tube with just water and a few seeds I threw in. Then under advisement I placed some sandy dirt in there with her. From day one she was not happy in this setup even when adding dirt all she did was pull and dig into the cotton.  

 

A couple of days ago (11/12/16) I made a small soil founding formicarium intending to use it sometime in the future when I captured another queen. Well yesterday I checked on my queen Pogonomyrmex and its lucky I did, she managed to dig through the cotton and had almost freed herself. I know I was told to just leave her in her test tube and let her be but it seemed to me she was quite unhappy in that setup. So I moved her to the the founding soil formicarium I had made the day before. Within a couple of hours she started digging herself a chamber. It was really fascinating to watch her build. At first she dug down next to the plastic of the container and I could se her working for a few cm's. She then started digging toward the center. I can still see her moving about somewhat if I look at the right angle. Hopefully I made the right decision to move her and she soon starts laying eggs. The only thing that is frustrating is I won't be able to monitor as much in this setup but perhaps that's a good thing.

 

 

 

The day I caught her.

 

 

 

The new and currant setup:

 

 

 

Here you can see some of her tunnel and all the dirt she has piled up.

 

 

 

Hopefully I'll have a positive update in a few months if she continues to progress. Suggestions always welcome.

 

-Jess

[Alabama Anter]

Here I'll be posting about A queen Pogonomyrmex I recently caught on 11/8/16, and hopefully her colony if it develops.


I caught the queen here in Fresno, CA. She was found off to the side of a dirt bike trail in a hard sandy compacted clay only a few cm's under the substrate. Initially I placed her up in a test tube/syringe setup. At first in an empty tube with just water and a few seeds I threw in. Then under advisement I placed some sandy dirt in there with her. From day one she was not happy in this setup even when adding dirt all she did was pull and dig into the cotton.

A couple of days ago (11/12/16) I made a small soil founding formicarium intending to use it sometime in the future when I captured another queen. Well yesterday I checked on my queen Pogonomyrmex and its lucky I did, she managed to dig through the cotton and had almost freed herself. I know I was told to just leave her in her test tube and let her be but it seemed to me she was quite unhappy in that setup. So I moved her to the the founding soil formicarium I had made the day before. Within a couple of hours she started digging herself a chamber. It was really fascinating to watch her build. At first she dug down next to the plastic of the container and I could se her working for a few cm's. She then started digging toward the center. I can still see her moving about somewhat if I look at the right angle. Hopefully I made the right decision to move her and she soon starts laying eggs. The only thing that is frustrating is I won't be able to monitor as much in this setup but perhaps that's a good thing.



The day I caught her.





The new and currant setup:





Here you can see some of her tunnel and all the dirt she has piled up.





Hopefully I'll have a positive update in a few months if she continues to progress. Suggestions always welcome.

-Jess

Nice! Good luck

[AnthonyP163]

Try catching some more, it would make the journal a bit more interesting and increase the chance that you'll attain a colony.

[Canadian anter]

For some reason I have noticed that when I only get a single queen from a species, they usually do really well. However when I find many queens of a species, a huge portion die off unless I can get them to other people. Ex. my sole Aphaenogaster colony and my sole solenopsis molesta colonies are doing really well yet when I caught over 70 brachymyrmex depilis queens, they all died within 2 months. @AnthonyP163

[FSTP]

For some reason I have noticed that when I only get a single queen from a species, they usually do really well. However when I find many queens of a species, a huge portion die off unless I can get them to other people. Ex. my sole Aphaenogaster colony and my sole solenopsis molesta colonies are doing really well yet when I caught over 70 brachymyrmex depilis queens, they all died within 2 months. @AnthonyP163

I really hope that this holds true for me as well! Wow 70 queens dying... sounds like something out of Game of thrones, I'm sorry there that collecting 70 must have been a lot of work.

 

Try catching some more, it would make the journal a bit more interesting and increase the chance that you'll attain a colony.

Believe me when I say I have been! When I first found this singular Pogonomyrmex I was so excited I've been looking for more pretty much every day I can.