383 replies to this topic

[Ernteameise]

Wonderful colony. They have striking colours!

[ANTdrew]

The forum’s longest running continuous journal.

[Serafine]

Look at all those freeloaders!

 

 

 

 

 

 

No winged queens in sight yet.

[Hiromilovesmealworms]

Has this journal really been running for 8 years?!!

[ANTdrew]

Yes, it has.

[Serafine]

Just a heads up, i've been doing photos and all, just didn't have the time to do an update yet. It's probably coming at some point within the next 2 weeks.

[Virginian_ants]

Wow this journal is old. I hope these girls live for decades more.

[Ernteameise]

Wow this journal is old. I hope these girls live for decades more.

Does anyone know how long this species can live?

This will be a real cool document on life history traits.

[Virginian_ants]

Camponotus can live for well over 10 years maybe 20 but it could be dependent on the queen.

[Serafine]

Around 15-20 years. Some individuals may deviate from the norm of course.

[mistrzou]

I have those. My colony have 1 year and they are kept in very big selfmade acryl formicarium with heating lamp inside set to 28-32 celcius stable temperature all the time. So I can make experiment how long camponotus barbaricus live in that all year long summer climate. My expectations are 15 years, no incubation period as well and they are doing fine. Eggs, larvae not very much but they are constantly growing in numbers.

[Serafine]

I have those. My colony have 1 year and they are kept in very big selfmade acryl formicarium with heating lamp inside set to 28-32 celcius stable temperature all the time. So I can make experiment how long camponotus barbaricus live in that all year long summer climate. My expectations are 15 years, no incubation period as well and they are doing fine. Eggs, larvae not very much but they are constantly growing in numbers.

 

I can tell you from my own experience that they won't do that great in the long run. You will see less and less growth as the years go by.

The reason is most of the alate larvae will not develop unless the colony experienced a cold season. Your nest will be stuffed full with larvae but most of them will just never pupate.

Last year I gave my colony their first proper hibernation in years and as a result they produced an absolute crapton of male alates, presumably all accumulated over the last years.

 

They also produced some new workers but were so occupied with providing for all the males that they didn't really get to much else.

In fact, i'm pretty sure my colony right now is smaller than it was two years ago. I'm curious where they'll go next year.

[Ernteameise]

 

I have those. My colony have 1 year and they are kept in very big selfmade acryl formicarium with heating lamp inside set to 28-32 celcius stable temperature all the time. So I can make experiment how long camponotus barbaricus live in that all year long summer climate. My expectations are 15 years, no incubation period as well and they are doing fine. Eggs, larvae not very much but they are constantly growing in numbers.

 

I can tell you from my own experience that they won't do that great in the long run. You will see less and less growth as the years go by.

The reason is most of the alate larvae will not develop unless the colony experienced a cold season. Your nest will be stuffed full with larvae but most of them will just never pupate.

Last year I gave my colony their first proper hibernation in years and as a result they produced an absolute crapton of male alates, presumably all accumulated over the last years.

 

They also produced some new workers but were so occupied with providing for all the males that they didn't really get to much else.

In fact, i'm pretty sure my colony right now is smaller than it was two years ago. I'm curious where they'll go next year.

 

This is an interesting observation.

I know that someone did an experiment with Lasius niger in one of the German forums, and did not hibernate them.

The colony collapsed after 3 years and never did show any good growth.

[Serafine]

June '23

 

 

The garbage pile is growing. Most of it is discarded pupa hulls from all the males.

 

 

 

 

 

Red mosquito larvae again. Next day they were all gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More and more males in the nest, and in the tubing between the two big tubs there's larvae once again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid July, the males are now gathering in the feeding outworld during afternoon but no flight attempts yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Serafine]

Mid June '23


Firt flight attempts.

And yes, i gave them a starting pole because there's no way i'm gonan fish them out of a tub full of very agitated ants - on the other hand i don't want them to run up the glass with every flight attempt and potentially walk off or in some other way breach the barrier. It's a lot easier to pick them off the wall and the window - fortunately they all move towards the light, so it's really easy to get them all. The only drawback is the window has to stay closed during the peak of summer - fortunately i like it warm, and so do the ants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the males are still sitting in the nest crapping all over the glass and the walls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of brood in the clay root.

 

 

 

 

The gatherings are growing in size.

 

 

 

I think that cover needs replacement at some point...

 

 

 

Here's a very special male. I don't think it will take part in any flight attempts.

 

 

 

[Serafine]

July '23

 

 

They are now sitting on every elevated point of the outworld.

 

 

 

 

 

The thing with the starting pole still needs a bit of optimization - particularly in the front corner with the artificial plants they like to walk up the wall.

 

 

 

 

 

Eggs and larvae in the outworld tubes, and more males next to them.

 

 

 

Second launch pole to fix the front corner issue.

 

 

 

 

 

Third pole, now all the areas where the males like to congregate are covered.

 

 

 

 

 

The only queen they produced this year. She never flew.

 

 

 

 

Cat food again, for a bit of variety besides all the feeder insects.

 

 

 

End oif July flight season reached its peak. The males that didn't fly until mid August did not fly at all.

 

 

[Serafine]

August '23
 

 

Feeding test with a piece of raw shredded pork meat, was taken surprisingly well. In the second picture one of the workers is carrying a piece away.

 

 

 

 

Garbage pile of an entire season (almost exclusively pupa hulls, the food waste usually gets dumped in the other outworld).

 

 

 

 

That's bit too much flash.

 

 

 

First test with a baby mouse from the pet store. They're having some trouble, but they're getting there.

 

 

 

 

 

October '23

 

 

This peace of pork ws a bit too much. Their appetite is falling noticeably.

 

 

 

A few nice close-up shots to end the year.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid November '23

 

The room is getting festive. It's not really cold yet, but they have slowed down a lot.

 

[Ernteameise]

Great journal. These are some beautiful ants!

[Serafine]

January '24

 

Not much going on, they're fairly inactive and don't eat or drink much. They take 3-4 days to empty that single small sugar feeder.

Temperatures during the day are 15-18°C, at night 8-15°C - depending on how cold the weather is outside.

 

Here's an interesting comparison - image 1 shows the ants at room temperature, image 2 shows them with active heat lamp (the lamp is dangling over the lower right corner, i switch in on about for half an hour two times a week, to simulate a minimum of winterly sunshine).

 

 

 

February '24
 

 

The final main garbage pile of season 2023.

 

 

 

 

The cardboard covers have been replaced with pieces of bark. The piece in the feeding outworld is very popular, the one in the nesting outworld not so much yet.

Also the trash pile is gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March '24
 

The larvae all still have their typical winterly bath tub form.

 

 

During the first weeks of March they got a few more baby mice and slowly they are getting the hang on how to disassemble them, they're much more organized than they were with the first one they got.

The big larvae are still in winter mode, but the workers can go through an entire mouse in 2-3 days now.

 

 

April '24

 

Panorama view of the entire setup

The warped cupboard and wall in the corner are actually flat, it's just from the camera's perspective.

 

 

 

Mid April, they first males of the season have emerged.

 

 

 

May '24

 

They are back to being really really hungry and, aside from feeder insects (they had flies, crickets and locusts) and cat food, busy devouring their new favorite food, raw shrimps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Serafine]

May '24

 

(Almost) up-to-date nest pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Serafine, May 17 2024 - 1:05 PM.