23 replies to this topic

[Vendayn]

So, I went to where there are a lot of Pogonomyrmex subnitidus colonies (they are along a part of the river, but toward the top of it) and managed to find a small colony under a rock. I assume that is what they are, as Drew as a lot of them marked around my area on his ant map and they look like mine.  I got about 75 ants or so (it was a pretty small colony) and the queen. Only one larvae, as they had no other brood. I am guessing they just woke from hibernation, as I went down a week ago and there wasn't any out.

 

They are in the formicarium I bought from Drew the other week, and I included a little bit of the substrate they were nesting in. From my understanding, Pogonomyrmex like having substrate to move...so I included a very thin layer of sand to it.

 

And as I always do with my ants when I first get a queen or colony. I gave them a couple drops of honey (which they ate really quick) and I crushed up quinoa which they took into part of the formicarium. So, now they have a granary already and I just got them. Usually when I get Pogonomyrmex, they don't tend to eat much...so very good sign.

 

Will definitely take pictures of it, as Drew's formicarium really is great. I had Crematogaster in there before, but they were too small and I moved them to something else. But, the Pogonomyrmex go great with it. Its a lot better than substrate nests in containers, as I can actually see their brood pile(s) grow and they don't "disappear" into the dirt like my ants usually do. A lot less messy looking too.

 

By the way, don't get stung by these ants (or most/all other Pogonomyrmex ) last year I had around 15-20 total stings from them over the year. One time I was getting them, I had around 7-8 stings and my whole hand started spazzing out and I couldn't move my fingers at all for a good minute. They have a VERY painful sting.

 

This species also seems resistant to Argentine ants...the Argentine ants either don't attack them or the Argentine ants can't get into their nests for whatever reason. There are billions of Argentine ants below them in the river (about 6 feet down), but the Pogonomyrmex survive year after year I guess. Could be its too dry on top (the river goes through a canal with concrete on both sides, but there is a lot of plant areas in the canal and on top is drier) so the Argentine ants don't bother going up to where they are. In any case, they don't seem to be bothered much by the Argentine ants.

Edited by Vendayn, April 9 2015 - 9:13 AM.

[Vendayn]

Also, I know one post doesn't recommend giving honey to Pogonomyrmex...but, I never had issue with it. I give honey to all my ants, and they always do a lot better from it. I noticed colonies/queens tend to have a higher chance of survival when I give them honey and those I didn't, tend to lose a lot more workers early on. Other factors could be at play too, obviously. But, overall I noticed worker death rate goes WAY down when I give them honey. Or, maybe it has nothing to do with it. In any case, its pretty much the first food I give to any new queen or colony.

[dspdrew]

I don't know how in the world you dig up entire colonies like that. I could never pull that off. Where exactly was this?

 

Don't get too excited about being able to see them, because Pogonomyrmex make an absolute mess out of their nest. Eventually you won't be able to see anything.

 

I've never been stung by any Pogo, and I hope I never am.

 

It is funny, I can't recall seeing P. subnitidus fighting with any Argentine ants around here; only P. californicus. But I think it might have something to do with the fact that P. californicus usually nest in riverbeds, or right next to them in similar sandy soil. P. subnitidus are usually in very dry foot hills.

[Vendayn]

The sand on top of the canal is only a few inches deep in most areas. Deepest I had to go was a foot in one area, and then I hit concrete. They just pile sand on top  of the concrete with construction trucks.

 

These could be P. californicus, both look really similar. I just assumed they were P. subnitidus because you have found them a lot around here. Though these particular nests are in really dry areas, with no rain or water all summer (unless for a thunderstorm) on top of most of it being really shallow nesting areas.

 

Also, I bought All Living Things Dried medley bearded dragon food. Someone recommended it, and it sounded good for the ants. It was only 8 dollars (so a lot cheaper and less stinky than buying crickets, and a lot safer than getting stuff from outside where they spray poison). Plus I don't actually have to do any of the killing. It comes with a lot of dried insects, enough to last for months. The Pogonomyrmex took it right away (I crushed them up a bit)...now they have two granaries full of food. They'll be good for a long time (2-4 weeks) before I have to feed them again.

[dspdrew]

I don't know what canal you're talking about.

[Vendayn]

Its the san diego river, there is a canal that goes past my apartment complex and that is the rivers name. And, actually...don't know why its called the San Diego river when it doesn't even go even close to San Diego. xD

 

Its the one that goes past the Verizon Ampitheater. Part of is natural, a lot of it is built up with concrete. But, they poured sand at one point on top in one section of the canal and the Pogonomyrmex love to nest in it. Except, most of it is really shallow so they don't really have that much space. I've seen colonies with only a few inches of depth to it. A lot of the Pogonomyrmex colonies tend to be close to each other, but I haven't seen any aggression between them.

 

Though, almost the entire canal/river is just Argentine ant territory. Solenopsis invicta are quickly moving in, in some areas...but, mostly just Argentine ants. Its only one section that has Pogonomyrmex. Guess they found their niche away from Argentine ants.

Edited by Vendayn, March 13 2015 - 9:22 PM.

[Vendayn]

Drew, how often should I add water to the ant formicarium? So far I've been adding some every few days, but not sure if that is too much or too little or just right. I just pour it into the base so it slowly soaks up.

[dspdrew]

You can't add too much, as it will only soak up so far into the Ytong, and any extra will overflow out of the tray and onto the table. Just make sure there is always water in the tray. I would also advise you to keep watch on the Ytong, because given enough time, Pogos can eventually chew through it apparently.

[Vendayn]

Well, me and my dad are actually in the process of designing our own ant farms. We got some ideas from your design, but its pretty much different as stealing someones design and then selling it (which we plan to do) is lame lol. Its a work in progress, and by the time they chew through the ytong (if they actually do that is)...it should be ready for ants.

 

I'll have to keep up on the water more then, I was keeping it too dry (when the Crematogaster were in it) lol. I was only adding water every few days and it was pretty dry for 1-2 days till then.

Edited by Vendayn, March 14 2015 - 10:37 PM.

[dspdrew]

I'm sure it won't hurt if the tray goes dry for a day, especially for Pogonomyrmex. If anything, I would give them a liquid feeder.

[Vendayn]

Wow, I uncovered them (I covered the bottom part of the nest) and there is a HUGE egg pile half the size of the workers. One of the workers was carrying it around since I disturbed them. There is easily 50 eggs in that pile! I didn't want to disturb them too much so I put the cover back on, so could be another pile...

 

But, the queen has laid TONS of eggs!

 

I think I might have to expand them already in the next month or so. I never had a Pogonomyrmex queen lay that many eggs before in that short of time...I've only had them for 3 days.

Edited by Vendayn, March 15 2015 - 11:28 AM.

[Chromerust]

I don't think a Pogonomyrmex queen can lay that many eggs at once. My guess would be the workers were holding the eggs when you dug them up but either way I hope they do good for you.

[Vendayn]

Mine didn't have any eggs that I saw. I looked a day after i got them and there wasnt any egg pile at all. Maybe a few eggs I didn't see, but not a huge pile of them. The queen really has laid tons of eggs in a short timespan.

Maybe its what I fed them, but none of my other Pogonomyrmex ever had that many eggs in the same time. Maybe I missed a few eggs, but like I said, it definitely wasn't nearly as many as they have now.

[dspdrew]

My P. subnitidus queen used to lay that many eggs when the colony was doing well.

[Vendayn]

Did the Hydrostone setup work out better? I did see you bought some from amazon.

 

I'll have to keep a close eye on them, as I don't want to lose the colony. They are really great. So much brood production, its crazy lol.

[Vendayn]

The egg pile is now almost as big as the queen herself, and is already taller than her. Such crazy brood production!

[Foogoo]

How deep was the queen?

[Vendayn]

She was under a rock, so only about a couple inches. When I got her, the soil was still damp from the rain and it was sunny but not too hot. I dug down to get the rest of them, but the colony was only about 8 or 9 inches deep as it is in a pretty shallow area before it hits concrete. There definitely wasn't any huge brood piles though like there are in my ant formicarium. And the colony was pretty small (only got about 50 or so ants). She has more eggs than workers now lol.

[Vendayn]

Egg laying has slowed, but they are still doing great. Queen must have gone into overdrive and laid a lot of eggs in a short time period. I think it may have had to do with the hot weather and so the garage was a lot warmer than usual...if that is the case, I may need to redo the heating system or move them closer to the heat lamp.

 

With that said, the ants have already chewed up part of the setup. Where the tubing connects to the foraging area, part of the ytong looks chewed up. I don't recall it looking like that before, but maybe I never noticed. My wife thought it looked chewed up too, but maybe she didn't notice before. In any case...something I'll keep an eye on more.

[Chromerust]

The colony will only produce the amount of brood they can physically handle from my experience and then the queen will take a break.