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T.C.'s Ant Journal / Almost a successful Take over =(

Started By T.C. , Mar 19 2017 9:21 PM

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#1 Offline T.C. - Posted March 19 2017 - 9:21 PM

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I am just going to combine my ants all into one journal, as I will not have much time to update individual journals.

This is my camponotous Pennsylvanicus queen. Currently just larvae. It is Currently in a test tube with the cotton ball covers designed by dspdrew.



This is a colony of possible lasius alienus. I caught them under bark on a log. I caught the whole colony, and it was pretty easy as they were hibernating in a big ball. Anyway, I eventually got them into this nest I built.



Here they are sipping some Mtn.dew.



Since this colony is queenless, I am hoping to introduce this lasius umbratus queen to the colony here soon. I found two, so I get two tries at it.


Edited by T.C., April 24 2017 - 11:24 AM.

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#2 Offline LC3 - Posted March 19 2017 - 11:23 PM

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Doesn't Mountain Dew have caffeine in it?

Caffeine isn't very good for bugs, actually it's pretty bad for them..


#3 Offline sgheaton - Posted March 20 2017 - 5:14 AM

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Caffeine isn't very good for bugs, actually it's pretty bad for them..

Pretty bad for us as well....


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#4 Offline T.C. - Posted March 20 2017 - 5:53 AM

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Doesn't Mountain Dew have caffeine in it?
Caffeine isn't very good for bugs, actually it's pretty bad for them..


I typically go with honey or syrup, so this was a first. Wasn't aware it was bad for them.

Thanks for the information.

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#5 Offline FSTP - Posted March 20 2017 - 9:09 AM

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Looking good. Will be really cool if you're successful at introducing that umbra's queen.

 

 

Caffeine isn't very good for bugs, actually it's pretty bad for them..

Pretty bad for us as well....

 

^this likely explains Dermy^


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#6 Offline XZero38 - Posted March 20 2017 - 11:42 AM

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Looking good. Will be really cool if you're successful at introducing that umbra's queen.

 

 

Caffeine isn't very good for bugs, actually it's pretty bad for them..

Pretty bad for us as well....

 

^this likely explains Dermy^

some things just can't be explained


My Current Colonies:

 

Tetramorium Sp. E. 

 

Myrmecocystus Mimicus

 

Pogonomyrmex Occidentalis

 

Formica Argentea

 

Solenopsis Molesta

#7 Offline Alabama Anter - Posted March 20 2017 - 5:04 PM

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Ummmmmm.... Did you take the whole colony without the queen?! She will likely die due to her lack of worker force. :/  :/  :/ 


YJK

#8 Offline T.C. - Posted March 20 2017 - 7:29 PM

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Ummmmmm.... Did you take the whole colony without the queen?! She will likely die due to her lack of worker force. :/  :/  :/


I took the pile of them. I wasn't aware the queen was not in the mess.

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#9 Offline T.C. - Posted April 8 2017 - 7:56 PM

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However the lasius alienus are still doing very well. They oddly like just water over sugar water, and prefer syrup over honey? And they love wolf spiders!


Edited by T.C., April 16 2022 - 7:15 PM.

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#10 Offline drtrmiller - Posted April 8 2017 - 8:17 PM

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The Lasius alienus are still doing very well. They oddly like just water over sugar water, and prefer syrup over honey?


I've frequently discussed how imbalances in diet may cause these types of short-term, unexpected preferences for suboptimal foods. Insufficient relative humidity in the environment may explain the preference for water over sucrose solutions, as well.

Have you tried the most recent formulation of Sunburst Ant Nectar?

Edited by drtrmiller, April 8 2017 - 8:25 PM.



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#11 Offline T.C. - Posted April 8 2017 - 9:01 PM

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No, although I have heard great things about it. I will have to buy some this week. I have to buy some aquatic plants, I will make a purchase then. Does it have a protein source in it? I don't expect it to, as it's supposed to be a sugar, honey, etc. alternative and none of those have protein.

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#12 Offline T.C. - Posted April 12 2017 - 7:39 PM

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Appears the L. Alienus colony is doing well although have eaten some of the larvae it appears. I made a honey/syrup mix and they liked that. I'm thinking that some of the larvae may be queen alates just because of their size. If you zoom in you can see some larvae is significantly larger than the workers.





Like I stated above, the colony is queenless. So, I got my dog and went marching into the woods and found some more lasius umbratus queens. Only took me ten minutes to find them too. Fairly abundant this time of year it seems.



Also, in that short time I was looking for L. Umbratus I found a camponotous Pennsylvanicus queen while searching. She didn't have workers or brood which was unfortunate.





And... I haven't given up on that light up formicarium project. Still alot of work to do. The light is too bright so I am going to cover the inner glass panels with some sort of paper or something to similar to block out the light some.


Edited by T.C., April 28 2017 - 10:02 AM.

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#13 Offline T.C. - Posted April 24 2017 - 11:51 AM

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Well, this attempt was closer. It was all going well... they were all just sitting there while a few workers were cleaning her.



But a few workers came along and decided they weren't satisfied. So one latched unto her gaster and started attacking and before I knew it they were holding her down and from there I knew it was going to be a fail. :(



During all of this, other workers started moving al the larva into the tube that lead from the nest to the outworld. I assume for protection reasons?


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