2124 replies to this topic

[fleetingyouth]

Ok first week check up of my 5 Tetramorium queens. I built a little box with a foam insert cut to keep them from rolling and to slightly elevate the dry end. 3 of the queens have small little brood piles and seem to be tending to them. One has scattered a bunch of the eggs but does have a small pile that she might be tending to. Should I wait to see what happens or is this a sign of something?

 

The last one I caught in a puddle and still has both her wings. She hasnt laid any eggs at all. I'm thinking she didn't get to mate before landing in the water. Should I get rid of her or wait?

 

Lastly I chopped up a tree that had fallen do to rot this winter. When I cut up the trunk still in the ground it was a large Camponotus colony. I think I saw the queen before it scurried back into the wood. So I grabbed the wood and as many workers and brood i could and put them in a plastic container with a water moat to contain them. I didn't see any alates in the nest and I havent seen any fly or queens this summer. Maybe I missed them. Carpenter ants are by far the most common in my yard and neighborhood. 

 

I was thinking of maybe trying to get them to move into a formicarium and see if I did in fact get the queen. I made a separate post about it if you want to offer some advice. 
http://www.formicult...lony-from-tree/

[mallonje]

@mallonje  I grabbed a handful of Tetramorium alates in case you didn't find any.

Not finding any! I'm pretty sure the one I have is unmated. At this point, I'm assuming that the flight I saw was my flight - and that was it Period. Still keeping an eye on those Formica mounds, they haven't flown yet. 

 

I also got the Chromatagastor and Lasius you gave me into impromptu outworlds. I took a while to get the Chromatagastor to move test tubes, and I think before the deed was done she had eaten all her brood - It's just her and the nanitics. 

 

I also moved my C. pennsylvanicus into one, and they seem to be doing well. 

 

I'll post picts if I get a chance.  

[fleetingyouth]

Day 14-15 

Won't be around this weekend so did my weekly checkup this morning. 

 

I'm down to 4 Tetramorium queens from 5. after two weeks the winged queen hasn't produced any eggs so I will let her go. 

 

Here is a picture of each of the queens and their brood. Looks like a bunch of larvae and a few eggs. You can see the first queen with her damaged gaster still seems to be producing fine. 
 

What might still be flying right now? I saw a male Tetra alate this morning but no signs of any flights. I hoped to catch a Camponotus but even though my property is filled with them everywhere I never saw any flights. Could they still be flying? I haven't had any luck with walking around my neighborhood. 

[noebl1]

Tetramorium still flying, and you may get lucky here and there on Camponotus thru July, but odds are getting low.

 

Temnothorax are flying on warm/humid nights.  Some Formica are also flying, I have not seen any but other's in MA have.  Aphaenogaster should start flying soon as well.  As common as Aphaenogaster are, they are spotty in their flights.  I've only observed a couple flights in the last 2.5 years, and both were lucky to find them.

 

 

My P. imparis looks like to have laid a few more eggs for her 2nd year's batch, and some of the ones she laid in June look to have hatched:

 

My C. nearcticus laid after my C. americanus by 2 weeks, but the brood went to pupae significantly faster.  However it looks pretty close now to see who's going to eclose first.

[greenavacado]

@noebl1 any luck starting the L. Interjectus?

 

This past weekend I managed to catch a queen that looks like a Lasius Neoniger, however it seems pretty early. Her legs were covered in mites, which all fell off after putting her in a container with paper towel damp with water/lime juice(I didn't have any lemons). I haven't checked up on her since getting her into a test tube, tomorrow if she's still alive I'll take some pictures for a better ID. I'm pretty sure she's not a L. Umbratus because I caught one of those as well, and she's a bit bigger.

 

Also does anyone keep Tapinoma Sessile? I have three egg-laying queens and have been thinking about combining them into one colony. I read that they tend to be polygynous but in captivity there can be issues.

[fleetingyouth]

Looks like there was a small Tetramorium flight this morning. I caught 6 queens but I only saw one male. I'm not super hopeful on this batch as I only saw them in my driveway and no evidence of any around the neighborhood. So maybe they are all from the same colony and didn't mate?

 

4 without wings one which was under some brush. 2 with wings.

 

I also saw a massive swarm of little red ants on the sidewalk. Didn't get a pic but ill swing by again and get one if they are still there. 

[akaant]

Day 14-15 

Won't be around this weekend so did my weekly checkup this morning. 

 

I'm down to 4 Tetramorium queens from 5. after two weeks the winged queen hasn't produced any eggs so I will let her go. 

 

Here is a picture of each of the queens and their brood. Looks like a bunch of larvae and a few eggs. You can see the first queen with her damaged gaster still seems to be producing fine. 
 

 

What might still be flying right now? I saw a male Tetra alate this morning but no signs of any flights. I hoped to catch a Camponotus but even though my property is filled with them everywhere I never saw any flights. Could they still be flying? I haven't had any luck with walking around my neighborhood. 

You should of combined the queens. 2-3 Queens per test tube would better the odds and they will have a larger workforce.

[fleetingyouth]

Hey akaant are tetramorium polygynous or pleometrotic?

 

Should I try that with the ones I just caught today?

[akaant]

Pleometrotic.

Edited by akaant, July 15 2018 - 6:50 AM.

[noebl1]

Pleometrotic.

 

People often do it for brood boosting, however Tetramorium grow so fast, I've never personally understood the need for it. After the first season you have 20-30+ workers before their first hibernation without boosting, and then into season 2 they usually have huge brood piles and double or triple that.  Before I lost my queen from 2016 flights this Spring, she had a brood pile about 1" long and 1/4" starting out the season.  This is after I was limiting protein last year to slow growth a bit as they can grow really large in a couple years.

 

Also it's official, my C. nearcticus eclosed first; two nanitics.  C. americanus though had brood 2 weeks earlier, lost the race...

Edited by noebl1, July 15 2018 - 7:00 AM.

[akaant]

I don't think he would want 4-5 colonies.

[noebl1]

I don't think he would want 4-5 colonies.

 

I can see that, though I usually get nervous about losing colonies, so usually keep 2-3 of any species anyways just to be on the safe side.  FWIW I've been feeding my 2017 Tetramorium colony pretty heavily, and they have a huge brood pile already this season; probably the size of where my 2016 was this Spring.  Soooo many mouths to feed.

 

Just got a batch of crickets from Rainbow mealworms that should last me I think a good part of this season.  I'm not entirely sure how they estimate numbers... regardless they all came alive from what I can tell yesterday.  Just put the first batch into the freezer.  Feel kinda bad killing them, but I get the fact it's food for the ants so not wasting them.  I ended up getting a couple sizes based on established vs young colonies.  

[fleetingyouth]

Thanks guys for the info. I don't need a bunch of colonies that is true. I've been working under the premise that this is my first year trying this and I'll make mistakes and lose colonies. I also was hoping to find different species and have just been excited to find any queens at this point haha. 

 

I think I will try that with a couple queens and see what happens. I have 10 now and some are bound to be infertile. 

 

If I were to take a queen away from her brood would she continue to start over if I put her in a new tube setup? I've read other people brood boosting by killing off extra queens and giving their brood to one queen. I was just wondering if the queen if left alone would start a new pile?

 

Maybe if I end up with a few successful colonies I'll be able to trade them with someone on here for another species.  

[akaant]

 

I don't think he would want 4-5 colonies.

 

I can see that, though I usually get nervous about losing colonies, so usually keep 2-3 of any species anyways just to be on the safe side.  FWIW I've been feeding my 2017 Tetramorium colony pretty heavily, and they have a huge brood pile already this season; probably the size of where my 2016 was this Spring.  Soooo many mouths to feed.

 

Just got a batch of crickets from Rainbow mealworms that should last me I think a good part of this season.  I'm not entirely sure how they estimate numbers... regardless they all came alive from what I can tell yesterday.  Just put the first batch into the freezer.  Feel kinda bad killing them, but I get the fact it's food for the ants so not wasting them.  I ended up getting a couple sizes based on established vs young colonies.  

 

I know exactly what you mean my 2017 colony has about 300 workers and even more brood. I try feeding them almost daily.

@ fleetingyouth

If you end up with too many colonies, you can open up test tubes in a container and let the workers decide who will be their queen. I have done this successfully merging  2 colonies.

[greenavacado]

Found a C. Pennsylvanicus queen today, wasn't expecting to see many more Camponotus flights.

 

Here's the queen I found last week, mite free and already has a small pile of eggs. After getting some better pics I'm thinking she's Formica, either Pallidefulva or Neogagates, any thoughts?

[fleetingyouth]

Found my first queen while out walking ( 3 actually) this morning and of course, they where more Tetramoriums. I'm like a tetra magnet haha It was nice to actually find something on my walk this time though. 

 

It looks like there was a decent size flight this morning found a bunch of males on cars and saw a bunch of queens flying in the air. 

[mallonje]

Ok, Anyone do any Anting on Nantucket?

Went for a golf outing this weekend and caught 4 queens. 1 tiny lasius, and 3 camponotus.

I'm still working on the Id, but I'm leaning toward C. Nearcticus, although I see hairy cheeks which FGTAONE points me to C. Subbarbatus but a. They aren't in New England yet, and b. ThE ones I caught don't have purple gasters.

[noebl1]

Big flight tonight, tons of Temnothorax and caught my first Pheidole queen!

[fleetingyouth]

Big flight tonight, tons of Temnothorax and caught my first Pheidole queen!

How were you catching them with a light? or just walking around?

[noebl1]

All at the light tonight, first time the black light has paid off. Not convinced the Pheidole is fertile, however happy to know they at least occasionally go thru here. Have work tomorrow so had to go in ☹️