2124 replies to this topic

[noebl1]

Usually black mold is totally harmless to ants. Usually they are against the mold as that's where the moisture is, so the brood and such do better there. 

 

If you want to move them, usually bright light (like sun light), will force even the most stubborn colonies to move. But need to keep an eye on them so they don't bake in the sun.

[fmoreira60]

Okay thanks! I think I'll leave them there for now and is any mold harmful towards ants. Also in the fall I lost 2 out of the 5 of the workers of my temnothorax curvispinosus colony due to them getting trapped in honey. After the first death I tried making the honey drops really small but one still died. Is there any less "sticky" alternative for a sugar source.

[noebl1]

Okay thanks! I think I'll leave them there for now and is any mold harmful towards ants. Also in the fall I lost 2 out of the 5 of the workers of my temnothorax curvispinosus colony due to them getting trapped in honey. After the first death I tried making the honey drops really small but one still died. Is there any less "sticky" alternative for a sugar source.

 

I've also got T. curvispinosus, and they are a PITA due to this   Try the byFormica feeders with sugar water, they seem to do ok with those.  They like the byFormica sunburst too.

Edited by noebl1, March 5 2019 - 5:32 PM.

[akaant]

Okay thanks! I think I'll leave them there for now and is any mold harmful towards ants. Also in the fall I lost 2 out of the 5 of the workers of my temnothorax curvispinosus colony due to them getting trapped in honey. After the first death I tried making the honey drops really small but one still died. Is there any less "sticky" alternative for a sugar source.

Try diluting and soaking the honey into a small piece of cotton ball.

[fmoreira60]

If I made sugar water, how long would it last in the fridge?

[TennesseeAnts]

Sugar water doesn't go bad, it just dries out and leaves the sugar in the bottom of the container when the water evaporates. The sugar can't evaporate with the water because it is a solid so it will crystallize at the bottom.

[fmoreira60]

What is the best ratio from water to sugar when you make sugar water?

[ConcordAntman]

I’ve used the same ratio I use to make hummingbird food, 4 cups water to 1 cup sugar. During the summer, I keep a quart container in the fridge. It keeps well. I bring it to room temperature before I put it in the formicaria. My C. pennsylvanicus also take honey, maple syrup, flightless fruit flies, freeze dried mealworms (rehydrated) and raw chicken.

[ConcordAntman]

Huh - none of my tubes are less than half filled. For C. pennsylvanicus I use a full ball in the tube because they pull, but everything else I pull about half, probably less for the end cap.
I'm going to place a hygrometer down there now.

Mallonje, what ended up happening with your colonies? Survivors hopefully 🤞🏽. I’ve moved my colonies back to my study. Surprisingly, only one worker didn’t make it through the winter. I have a fair number of larvae in all three. C. pennsylvanicus supposedly overwinters larvae (I think) what are the odds they’ll mature and eclose?

Edited by ConcordAntman, March 13 2019 - 5:36 PM.

[fleetingyouth]

I started warming up my ant fridge I think its at 60 degrees now. My place fluctuates around 65-70 should I bring them up to 65 then bring them out to go with ambient? I had them in a hot humid closet last year if I recreate that environment can I move them into a higher temp than ambient quickly or should I do it over time? How quickly after bringing them out of hibernation or at what temp will they start wanting food?

 

Also I picked up this last summer to play with some DIY ideas for formicariums. I started making a couple of my own but wanted to move my biggest colony into this one first. it doesnt really have any method of hydration. It only has one small port on one side and nothing inside for absorbing water. Its most likely gypsum so it itself absorbs water but its slowly. I tried from the top but it pools before absorbing, maybe it just needs to be soaked first? I could use a syringe and put it in the porthole but again it is pooling before absorbing and if the ants nest down there it could be a problem. I tried a cotton soaked in water put into the port and that is absorbing water into the nest but I feel like that is also a slow method. I could also drop wet cotton balls in at the top overtime but the top methods take a lot of water and time to soak to the bottom. Any suggestions on the best method to hydrate and make a proper humid nest?

[ConcordAntman]

FWIW, over the course of about 2 weeks, I moved my ants from a cooler at ~40, to my basement at 58, then to a similarly warm humid closet in my den at 72. I kept a fresh supply of honey in their outworld while they were in the cooler over the winter and had maple syrup and mealworms for them once I got them up to room temperature. Once they woke up they’ve been actively foraging.

[mallonje]

Well today marks a full week of all of my colonies being up in my office at about 78°

Alas I still only have Signs of Life from one C. pennsylvanicus nest.

Edited by mallonje, March 18 2019 - 7:45 PM.

[ConcordAntman]

Mallonje, sorry to hear about your loss. On the bright side though, Spring is almost here and nuptial flights are just around the corner!

[mallonje]

3 L. Flavius

3 C. pennsylvanicus
1 Tetramorium Sp.

2 T. Sessile (?)

All lost.

Now I'm an engineer so I feel the need to do a "post mortem" -- no pun intended. 

Banker's box, with a foam pad on the bottom and a little up the side (3" +/-). Cheap "logging" outdoor thermometer (never higher than 51, never colder than 37) Probe in the center of the box.

I was reminded that the thermometer didn't go in until Thanksgiving weekend. 
I checked each Friday in November, 12/14/18, 12/28/18, 1/11/19, 1/30/19, 2/1/19, 2/15/19.
I did honey for everything but the C. pennsylvanicus - which got Maple Syrup.
Noticed negligible consumption on 11/23.
Noticed no visible movement by 12/14. 

Between 2/1 and 2/15 I noticed that there "had" been some form of movement - brood moved, works no longer by the queen, but now all ants look "Dead" etc. 
on 3/3 I moved them all up to my office (house steady 67)
on 3/10 I placed them on the elevated rack with heating pads (77-81)
on 3/18 all but one C. pennsylvanicus still shows no signs of life. 

 

The other day - maybe 3/14 - I checked on my one L. Flavius nest box. The pupae do not look dry or desiccated at all, the ants do not flex when gently probed. However in that one nest - the evaporation in the test tube seems to have sucked the water side cotton ball ALL the way to the end of the test tube. When I built out these nests I included fresh test tubes with water and all were intentionally nearly 2/3rd full (17x150mm = ~20mL = ~12mL full)  

All other test tubes either have large bubbles (where none had been) or the cotton does appear to have moved, but not passed the half-way point. 
None of my tubes appear to have flooded. 

[fleetingyouth]

I did some more testing on that formicarium. I can completely soak the bottom inch with water if i use a syringe and keep filling the lower corner. I put a humidity meter in the top outworld section and left it in an open room to see what happens. It looks like the moisture is gone or atleast the color of the material has changed back to look dry. However the meter reads 80% where as when I put it in it read 90% . so I can't really tell how moist the tunnels are staying but it seems like it is holding humidity. 

 

I'm hoping if I keep it out of the sun and as the room ambient goes up it will hold moisture better. I might try to move one of my colonies into it soon. 

 

Any thoughts?

[ConcordAntman]

Mallonje, did you lose your last C. pennsylvanicus colony too? The coldest my colonies got was 39 and I thought I’d lost two of my three colonies. From your description of your test tubes, is it possible your colonies dehydrated? After all that effort, the thought of starting from scratch is depressing but like I said, Spring is just around the corner!

Edited by ConcordAntman, March 19 2019 - 5:23 PM.

[mallonje]

Nope, I still have the one - and they're doing good. A little concerned they haven't touched their protein yet. But maybe I'm being over protective.

I'm at the point now in my analytical phase that I feel like I'm reconstructing a crime scene. 

[ConcordAntman]

I’m afraid I don’t have enough experience to comment. This was my first winter and I feel like I just lucked through it. I had 10-20 workers/ colony. I was worried that the 10 worker colony wouldn’t make it. I’m still surprised they all did. I moved my ants from test tubes to THA Phalanx formicaria before I set them up for hibernation. In retrospect, I think I was a bit premature but it worked. The formicaria were easy to keep well hydrated. I think the hydration helped them survive the winter.

Edited by ConcordAntman, March 20 2019 - 6:11 PM.

[ConcordAntman]

Now that I’ve survived a winter with my colonies intact, I’m interested in finding a different variety of Camponotus. Camponotus americanus and Camponotus chromaiodes are the varieties I’d like to find. Last spring/summer, I’d regularly find a bunch of workers drowned in my hummingbird feeders and was struck by their red-amber coloration. An interesting looking ant. According to the New England field guide, C. americanus is more widely distributed than C. chromaiodes. I found this old post on another site:
https://www.tapatalk...46.html#p165435
It suggests finding a queen might be easier said than done. Does anyone have pointers on habitat or nuptial flights?

[noebl1]

Figures, I had a long reply, and accidentally closed the tab... 

 

I find C. americanus fly in May, found in early evening to after dark.  I've had the best luck flashlighting spotting for them after dark at 9-10pm.  Unlike C. pennsylvanicus, I find they the queens are very skittish, and will hide/scatter if they see you.  I'm not sure if it's cyclic or just luck, but 2016 I found some, 2017 I didn't see any queens, 2018 I found some.  I also only see them once a season, so in other words unlike other Camponotus, don't seem to have multiple flights.

 

I live in a heavily wooded area, and have found their nests (both mature and founding.)  They are easy to spot at night foraging, and have a really nice amber color to them.

 

My May caught colonies are in their founding stages now, and so far have been pretty easy to care for.  One thing I noticed was that unlike C. pennsylvanicus, they queens didn't go into deep sleep, but were active like the workers at 45F.  I suspect being a ground dwelling species, maybe they don't need to create glycerol?