2124 replies to this topic

[NickAnter]

Ah. That explains it. Thanks.

[planton]

I have a discord server for massachusetts only, https://discord.gg/2Bgt8Ym. Please join this website is going to drive me insane. It's so hard to navigate the website.

Also, have you guys seen anything, I've only seen preno, myrmica and parasitic lasius.

?*

[ConcordAntman]

I haven’t seen anything but I really haven’t been looking closely. We had a day or two of some humidity but it was way too cool. 

[ConcordAntman]

I have a C. americanus question. My colony seems to be surviving. They’re sending our foragers and appear to be eating (though not as much or as aggressively as my C. pennsylvanicus). There are fat gaster all around. I haven’t seen the brood pile I photographed earlier proceed from larvae, to pupae, then adult. What am I missing? Could they have been trophic eggs? For feeding and cleaning, I have to move my colonies down two flights from my den (more space to work). The C. americanus are skittish. Could that be enough to make them canabilize their brood?

[akaant]

I have a C. americanus question. My colony seems to be surviving. They’re sending our foragers and appear to be eating (though not as much or as aggressively as my C. pennsylvanicus). There are fat gaster all around. I haven’t seen the brood pile I photographed earlier proceed from larvae, to pupae, then adult. What am I missing? Could they have been trophic eggs? For feeding and cleaning, I have to move my colonies down two flights from my den (more space to work). The C. americanus are skittish. Could that be enough to make them canabilize their brood?

I pulled all my colonies out of diapause 3~ weeks ago. The first week I mostly fed them sugar water/sunburst 70~80% every other day. After the first week I changed feeding to mostly protein 60~70% roaches/meal worms/fruit flies every other day. On the 3rd week I repeated the 2nd week diet but feedings are every 2-3 days. Within the last 6 days the only Camponotus to lay eggs have 40+ workers. C castaneus where the first to do so,C  chromaiodes 2nd,C  americanus 3rd,and C pennsylvanicus 4th and all have some pupae by this point.. I kept them in temperature range of 62-74F. In my opinion smaller colonies just take a bit longer to get laying after diapause. Just give them a week or 2 .

[ConcordAntman]

Thanks akaant! My colonies are about 8 weeks out of diapause. I haven’t gotten Sunburst yet but I’ve gone with on demand hummingbird nectar in a 3:1 ratio for carbohydrates and alternate fresh-killed mealworms with freeze-thawed Dubias for protein. Their temperature ranges from 68-74 degrees. I’m feeding protein 2-3 times a week. My C. pennsylvanicus is laying up a storm. I’ll keep at it and keep watching. 

[akaant]

If anyone had any escapee problem or need to extract a colony I highly recommend this product. https://www.amazon.c...0?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It can pick up ants as large as C pennsylvanicus without any harm (a season worth of testing out). I never sucked up queens just to be safe. Just DON'T forget the filter or body parts will spew from the side!

[noebl1]

Ok spent the last little bit looking at historical weather reports and past Camponotus flights I've observed.  I'd say Massachusetts has a small chance of Camponotus flights tomorrow if we hit the upper 70Fs, however if we hit 80F and it doesn't rain to cool things off, those chances go up.  If we miss out tomorrow, I suspect based on long term forecasts (which are uncertain), next Thurs/Fri/Sat have better odds.  While not the earliest I've observed Camponotus flights in Massachusetts, it's still a bit cool for high certainty of flights I suspect. The last time I saw flights this early, we hit upper 80Fs and low 90Fs in Massachusetts already if you can believe it.

[noebl1]

Well I am shocked... found 3 C. pennsylvanicus and 1 C. Myrmentoma subgenus (like C. nearcticus).  Broke 82F here

[noebl1]

I can't believe they flew.... 

[ANTdrew]

Awesome! We got to 87 here in VA, but winds were blowing 30+ mph. I don’t think anything flew.

[RushmoreAnts]

It's supposed to get to the 80s around here most of next week. And it's supposed to rain in the next couple days, so I'm hoping they'll fly.

[ConcordAntman]

Darn, I was outside most of the day and didn’t see a thing!

[ANTdrew]

I saw a male Camponotus and another tiny, unidentified male ant (possibly Nylanderia?) at a blacklight bulb on my patio.

[akaant]

0 Camponotus flights here the last 2 days, not even a single male.

[ConcordAntman]

Yeah, I was out most of the day taking pictures and didn’t see a thing. The morning was warm and somewhat humid but it cooled off. Noebl1, got a good catch!

[noebl1]

Yeah, I was out most of the day taking pictures and didn’t see a thing. The morning was warm and somewhat humid but it cooled off. Noebl1, got a good catch!

It was a strange flight, a bit early, but the weather prediction worked    She's already laying, Camponotus are pretty forgiving when founding, especially C. nearcticus.  They are arboreal so used to being banged around and don't really care much.

 

So far looks like Thurs/Fri have the next shot for Camponotus flights based on weather.  We will need some rain though, looks like it's a bit dry leading up to it, so not so sure yet.

[ConcordAntman]

While tending my charges I’m noting some changes. I’ve noted no eggs, larvae or pupae in my C. americanus colony. I suspect they were trophic eggs. I haven’t seen any carcasses and most of the workers have full gasters (D’oh, if not from the Dubias and mealworms it’s from the eggs). Still, they soldier on. 
The C. pennsylvanicus have changed behavior. The queen is as prolific as the colony is voracious!

I was complaining earlier about how messy this colony seemed. It appears now that the dramatic population increase may have allowed additional caste diversity and an expanded division of labor. The colony has now placed its “dump” in the outworld like other “civilized” ants. It sure has made housekeeping easier!

 

 

Edited by ConcordAntman, May 17 2020 - 11:04 AM.

[ANTdrew]

That’s one of the cleanest ant colonies I’ve ever seen. My Crematogaster, in contrast, are like a cautionary tale out of the Hoarders reality show. Their $150 Nucleus is one big trash dump now, and I can’t clean anything without sacrificing the teemings workers covering all the trash/ crap. Good times.

[noebl1]

That’s one of the cleanest ant colonies I’ve ever seen. My Crematogaster, in contrast, are like a cautionary tale out of the Hoarders reality show. Their $150 Nucleus is one big trash dump now, and I can’t clean anything without sacrificing the teemings workers covering all the trash/ crap. Good times.

 

I've got a Tetramorium setup like this, LOL.  They shredded 1/2 the cotton and placed into piles all over their tub setup, mixed in with food scrapes and other stuffs. Impossible to separate it out as they tunneled all through it.