19 replies to this topic

[SMILEforAnts]

Soooo, since I'm new here I decided to add my journal here. I was just going to continue the update here from where I left off in the yuku forum, but I'll just make it quick and post a short version of it here.
 

On the day of this video (12/20/2014) I caught the queen of this journal. The queen with no wings somehow ended up on my forearm that day. Lucky me!

 

 

For the first couple of weeks she layed eggs, but then ate them. But 2 weeks prior to this photo (taken on 1/30/2015), she laid a clutch of eggs and kept it.

 

 

On 2/5/2015 I recorded this video of the queen and her brood. Most of the pupae started to get darker!

 

 

Then on the morning of 2/9/2015, her first worker eclosed. Here's a time-lapse video of it. By the end of that day she had 3 workers.

 

 

And then today (2/11/2015) I gave them their first "carbohyrdate" meal. Colony has 5 workers now. I thought adding the aphid picture in the beginning would be funny lol, aka the aphid fairy giving colonies their first meal! Maybe if I get my kids into ant keeping one day, I'll tell them about the aphid fairy! Bahaha! I'd tell them when your queen's first workers arrive, the aphid fairy comes that night and poops a drop of candy liquid just for the workers and the queen to drink. The special candy liquid poop makes them strong and they'll be able to drag and carry things around ten times as big as they are! If my parents told me that as a little kid, my mind would've been blown!!! Am I right? or maybe that's just me. But wouldn't that be a great way to spread ant keeping awareness to young little kids? Lol anyway enough about my random rambling, here's the video.

 

 

The video is pretty long, but because I tend to get caught up in the moment watching them, time just flies by. I'm sure most of you could do the same and watch your colonies for hours.

 

Next update I'll probably do is when I feed them their first cricket leg, insect protein meal. Until next time......deuces!

 

[drtrmiller]

Ha! I thought that aphid was real, albeit disturbingly large and in-focus, until I read the description!

 

I do appreciate the fact that you seem to know a little something about photography.  I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future :~)

[Etherwulf]

Nice colony. I have one colony right now but I intend to sell it off because of how fast these Solenopsis germinata colonies grow. Unless you intend on keeping a gigantic colony (read: 3 Omni nests in 6 months), I would limit feeding. Also, they consume a lot of food, more so than the average generalist ant species.A tip I got from the blog of a local myrmecologist/ ant enthusiast Quah was to limit food until the third month whereby you provide an abundant supply of protein food. This induces the production of the largest morphology of workers while keeping the colony at a manageable size. See here for details: http://termitesandan...ia-fireant.html

 

P.S What are you using to take these pictures and videos? They look amazing.

Edited by Etherwulf, February 12 2015 - 6:19 AM.

[dspdrew]

Wow, very nice pictures and videos.

[SMILEforAnts]

Ha! I thought that aphid was real, albeit disturbingly large and in-focus, until I read the description!

 

I do appreciate the fact that you seem to know a little something about photography.  I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future :~)

 

Thanks! I've always been into photography and I actually help my sister do freelance portrait photography work.

 

Nice colony. I have one colony right now but I intend to sell it off because of how fast these Solenopsis germinata colonies grow. Unless you intend on keeping a gigantic colony (read: 3 Omni nests in 6 months), I would limit feeding. Also, they consume a lot of food, more so than the average generalist ant species.A tip I got from the blog of a local myrmecologist/ ant enthusiast Quah was to limit food until the third month whereby you provide an abundant supply of protein food. This induces the production of the largest morphology of workers while keeping the colony at a manageable size. See here for details: http://termitesandan...ia-fireant.html

 

P.S What are you using to take these pictures and videos? They look amazing.

 

Thank you! This is actually my first time raising a colony from a single queen, and I think I'm prepared....I hope. But reading that Solenopsis geminata colonies can reach 10k in numbers makes me kind of nervous, especially since they sting lol. The link you gave I've read before, and that's what I was thinking of doing, limiting their food. For the pictures and video, I either use my iPhone with a macro lens attached, or my Canon DSLR camera also with a macro lens.

 

Wow, very nice pictures and videos.

 

Thanks bro!

 

 

SMALL UPDATE :  I gave them their first solid meal, a fruit fly, and the colony now has 6 workers.

 

 

Next update, I plan on moving them to a small plaster nest when they get about 15-20+ workers, just to see how they handle the plaster. Hopefully they don't chew and dig through it though, but even if they do, the nest will be placed into their outworld (container).

[drtrmiller]

Please do not move them to a plaster nest!  They will dig through it as if it were clay, and will pile the granules on top, which will become extremely messy if wetted.  Not to mention, they'll never want to move out!

 

I killed a large Solenopsis colony once, after trying to move them from a plaster nest they destroyed the moment they inhabited it.  These ants will chew through most anything, including silicone, and may even find imperfections in ytong.

[SMILEforAnts]

Please do not move them to a plaster nest!  They will dig through it as if it were clay, and will pile the granules on top, which will become extremely messy if wetted.  Not to mention, they'll never want to move out!

 

I killed a large Solenopsis colony once, after trying to move them from a plaster nest they destroyed the moment they inhabited it.  These ants will chew through most anything, including silicone, and may even find imperfections in ytong.

 

Damn, all the nests that I make are made from plaster D: Did they die from chewing through the plaster? or you had to kill them because they did that? I think I should just try and see what happens. I'll just have to keep a close eye on them when I do and if they do start digging through, then I'll just have to find another way of housing them.

 

Quick update, the colony is doing great. I feed them a tiny drop of raw honey every day, and a cricket leg or a fruit fly every three to four days. They've moved into a new test tube since their original test tube ran out of water. They are up to 12 workers, and only two died so far. I like how they are growing slowly. Here is a recent picture of the colony.

 

 

Seeing how slightly bigger the pupae are compared to previous ones, it looks like they are starting to develop bigger workers. So yeah just a quick update on how the colony is doing so far.

[Crystals]

I do look forward to seeing how this colony grows. 

 

I have seen several journals where Solenopsis tunneled their way through Ytong and silicone.  Even my Camponotus can chew through plaster, it is pretty soft and chalky.  I know a good acrylic nest will hold them, but beyond that I am not sure what they can't chew their way through.

As fast as they are supposed to grow, I would choose something that can be added on to easily.

I wonder if a bead container formicarium could hold them if a 2 part epoxy was used instead of silicone to seal the glass....  http://www.formicult...icture +journey

 

Even just a foraging area with numerous test tubes will work until you have something on hand.

[SMILEforAnts]

Wow, chew through silicone too? Thanks for the suggestions Crystals! I was actually thinking of doing that, placing a larger test tube or a bunch of them in a container. Or plan B, I'd have to purchase an acrylic/plastic nest of some sort.

 

I appreciate the tutorial you made on making a formicarium out of a container. I'll definitely look into it more later, but for now I am following the advice of Etherwulf and I am limiting their food intake so they don't grow as fast.

[SMILEforAnts]

Whatsup guys! Here's an overdue update!

 

I estimate the colony is now up to about 65+ workers and they're doing great. Queen is looking healthy, workers too. They also have a healthy die off rate of 1-2 workers every week or two.

 

I still feed them honey and an occasional insect every now and then, but a couple of weeks ago, my gf made us a smoothie drink for breakfast one morning and she added this seed ingredient to it called chia seeds. It's really small, so I was like hmmm maybe I could give some to my S. geminata colony since they eat seeds. I sprinkled some into the container that morning, and when I got home they collected all of it and made a pile in the test tube. So I've been mainly feeding them chia seeds and honey. I also observed the queen helping out in chewing open the seeds. Pretty cool!

 

Not the best picture, but here's a picture taken with my iPhone.
 

 

You can see the seeds they have collected.

 

I placed their test tube nest in a container, and I also added another test tube in there, because the cotton in their nest has gotten really dirty. They still haven't moved, so I guess they're doing fine in there. Also there's seeds that they placed onto the cotton which you can't see, but those seeds have started to sprout. I can see stems lol.

 

And yeah that's about it. I'll have better pictures as soon as I get my DSLR camera back.

[SMILEforAnts]

Hey guys!

 

So really exciting news, for me anyway. My colony is having it's first super major. That's right a SUPER MAJOR! A Super Saiyan Major! lol. To me that's fricken awesome! About a week ago, the colony had it's first major worker, and at the same time there was this huge larva growing. As it got bigger than the rest, I knew for sure it was a super major worker. With all the seeds I've been giving them, the queen was like "Uhhh hello, since I'm the one always cracking open the seeds, I guess it's time we need a super major to do all the seed cracking up in here!" lol

 

Here's some pictures of the colony.

 

 

This was when there was a seed that started to grow in the nest. Since then they've chopped it down.

 

 

Here is when the super major was a larva. It was way bigger than the rest!

 

 

A shot inside the nest through the opening of the test tube.

 

 

Recent picture of the super major pupa.

 

 

Here's the first major worker tending to it's bigger sister, the super major. I could be wrong if that's a major or not, but it is the biggest worker so far.

 

 

 

And then just up close shots of the super major pupa.

 

Online I've read that it is called a mega super major, but I'll just stick to calling it a super major for now because once it ecloses, it will be the biggest worker. When there are more workers to compare sizes to, then I'll be able to tell. And also the cotton in their nest is really black, but I guess it's not causing harm to them at all. There is a clean test tube next to them, so If they decide to move, they have that choice. I hope you guys enjoy the pictures and I'll see you guys in the next update.

[Tpro4]

*Jealousy Intensifies* *Intesity Intensifies*

[dspdrew]

Wow that's big.

[Gregory2455]

That does not look like the kargest size of major. I think you will get one size larger still...

[Lamarr]

Great photos and fascinating journal, SMILEforAnts!

 

I had raised a colony of Solenopsis invicta from about 20 workers to 300~600 workers for about a year and a half back in 2009. That is until they died out due to my neglect, and the remaining colony was released. As for them digging through the plaster formicarium I've only had minor cases of the problem. But this might be due to the way the formicarium was set up, but some other plaster formicarium I've made for the same species also only had minor cases of digging.

 

 

 

 

The only thing they dug through this formicarium that I can remember is the tunnel that they dug through to make another corner entrance at the first picture as there was already an unintended pathway that led to the outworld.

 

I would also see them milling the seeds!

Edited by Lamarr, May 25 2015 - 2:11 AM.

[SMILEforAnts]

That does not look like the kargest size of major. I think you will get one size larger still...

 

You're right! I took a closer look into the test tube and there are two major pupae that are twice as large as the first one.

 

Great photos and fascinating journal, SMILEforAnts!

 

I had raised a colony of Solenopsis invicta from about 20 workers to 300~600 workers for about a year and a half back in 2009. That is until they died out due to my neglect, and the remaining colony was released. As for them digging through the plaster formicarium I've only had minor cases of the problem. But this might be due to the way the formicarium was set up, but some other plaster formicarium I've made for the same species also only had minor cases of digging.

 

The only thing they dug through this formicarium that I can remember is the tunnel that they dug through to make another corner entrance at the first picture as there was already an unintended pathway that led to the outworld.

 

I would also see them milling the seeds

 

Thanks bro! That's good to know, I appreciate the insight!

 

I give them chia seeds, and just today I saw the largest major so far help out in processing the seed. Pretty cool to watch!

 

Btw those are some nice nests you made there!

 

 

Not much of an update for this colony, other than they are doing great. Sorry no pictures, I don't have my camera, and it's hard to take decent pictures with my phone. So next update hopefully I'll have some to share!

[T.C.]

what's the chance this guy is gonna come back on and give an update after 2 years of disappearance?

[Skwiggledork]

I'm going to say zero chance. He was last active here in 2015 and the youtube channel hasn't seen an update in 11 months.

[sgheaton]

Hence me trying to recreate

[Connectimyrmex]

If only he was active when I lived in Hawaii. In my two years of antkeeping, I successfully founded the two most difficult-to-keep semi-claustral species (with only one queen each) yet failed with twenty-something Solenopsis geminata queens.