105 replies to this topic

[Nathant2131]

4/11/17

 

From 3:30-6:00 PM on April 11 2017, I caught 8 queens all on the grass of my backyard (Dracut, MA) during either a modest flight, or the tail end of a larger one. All were wingless sept' for one. The majority of my queens were caught at 4 and 5, and the temperature was generally mid to high 80s F. The first queen I found had a chunk of it's gaster missing, and it appears to be dying now. 

 

After the queens being in their temporary collection test tubes outside for a couple hours, I finally created glass test tube setups for them and shook each queen into their new tubes. I noticed they can be coaxed into tubes easily, however are very grippy and good climbers. Overall, they are relatively sporatic in terms of movement.

 

Since we had the windows open on the hot day, it is still high seventies in my room as I speak, but when it cools down the general consensus will be high sixties, which appears to be what suits this species best. I have coded each Specimen:

 

Prenolepis imparis 1

Prenolepis imparis 2

Prenolepis imparis 3 

Prenolepis imparis 4 (Injured)

Prenolepis imparis 5

Prenolepis imparis 6 (Winged)

Prenolepis imparis 7

Prenolepis imparis 8

 

They are under my bed in the same plastic container my Lasius social parasites are in.

 

Now, this species has not been kept much it appears. Some say fridge them for the summer, do nothing for the summer and treat them like any commonly kept species, don't hibernate them, etc. etc. What I will be doing is keeping them at high sixties for the entire Spring-Summer-Fall Period, and hibernating them like any normal ant for hibernation. If I catch more (Which I am almost certain I will), I may do some experimenting and see who does best in certain conditions.

 

It will be very interesting how these do.

Edited by Nathant2131, August 3 2019 - 11:33 AM.

[Cindy]

I'm guessing a bird got to the partial-gaster queen. Gl! 

[Nathant2131]

I'm guessing a bird got to the partial-gaster queen. Gl! 

Thanks! I was thinking other ants too. There was a large Tetramorium colony doing some heavy foraging very near to that queen, and they have been on a mission ever since they woke up, even carrying P. imparis males back to their nests.. Maybe it escaped before being able to do more damage.

[Bracchymyrmex]

Cute.

 

 

Haha just joking, good catch. Congratulations on your first Prenolepis.

[Nathant2131]

Cute.

 

 

Haha just joking, good catch. Congratulations on your first Prenolepis.

Not sure what you meant there 

 

But thanks. 

[Cindy]

 

I'm guessing a bird got to the partial-gaster queen. Gl! 

Thanks! I was thinking other ants too. There was a large Tetramorium colony doing some heavy foraging very near to that queen, and they have been on a mission ever since they woke up, even carrying P. imparis males back to their nests.. Maybe it escaped before being able to do more damage.

 

So that's why I only saw a few male alates near my house.........

[Deluga]

Good luck!

[noebl1]

I'm looking to keep mine in my office where temps in the summer sometimes get into the mid to upper 70Fs during the day when I'm not there and AC is reduced.  I was thinking of using a closed-loop pid controller peltier water cooling block (used for computer cooling) so I can keep nest temps stably around 68F.  In the mean time I may use one of those cheap mini "fridges" (that also use peltier) for the test tubes as probably awhile before I have to deal with any in nests.  They aren't the most effective at getting stuff down to super cold temps (ie fridge temps for a cold soda), but going from 70Fs to upper 60Fs should be very attainable.

Edited by noebl1, April 12 2017 - 4:52 AM.

[Nathant2131]

I was thinking of an incubator.

 

NOTE: The topmost date on all of my update posts are simply the date that I wrote the update, and are often NOT the date where I checked on them! The second date that says "Checkup" after it is when I checked on them.

Edited by Nathant2131, July 1 2017 - 7:01 AM.

[Nathant2131]

4/13/17

 

4/13/17 Checkup

 

I checked on them very briefly a few minutes ago. queen #4 has expectedly died, and queen #6 still has her wings. Other than this, nothing appears to have eggs.

 

The temperature in my room is very fluctuant and I'm hoping to get an incubator soon, but it looked like 66 F for most of the day. No conclusions can be drawn however since it's not like I was checking it every hour.

Edited by Nathant2131, June 30 2017 - 2:52 PM.

[Nathant2131]

4/18/17

 

4/17/17 Checkup

 

on 4/17, I checked on my queens and individually gave each tube a good look. Nothing has changed, and queen 6 is still winged. All of these queens still appear very unsettled, as they run all around their tubes when I check on them. This might just be their general behaviour, but I hope they settle in soon.

 

Queen 6 appeared especially vigorous, and even looked like she was biting at the cotton bung. Perhaps this is a clue she's infertile.

 

The temperature in my room remains kind of unstable. Last night it was 72, right now it's 66. It has been staying from 63-66 today. I have never made an effort to check the room humidity since I assume test tubes setups give a humidity gradient, but it has stayed at around 43% today. I can't imagine why that would matter though.

 

I am going to give these queens until 4/24 to be checked on (or at least make the relative effort not to get too overexcited and check too early   ), to assure they feel comfy in their test tubes.  :lazy:

Edited by Nathant2131, June 30 2017 - 2:51 PM.

[noebl1]

The one I let go sounds similar to your #6.  The other ones had settled down, however she was vigorously digging thru the cotton every time I looked (she had gotten a good way thru it.) 

[VoidElecent]

4/18/17

 

on 4/17, I checked on my queens and individually gave each tube a good look. Nothing has changed, and queen 6 is still winged. All of these queens still appear very unsettled, as they run all aroud their tubes when I check on them. This might just be their general behaviour, but I hope they settle in soon.

 

Queen 6 appeared especially vigorous, and even looked like she was biting at the cotton bung. Perhaps this is a clue she's infertile.

 

The temperature in my room remains kind of unstable. Last night it was 72, right now it's 66. It has been staying from 63-66 today. I have never made an effort to check the room humidity since I assume test tubes setups give a humidity gradient, but it has stayed at around 43% today. I can't imagine why that would matter though.

 

I am going to give these queens until 4/24 to be checked on (or at least make the relative effort not to get too overexcited and check too early   ), to assure they feel comfy in their test tubes.  :lazy:

 

I think she may be infertile

[Nathant2131]

4/18/17
 
on 4/17, I checked on my queens and individually gave each tube a good look. Nothing has changed, and queen 6 is still winged. All of these queens still appear very unsettled, as they run all aroud their tubes when I check on them. This might just be their general behaviour, but I hope they settle in soon.
 
Queen 6 appeared especially vigorous, and even looked like she was biting at the cotton bung. Perhaps this is a clue she's infertile.
 
The temperature in my room remains kind of unstable. Last night it was 72, right now it's 66. It has been staying from 63-66 today. I have never made an effort to check the room humidity since I assume test tubes setups give a humidity gradient, but it has stayed at around 43% today. I can't imagine why that would matter though.
 
I am going to give these queens until 4/24 to be checked on (or at least make the relative effort not to get too overexcited and check too early   ), to assure they feel comfy in their test tubes.  :lazy:

 
I think she may be infertile

No way to know for sure.

[Nathant2131]

4/22/17

 

4/21/17 Checkup

 

I said I wasn't going to checkup on my queens until 4/24... but I believe more frequent checkups will be suitable for this mysterious species-mysterious in captivity, that is. It would be better to catch a problem and fix it before it got worse. 

 

I checked my queens on 4/21, about 5:40 PM. The difference of this checkup versus the last one was like day and night. Instead of looking spooked and unsettled, all queens besides winged queen 6 (Who even she was a little less rambunctious as her usual self) were very stable and settled, and some with eggs! These were so calm that they didn't react much to the strong light I shined on each of them to take photos.

 

 

Queen 1

Despite being settled, she had no brood.

 

 

Queen 2

This queen was very calm and had about 5 eggs.

 

 

 

Queen 3

This queen was settled nicely and had about 5 eggs. She would carry multiple eggs at a time in her mandibles, and the way the eggs stuck together made it look like she was holding a lighsaber in her mouth.    It looks like there are more than 5 eggs, looking at the pictures, but that was my estimate beforehand.

 

 

 

Queen 4 (Injured-Gaster Queen)

This was the dead queen. She was strongly molding at the gaster.

 

 

Queen 5

This queen was settled and had about 5 eggs. It is tough to see the eggs since they were all one compact ball right next to the cotton. 

 

 

Queen 6 (Alate)

This queen remained winged and without brood. She was not as jerky as before, but still relatively unstable nonetheless. I suspect she  is infertile, but there is no way to know for sure.

 

 

Queen 7

This queen was settled and had about 5 eggs. It looks like about 7 in the pictures.

 

 

Queen 8

This queen was settled, and did not appear to have any brood.

 

 

All pictures taken with a Canon PowerShot SX120 IS.

-----

 

The temperature is and will remain fluctuant, but as of the last few days it is staying at 61-66 F, mostly 63 F. That might seem a little cool, but it appears to be working so far. I just hope they can deal with a big heat wave in the room.  The room humidity is staying from 40-50 %.

 

Side note: I will most likely not be catching any more P. imparis queens as it appears they have stopped flying this year and (maybe?) started estivation in Massachusetts. If this journal is still active at the time, you bet I will catch more next year. The queens are just beautiful, and just wait for the worker's coloration alone, not to mention the "repletes".

Edited by Nathant2131, June 30 2017 - 2:50 PM.

[Myrmidon]

So awesome!!! I love the pictures. I hope mine comes out as nice!

 

Your queens are producing pretty similar to mine, except I found out that I also have one injured one (who is making the most eggs, it seems). Also, I check up on mine at least once a day and it seems to not startle them too much so I would think you'll be okay looking at them a bit more!

 

I like that most of us in MA are starting a P. imparis club at the moment!

[Nathant2131]

So awesome!!! I love the pictures. I hope mine comes out as nice!
 
Your queens are producing pretty similar to mine, except I found out that I also have one injured one (who is making the most eggs, it seems). Also, I check up on mine at least once a day and it seems to not startle them too much so I would think you'll be okay looking at them a bit more!
 
I like that most of us in MA are starting a P. imparis club at the moment!

Soon enough, it is going to migrate to Camponotus club.

[Nathant2131]

5/4/17

4/26/17 Checkup

 

I checked on my ants on 4/26. They continue to do well. All queens except winged queen 6 has brood present now. I am a little iffy on calling these "eggs" now. It will be a little tough to differentiate them from small larvae, so keep in mind the phrase "could be larvae" whenever I say "eggs".

This checkup was very reassuring, as every queen I found eggless (besides wingless queen 6) on the last checkup now had eggs present! They also were not showing any signs of infertility. The eggs were more or less in a neat pile. They were all happy mamas! They were moving and jumping around a bit more, but not in a stressful type of way if you know what I mean.

I began checking them at about 3:05 PM, and put them back at 3:53 after a long series of photos. For some reason, these pics weren't as great as the other ones. This is one thing I hate in photography; One day I will shoot some of the best pictures I've ever taken, and other days they will come out as crappy despite doing exactly what I was before.

Queen 1
This queen had about 5 eggs. This is great since she was one of the few who had no eggs last checkup.

It looks like precisely 4 eggs in the pictures, but you never know if there's some other rougue eggs off-frame.







Queen 2
Queen 2 had about 5-10 eggs. This might be more than what I saw last time.





Queen 3
This queen had a substantial amount of eggs, somewhere in between 10-20. In the pictures, it looks more like around 10, however this is what I supposedly saw with the naked eye. Who knows.





Queen 4
Since this queen has deceased, it will now be discontinued on this journal. RIP queen 4, 2017-2017. You will be miss.

Queen 5
This queen had about 5-10 eggs. I couldn't get many decent shots of her or the eggs.



Queen 6
This queen remains winged and sporatic. It also dawned on me that she had quite the skinny gaster. Don't worry though, I believe in miracles.



Queen 7
This queen had about 7-15 eggs. Couldn't snag many good photos.



Queen 8
This queen had about 5-10 eggs.



The temperature remains in the low-mid sixties, and occasionally slips into high sixties and rarely low seventies.

I also checked on my queens the very date I wrote this. That update will be for tomorrow (or the next day).

Edited by Nathant2131, June 30 2017 - 2:55 PM.

[Nathant2131]

5/5/17

This will showcase the checkup I did on 5/4. I checked them twice that day so technically it was two checkups. Prior to the first checkup, I ordered some foam acoustic panels to act as test tube holders so the tubes would not roll around, and to add additional darkness (although, it is not like it can get any darker under my bed. It would just be better if I had to move them out from under it so they are still more or less in darkness.)

5/4 Checkup #1

I checked on the queens at about 4:10 PM. I set up the foam panels for them and placed each tube in the setup. I also got the egg (brood) count. Note that the brood count on the second checkup was from counting on this checkup. The pictures came from the second, even the ones showing them in their new foam setup. I put the ants back under my bed at about 4:18 PM.

5/4 Checkup #2

To get some photos, I took my ants back out an about 7:20 PM. I am unsure when I put them back, but it was at least an hour that I had them out if I had to guess. Anyways, here is the foam panel set-up. The tubes are placed in a groove, and I cut small pieces of index cards and wrote the queen number on each groove with a pen. I then placed another foam panel on top of the tubes for darkness and extra safety.







I notice that using a light gray background is best to photograph the queens, and a very dark gray or black background for brood. Once again, keep in mind some "eggs" might be larvae. I am unsure if I am identifying each brood stage correctly.

Queen 1
Queen 1 had about 5 eggs. Zooming in on the images, it looks like the brood shown are all eggs.





Queen 2
This queen had about 10 eggs.





Queen 3
This queen had about 20 eggs! You can see the brood very well against the dark background.





Queen 4

Queen 5
This queen had about 10 eggs. Like I've said before, she really likes clumping her eggs together in a ball, right next to the cotton. They are tough to see.



Queen 6
Sigh. Mrs. (or should i say "ms.") stubborn over here continues to display infertile behaviour, all finnicking to get the heck out of this strange tube for god sakes. Her wings remain on her mesosoma. She is broodless.



Queen 7
This queen has about 15 eggs. This was king of a happy medium over the last vague brood count I had for her last time. I put a little more effort into estimating the brood count this time.





Queen 8
This queen had about 20 eggs. She enjoys sitting on this cute little cotton throne, proudly guarding her brood.





----------

I am now in the mindset that there will be larvae very soon if not already. This is exciting, as this will be the first time I get a queen to advance one of her brood's life stages. The temperatures remains what I have always explained; Low-mid sixties, occasionally slipping to high sixties and rarely over 70. I think keeping them in my room is just fine long-term (or so it seems). I am checking my Prenolepis imparis roughly every 5-7 days, so expect the next update at a minimum of 5 days.

Edited by Nathant2131, June 30 2017 - 2:58 PM.

[Klassien]

Nice journal so far! The pictures for each of the queens are great, and I like how you have the journal set up to track each individual queen. Are you planning on merging any of the queens?