105 replies to this topic

[T.C.]

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?

I personally would have already done that if they were mine. However, once their settled in I'm not sure how well it would work putting them together.

[Nathant2131]

 

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?

I personally would have already done that if they were mine. However, once their settled in I'm not sure how well it would work putting them together.

 

I don't plan on it. This was one of my most wanted species this year, and I didn't want to start going overboard. Besides, I haven't even been keeping ants long enough to see a pupa; I need to get some experience with the usual monogynous single-queen colonies, which is what 90% of the ants I catch here are. 

[Nathant2131]

Just a review on how quick each of my queens layed eggs, and how old the oldest brood are as of 5/8/17

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I caught my queens on April 11. The time when I checked on April 4/17, (the last time I checked before there were eggs)  there were no eggs. When I checked on 4/22, queen 2, 3, 5, and 7 had brood present. This means it took somewhere in between 4/17 and 4/22 for them to start laying, so that means 6-11 days. When I checked on 4/26, queen 1 and 8 finally had brood present. The last time I checked before that was 4/22, in which queen 1 and 8 had no eggs. This means it took in between 4/22 and 4/26, therefore it took 11-15 days for them.

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Now for how old the first eggs are right now, as of 5/8/17. For the queens who first got their eggs (queens 2,3,5 and 7) the first eggs I saw from them are 16-21 days old. For the two queens (queen 1 and 8) that got their eggs later, the first eggs I saw are now 12-16 days old. There might larvae when I check on them at a minimum of tomorrow (5/9). Who knows though, it could take an entire month for the egg to larvae time. I am now thinking there were probably no larvae last time I checked my queens (5/4).

[Nathant2131]

5/9/17

 

5/9/17 Checkup

I checked the queens on 5/9, at 9:30 AM. Nothing monoumental has happened, but it is always a good sign that they are thriving. I did not see any larvae.

Queen 1
Queen 1 had about 10-15 eggs. At one point when I was photographing her, she curled up her gaster. I thought she was laying an egg, but I couldn't see her pull out anything.







Queen 2
This queen had about 20 eggs. The eggs were placed underneath a piece of loose cotton, so it was tough to get a good shot of them. I think the queen could have burrowed into the cotton, causing that flap of cotton to protrude. Also, I saw that this queen curled her gaster up like queen 1 did, but once again I don't think anything came of it. I got a good picture of her petiole right as she began to uncurl.







Queen 3
This is one of my most productive P. imparis queen at the moment. She had 20-25 eggs. Unlike before, (In which her eggs were kind of scattered) she had her eggs in a neat ball, making it look like there was less.





Queen 4

Queen 5
This queen had about 20 eggs.



Queen 6
This queen... remains how she has been. She is determined to get through that cotton, but she hasn't made a dent in it.



Queen 7
This queen had about 20-25 eggs. This is one of my most productive queens. There are two egg piles, and only one is visible since the other is almost right below the queen.





Queen 8
This queen remains on her cotton throne, guarding her young with pride. This queen, this queen my friends is not someone you want to mess with.

I think she actually has somewhere around 30-40 eggs.







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The temperature in the room my queens are in is getting a bit higher- it is usually 68 now, sometimes 66. I am surprised there are no larvae yet; I mean, who knows, there could be some hidden under all those egg piles. I will be thinking something might be wrong if there are none by a week. I'll wait 7 days this time before checking. I expect larvae by then!

Edited by Nathant2131, June 30 2017 - 2:59 PM.

[Nathant2131]

5/19/17

 

5/16/17 Checkup

 

I checked my ants on 5/16, 6:10 PM. It seems the brood have gone on a semi-explosion of larvae! They were really hard to discern from the eggs, but they were definitely there. The count of the larvae will be really inaccurate, so I'll just do "general brood count" and say whether or not there are larvae present for each queen. The temperature remained in the high sixties while and before I checked on them.

 

Also, note tht i was more focused on getting brood shots so the images will be crappy.

 

Queen 1

Larva(e): Present

Brood: ~25

 

 

 

 

Queen 2

Larvae: Present

Brood: ~35-40

 

 

 

 

Queen 3

Larvae: Present

Brood: ~25

 

 

Queen 4

 

Queen 5

Larvae: Present

Brood: ~20

 

 

Queen 6

Nothing has changed with her, except for the fact that she looks starved. Her gaster... is quite skinny.

 

Queen 7

Larvae: Present

Brood: ~35-40

 

 

 

Queen 8

Larvae: Present

Brood: ~30-35

 

I noticed that this queen's tube hs a crack in it, but seemingly not causing any problems.

 

And once again with the cotton throne. Thee shalt not dareth toucheth mine own precious brood!

 

 

 

 

 

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Alright, so aftermath. After I checked on my ants, my rom got really hot becuase of the outside temps as of about 5/17, it has stayed in between 72-75 F. I think it is basement time, where it will hopefully be in the sixties. I'm going to record the temperature down there to see.

Edited by Nathant2131, June 30 2017 - 3:00 PM.

[Nathant2131]

5/22/17

 

5/21/17 Checkup

 

I checked them again on 5/21,1:24 PM. The larvae are getting bigger, and are all different sizes. One thing I notice is when I tip the tubes, the big larvae fall down, instead of sticking to the glass like the eggs. It seemed to stress the queens out a bit so I'll be more careful next time.

 

Queen 1

This queen had about 25-30 larvae/eggs.

 

 

 

Queen 2

This queen had about 35-40 brood.

 

 

 

 

Queen 3

This queen also had about 35-40 brood.

 

 

 

Queen 4

 

Queen 5

Queen 5 had about 25 brood.

 

 

 

Queen 6

.................................................................... I think we all know what the update is for this queen, so I'll just... go on.

 

Queen 7

She had about 40 brood. She has some acceptably sized larvae. I also just realized cropping the image looks nice.

 

 

 

Queen 8

Queen 8 had around 40 brood.

 

 

 

 

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The temperature in my room has stabilized today and is staying in mid-high sixties. I don't think it will last for too long though. My basement was also too cold. (high 50s F)

Edited by Nathant2131, June 30 2017 - 3:01 PM.

[VoidElecent]

Wow! It looks like your queens are doing very well; you must be taking good care of them . This thread is so organized and the photos are really clear, it's all very impressive. Good luck with these ants; keep us updated!

[Nathant2131]

Wow! It looks like your queens are doing very well; you must be taking good care of them . This thread is so organized and the photos are really clear, it's all very impressive. Good luck with these ants; keep us updated!

Thanks. I am really surprised how well they are doing too.

[Nathant2131]

5/29/17

 

Going to check on them today, but since I was gone last weekend it looked like my room got into the high seventies (ouch!). I hope that didn't do anything. There might be pupae!

 

On a high note, it was staying between 63-70 F before the weekend.

Edited by Nathant2131, May 29 2017 - 9:55 AM.

[Nathant2131]

There were no pupae, but boy are those larvae getting big. I'll post the update later today or tomorrow (or the next day  ).

[Deluga]

Can't wait to see those larvae! exciting to see when your colonies gets the first workers!  

[Nathant2131]

Can't wait to see those larvae!

Not sure if I got any good shots of the brood, unfortunately.

 

exciting to see when your colonies gets the first workers!  

I don't know that feeling yet, but I think I will very soon. 

[Deluga]

Well, I can see the eggs and larvae in the other picture, not really that clear but I can see them which is good enough for me.

 

It is always exciting and a nice feeling to see a colony get the first workers, atleast it is for me. 

[Nathant2131]

6/4/17

 

5/29/17 Checkup

 

Now for the overview of when I checked them on 5/29. The larvae are getting bigger and there are more of them, but there are no pupae yet. hen I check on them later today or tomorrow, I think there'll be pupae as larvae have been present for 26-33 days as of 6/4.

 

They were out in the open from 2:09 PM to 4:23 PM.

 

Oh, and sorry for the amount of images. there were just too many good ones! 

 

Queen 1

I couldn't possibly get a brood count for this queen, as I checked her tube to find that all of the brood were on the cotton. Peeking really hard however, there are some sizable larvae.

 

 

 

 

Queen 2

She had about 45 brood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Queen 3

25-30 brood for her!

 

 

 

Queen 4

 

Queen 5

Like queen 1, I couldn't get a brood count as her brood were against the cotton, but she is doing well from the looks of it.

 

 

 

 

Queen 6

Ditto.

 

Queen 7

She had 40-50 brood.

 

 

 

 

 

Queen 8

Queen 8 also had somewhere around 40-50 brood. She is my most succesfull queen at the moment as she has many big larvae and lots of brood overall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Temprature has been mixed. Been staying generally in sixties, however sometimes into low-mid seventies.

Edited by Nathant2131, June 30 2017 - 3:03 PM.

[Nathant2131]

6/6/17

 

6/4/17 Checkup

 

I checked on them on 6/4, 7:34 PM, and put them back at 9:17 PM. I didn't bother with brood count or pictures, but there are no pupae yet (surprisingly). The larvae are just getting huge! Nothing else has changed otherwise. Queen 6 is still kickin', albeit with a tremendously skinny gaster. I'm surprised she is still alive. (99.99% sure she is infertile)

Edited by Nathant2131, June 30 2017 - 3:03 PM.

[Aquaexploder]

6/6/17
 
I checked on them on 6/4, 7:34 PM, and put them back at 9:17 PM. I didn't bother with brood count or pictures, but there are no pupae yet (surprisingly). The larvae are just getting huge! Nothing else has changed otherwise. Queen 6 is still kickin', albeit with a tremendously skinny gaster. I'm surprised she is still alive. (99.99% sure she is infertile)

So far my 3 queens are in pretty much the same boat as your's.

[Nathant2131]

I checked on them on 6/11 and they had pupae.   Full update coming sometime soon.

[Aquaexploder]

I checked on them on 6/11 and they had pupae.   Full update coming sometime soon.

My queens still have eggs and larvae. Congrats with pupae!

[Nathant2131]

 

I checked on them on 6/11 and they had pupae.   Full update coming sometime soon.

My queens still have eggs and larvae. Congrats with pupae!

 

Thanks! It took a pretty good while for the larvae stage.

[Nathant2131]

6/17/17

 

6/11/17 Checkup

 

I checked my queens on 6/11, at about 7:10 AM. Every single queen had pupa(e) present! I couldn't notice them at first since they were so small and white; It also confused me a bit to see them all naked becuase I have never kept a species before that doesn't spin cocoons. All the pupae had different color to their eyes- some of them wwere invissible, others were a very light, hard-to-see light brown, and some were completely black. I'm guessing the darker the eyes, the older the pupae are?

 

it is tough to see the pupae, but they pretty much look like giant eggs with skinny middles.

 

Oh yeah, and I decided I was lazy so I didn't get brood count, but these queens are laying so much that it is hard to get it accurate any more. I might stop with brood count starting now, it just takes up too much effort and time.

 

Queen 1

In the picture, you can see that I pointed to one of this queens pupa so you know what they look like.

 

 

Queen 2

Many of her brood were packed into the cotton, but she does have pupae present. In the first picture (which is not very good) you can see them all in the cotton.

 

 

 

Queen 3

 

 

 

Queen 4

 

Queen 5

 

 

Queen 6

She's the same.

 

Queen 7

 

 

Queen 8

 

 

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The temperature in my room is getting out of control and in mid seventies to eighties. My basement is now a little warmer so I'll move them to there soon.

Edited by Nathant2131, June 30 2017 - 3:04 PM.