30 replies to this topic

[AnthonyP163]

10/5/24

 

Lasius latipes

 

All has been going decently well with these ants. I was able to get a decent pupae boost for the Lasius latipes, but unfortunately, the two queen latipes groups' hosts wouldn't accept them. They let most of them die in the cocoons. I also had to separate those two queens, because they began to show aggression to one another.

 

However, I did receive 4 more queens of this species with what appear to be Lasius ponderosae hosts from UtahAnts! I chose to boost one of them more than the others, and so that queen has about 50-70 hosts currently. I am going to have to put these ants into hibernation within the next few weeks. Most have eggs, but I am not entirely sure if any will develop into larvae.

 

Lasius clavipes

 

The Lasius clavipes queen with americanus hosts has been laying a ton of eggs. I don't think they'll develop prior to hibernation. I have some other queens with less hosts. 

 

Lasius occidentalis

 

The Lasius occidentalis have been having their final generation eclose.

 

Lasius subumbratus 

 

Headed into hibernation shortly. Both queens still doing well.

 

Lasius sitiens 

 

Apparently I received Lasius sitiens this year! I thought they were Cautolasius, but then neoniger-esque workers eclosed, and the queens and workers both match sitiens. I have a few dozen queens that are just beginning to get workers. 

 

Lasius pallitarsis

 

These queens have been doing well and have now began to eclose their own workers. 

 

Lasius crypticus

 

The group with lots of queens has been getting more workers, but also had some queens get culled. I assumed this would happen. It seems to have slowed down as they get more workers and get fed more. I am unsure if they will cull all but one queen, or tolerate multiple.

[Ants_Dakota]

10/5/24

 

Lasius latipes

 

All has been going decently well with these ants. I was able to get a decent pupae boost for the Lasius latipes, but unfortunately, the two queen latipes groups' hosts wouldn't accept them. They let most of them die in the cocoons. I also had to separate those two queens, because they began to show aggression to one another.

 

However, I did receive 4 more queens of this species with what appear to be Lasius ponderosae hosts from UtahAnts! I chose to boost one of them more than the others, and so that queen has about 50-70 hosts currently. I am going to have to put these ants into hibernation within the next few weeks. Most have eggs, but I am not entirely sure if any will develop into larvae.

 

Lasius clavipes

 

The Lasius clavipes queen with americanus hosts has been laying a ton of eggs. I don't think they'll develop prior to hibernation. I have some other queens with less hosts. 

 

Lasius occidentalis

 

The Lasius occidentalis have been having their final generation eclose.

 

Lasius subumbratus 

 

Headed into hibernation shortly. Both queens still doing well.

 

Lasius sitiens 

 

Apparently I received Lasius sitiens this year! I thought they were Cautolasius, but then neoniger-esque workers eclosed, and the queens and workers both match sitiens. I have a few dozen queens that are just beginning to get workers. 

 

Lasius pallitarsis

 

These queens have been doing well and have now began to eclose their own workers. 

 

Lasius crypticus

 

The group with lots of queens has been getting more workers, but also had some queens get culled. I assumed this would happen. It seems to have slowed down as they get more workers and get fed more. I am unsure if they will cull all but one queen, or tolerate multiple.

Awesome! Will these species soon be available for purchase?

[AnthonyP163]

 

10/5/24

 

Lasius latipes

 

All has been going decently well with these ants. I was able to get a decent pupae boost for the Lasius latipes, but unfortunately, the two queen latipes groups' hosts wouldn't accept them. They let most of them die in the cocoons. I also had to separate those two queens, because they began to show aggression to one another.

 

However, I did receive 4 more queens of this species with what appear to be Lasius ponderosae hosts from UtahAnts! I chose to boost one of them more than the others, and so that queen has about 50-70 hosts currently. I am going to have to put these ants into hibernation within the next few weeks. Most have eggs, but I am not entirely sure if any will develop into larvae.

 

Lasius clavipes

 

The Lasius clavipes queen with americanus hosts has been laying a ton of eggs. I don't think they'll develop prior to hibernation. I have some other queens with less hosts. 

 

Lasius occidentalis

 

The Lasius occidentalis have been having their final generation eclose.

 

Lasius subumbratus 

 

Headed into hibernation shortly. Both queens still doing well.

 

Lasius sitiens 

 

Apparently I received Lasius sitiens this year! I thought they were Cautolasius, but then neoniger-esque workers eclosed, and the queens and workers both match sitiens. I have a few dozen queens that are just beginning to get workers. 

 

Lasius pallitarsis

 

These queens have been doing well and have now began to eclose their own workers. 

 

Lasius crypticus

 

The group with lots of queens has been getting more workers, but also had some queens get culled. I assumed this would happen. It seems to have slowed down as they get more workers and get fed more. I am unsure if they will cull all but one queen, or tolerate multiple.

Awesome! Will these species soon be available for purchase?

 

Lasius sitiens, crypticus, and pallitarsis likely will!

[AnthonyP163]

10/18/24

 

Notably, some of the Lasius latipes and Lasius clavipes have had larvae develop from their eggs. I didn't think this would happen prior to hibernation, but I'm glad it did. I know they have to hibernate soon so I'm curious how long they'll keep the brood growing and also a little bit nervous to hibernate all of the parasites. Historically, there's been some casualties each time. 

 

Recently I've introduced a lot of Lasius interjectus and one Lasius claviger to a lot of hosts. A friend in Wisconsin found a Lasius plumopilosus queen, which is very rare, but she likely isn't fertile as she's kept her wings. I introduced her to a few dozen Lasius claviger workers. It was bumpy at first, but that is the species she has done well with. To my knowledge, this is the first time they've been introduced to hosts in captivity. My end goal is, after all, to have raised a colony of every single described Lasius species in the US (and perhaps maintain them all at once?). 

 

Lasius occidentalis: All of the brood has eclosed and now being prepared for hibernation. 

 

Lasius clavipes: Lots of larvae, of varying sizes, but none large yet. 

 

Lasius subumbratus: Headed to hibernation shortly, but surprisingly, they have a few larvae. I didn't realize!

 

Lasius latipes: 4 have eggs, one has eggs and larvae. I will probably slowly put them into hibernation over the next 2 weeks. 

 

Lasius sitiens: These colonies are growing nicely, and the heated queens are showing no signs of hibernation. I hope for this to continue but I know it likely won't. 

 

Lasius pallitarsis: These queens have been laying eggs as I feed them fruit flies upon getting workers, but I'm 100% sure they'll need to hibernate soon.

 

Lasius interjectus: I got a handful of these queens a few weeks ago, and promptly introduced them to Lasius claviger workers as hosts. This seems to be the best option for fall-flying interjectus, as it matches their flight pattern. This is my hypothesis as to why they fly in the fall - they're hoping to infiltrate claviger colonies. 

 

I find they do best in group introductions. I introduced 5 queens to around 50 workers and another 5 queens to around 15 workers. I tried to introduce others but ran out of claviger temporarily and had issues with some. I have one queen with a young Lasius neoniger colony, and then just recently I saved a dying queen by introducing her to a new group of Lasius claviger. 

 

Lasius claviger: I introduced a Lasius claviger queen to a big host group (around 75-100 workers) of Lasius sensu stricto. They have around 50-75 pupae as well. I had a L. aphidicola queen with this group, but after weeks of being fed (and getting fat) she randomly died. The introduction for the claviger queen was rough so I'm hoping she can make it through the next few days.

 

Lasius speculiventris: Just when I was about to put this queen into hibernation, she lays a giant batch of eggs. Wonderful. I'll try to keep them out and see if they'll grow the larvae. 

 

 

 

I made a video compilation of all of the Lasius colonies, seen below.

 

 

[Ants_Dakota]

Recently I've introduced a lot of Lasius interjectus and one Lasius claviger to a lot of hosts. A friend in Wisconsin found a Lasius plumopilosus queen, which is very rare, but she likely isn't fertile as she's kept her wings. I introduced her to a few dozen Lasius claviger workers. It was bumpy at first, but that is the species she has done well with. To my knowledge, this is the first time they've been introduced to hosts in captivity. My end goal is, after all, to have raised a colony of every single described Lasius species in the US (and perhaps maintain them all at once?). 

I think that is really cool goal, and I look forward to following your progress.

Edited by Ants_Dakota, October 18 2024 - 6:45 PM.

[AnthonyP163]

 

Recently I've introduced a lot of Lasius interjectus and one Lasius claviger to a lot of hosts. A friend in Wisconsin found a Lasius plumopilosus queen, which is very rare, but she likely isn't fertile as she's kept her wings. I introduced her to a few dozen Lasius claviger workers. It was bumpy at first, but that is the species she has done well with. To my knowledge, this is the first time they've been introduced to hosts in captivity. My end goal is, after all, to have raised a colony of every single described Lasius species in the US (and perhaps maintain them all at once?). 

I think that is really cool goal, and I look forward to following your progress.

 

Thanks!

[ANTdrew]

I saw sooooo many L. claviger queens last weekend here in Virginia.

[Ants_Dakota]

I saw sooooo many L. claviger queens last weekend here in Virginia.

I caught and saw none  . I wish I could get some from you!

[AnthonyP163]

11/22/24

 

Tiny little update. Most of these colonies are in hibernation. The Lasius speculiventris queen won't stop laying eggs so I'm still waiting to put her into hibernation. What I believed was Lasius crypticus is actually just Lasius neoniger, but since they're from a semi-desert area in Arizona, they won't stop growing! I have one colony with around 50 workers and hundreds of brood in a nest currently. 

 

The Lasius sitiens are in a similar situation - they don't seem to want to slow down. Though I'm tempted to never hibernate these ants, I do think that I'd like to hibernate them all for a few weeks at least. I find that at least some sort of diapause will really boost their growth afterward, as it resets their cycle. I have set aside a few colonies that I'm keeping for myself. 

 

I also cheated and hibernated a large Lasius brevicornis group for about a month. I took them out ~2 weeks ago and they have a giant batch of eggs, with a total of 23 queens in the nest. I plan to have that as my largest L. brevicornis colony, which I can hopefully keep for many years to come. In my mind, there is nothing more interesting than a giant, old colony of Lasius, except a giant, old colony of Lasius that has 23 queens.

 

A giant group of L. nearcticus queens also wanted to skip hibernation so I let them. They're growing a ton of larvae and pupae currently.

 

Since Lasius interjectus tend to die in hibernation for me a lot, I took the 5 queen group out today after one month. Upon looking at them 12 hours later, they have eggs. I'm unsure if they were laid before hibernation or today.

[AnthonyP163]

1/7/2025

 

It's now January, and I'm doing some experimenting with shorter hibernations. In the past, I've had a lot of bad luck with hibernating Acanthomyops parasites. This year, I hibernated some latipes, clavipes, and interjectus for around 2 months. I took them out a short time ago.

 

Lasius interjectus: The five-queen group is now in a formicarium and is laying lots of eggs! After I took them out in November, I returned them to the fridge for another month or so. I felt that one month wasn't enough. They had around 60 days total of hibernation.

 

Lasius latipes: I took out two queens with a small amount of hosts and they haven't laid any eggs yet.

 

Lasius clavipes: I took out the main Lasius clavipes queen and her 250+ plus Lasius americanus hosts. They've finally begun growing the larvae, but around half of the workers still seem to want to hibernate. Slowly but surely, they seem to be feeding the larvae more and more fruit flies. Hoping they absolutely thrive!

 

That Lasius nearcticus group that wanted to skip hibernation got large larvae but then slowly began eating all of the brood. Therefore, I put them into hibernation in December. I had some Lasius brevicornis that hibernated for about 2 months get workers already, a 6 queen group.

 

I'm not sure if Lasius nearcticus is designed to be quite as polygynous as L. brevicornis is. In 2021, I found a giant physogastric queen, and their species seems to lay smaller eggs than brevicornis. This makes me think they tend to have colonies with one queen (or at least a lower number than brevicornis). 

 

This queen I found back in 2021 is really what I'm going for with my colonies. I want to grow them all to the point that the queens look like this:

 

 

I think it'd be even cooler if I had colonies of species that we haven't yet seen physogastric, such as Lasius claviger (to my belief?). There's pictures of a Lasius latipes queen being physogastric already, but I want one of my own anyway because that's insanely cool. 

[AnthonyP163]

Just wanted to throw some visuals in here and update slightly:

 

https://www.youtube....rts/WC9CeBXMlfs

 

 

A good chunk of colonies are still hibernating. Some pallitarsis and sitiens just never stopped growing, so I've been keeping them out and growing. I though the Lasius neoniger was going to stop growing too but then they laid a big batch of eggs - the other smaller colonies seem to want to hibernate.

 

The giant group of Lasius brevicornis was unfortunately killed because I knocked their nest onto its side, which resulted in eggs getting stuck to the lid, which resulted in mold. They all died within days. Thankfully I have plenty more brevicornis and I will not being making that mistake again this time. This group is much larger. 

 

The Lasius clavipes is the clip with the larvae eating fruit flies - that queen has begun laying eggs again and the larvae are eating more and more. Very optimistic.

Edited by AnthonyP163, January 12 2025 - 1:57 PM.