120 replies to this topic

[dspdrew]

Yes. I think I'm going to see if there's any patterns, like exactly who is eating the larvae. I've seen them eating the larvae, I just never took note as to exactly who it was. The weird thing is, this doesn't happen until the larvae is ready to pupate.

[dspdrew]

Update 4-2-2015
 
The colony is still going. Again now, they have a few pupae and one big larva. Let's hope they don't all decide to eat them again. Although, I talked to Retroman, and he says it's perfectly normal for them to eat all their brood this time of year, and that they don't start keeping them until around May.
 
All four species are still getting along great, and there haven't been any deaths.
 
I decided to move the colony into one of my small ant farm boxes like these here.
 

 
 
They hung around for a little while, and then eventually dug a nest and moved in.
 

 

 

 
 
Here's a little video I put together.
 

[Bearcoon]

You should try intoducing some Lasius Niger Larva.

[dspdrew]

Lasius niger is very far from Pogonomyrmex in similarities--not even the same subfamily. They would probably have them for dinner. I did however try giving them Veromessor pergandei pupae, but they just killed them every time.

[Bearcoon]

Well it was worth a try.

[AntsAreUs]

Hey drew, could you maybe make a tutorial on how you made those dirt boxes I would very much like to have one.

[dspdrew]

I already have a thread for them.
 
http://www.formicult...ated-3-24-2015/

[AntsAreUs]

Still doesn't really tell me how exactly you made it, I mean how did you get the container on the inside, the bigger container on the outside, maybe where I could get them, and also what if the ants make a mound too high to where they can climb out?

[dspdrew]

Sorry. Yeah, there wasn't much on there for the smaller ones, but they are actually made the same way I made the larger ones. I'll post instructions on that thread.

 

They would have to really make a big mound to be able to get out the hole in the lid. You can always scoop that dirt out. That's what I have to do with my larger ones.

[dspdrew]

Update 4-8-2015

 

Well it looks like they just ate all their pupae again.

[AntLover101]

Hopefully they stop doing that or the queen may be left with no workers once the other workers die out. Try introducing some more from a different colony.

[Pulliamj]

Your pictures are amazing! What are you using?

[dspdrew]

Thanks. It's just a little Pentax point-and-shoot.

[dspdrew]

Update 4-30-2015

 

Three of the workers have died. One of them I know for sure was one of the P. rugosus workers. Right now they have about six or so medium sized larvae, and a few smaller ones along with some eggs. We'll see if any of this brood ever makes it to an adult before being destroyed like all the others have been.

[dspdrew]

Update 6-14-2015

 

At this point the queen is down to one worker, and I'm not sure if it is one of hers, or one of the P. subnitidus workers. She had a  few pupae, but has eaten them all again and is back to a new small pile of eggs.

[dspdrew]

Update 8-2-2015
 
The original queen is all by herself now. She continues to lay eggs, but none of them ever get far before she ends up eating them.
 
On 7-18-2015 a pretty good sized storm went through the Palm Desert/Pinyon Pines area, and the next day more of these flew. Retroman was able to grab a few alates which he then captive bread at home. He gave me a few he thinks might be fertile.
 
At first I divided them up into four groups. I put three of those groups in small dirt boxes, and left the fourth in the cup they were in when I got them until I finished the large setup I was creating for them. Each group had one dealate, one alate, and a few workers, all from the same original colony. Two of these dealates I noticed had a few eggs with them.
 

 

 

 
 
Before I could finish the large setup, most of the workers, and the dealate in the cup had died. I'm not sure why, because they had everything they needed to stay alive for the time being. Once the large setup was finished, I swapped the bad "colony" out with one of the "colonies" in the small dirt boxes.
 
This large setup is actually another dirt box, but made from a 10 gallon tank.
 

 

 

 
If you want to know how I made this, I have it all posted here (https://www.formicul...ge-3#entry24464).
 
So far of the small dirt boxes, two I can see actually had chambers dug by the queens, because of the large chunks of dirt. In one of them, I can see the queen sitting in there with a small pile of eggs, so that's a good sign.
 
As for the "colony" in the 10 gallon dirt box, well, so far they haven't dug anything. They all just keep running around all over the place. It's a good thing I have the lid on it, because the alate keeps trying to fly away. This makes me think she might not be fertile. I'll give these a few days, and if they still haven't dug a nest, I think I'm going to replace them with the good colony that has eggs.

[Lamarr]

With what and how do you drill/cut holes and openings on plastic?

 

Nice huge nest.

Edited by Lamarr, August 3 2015 - 8:19 AM.

[dspdrew]

Drills and hole saws.

[dspdrew]

Update 8-5-2015

 

After running around like crazy for two and a half days, the "colony" in the 10 gallon tank finally dug two holes. Since there is about about 3/4 inch of space for them to dig, I can't see anything after the first two inches. There is not a whole lot of excavated dirt, so I don't think they have gone much further than that. I did notice workers in both holes, so I'm not sure if they dug separate nests or what. I'm also not sure which one the queens went in. I've seen a couple workers out and about, but have not seen the queens since. I guess this is a good sign.

[LC3]

Running around like crazy for two and a half a day 

Wow those ants are good at wasting time especially that ants are portrayed as being a lot more productive than humans