13 replies to this topic

[Evanthomas89]

Evan's Camponotus chromaiodes Journal

 

 

 

 

These are my first ever queens and I'm so excited but also so nervous so any and all advice is greatly appreciated! I collected them yesterday (5/29/2017) at my father's house in Spring Lake, New Jersey. They were all in the same dead stump in his yard and I found them by removing the bark. Each queen had a small brood and I did my best to collect them during the collection and also safely transfer them into the test tube set up. I lost quite a few eggs in the process and I'm sure there was a better way for me to go about it all but I used a Q-Tip to remove the eggs from the inside of the temporary test tube and put them in the test tube set up with the queen. Out of the five queens three have a brood now and the other two lost theirs either because of me or them being stressed. The three with the brood appear to be protecting them and caring for them. The hardest part so far has to be leaving them alone and trusting that they will do what they're meant to do and care for their young. I have labeled them A, B, C, D and E for now to keep track. 

 

 

 

 

Now they are all in their test tube set ups and in a small dark plastic box. I know they are fully claustral but I plan on offering them nectar in a few days when I check on them again. Ironically I ordered a Camponotus chromaiodes queen a few hours before finding these ones so I'll add her to the journal when she arrives. Again any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated.  

[Evanthomas89]

Caught two more Camponotus chromaiodes queens a few blocks away from my dad's house. One had no brood but the other had workers and eggs so I caught a few with her and some of her eggs I'll post pictures later when I figure out how to set them up. 

[Evanthomas89]

Update:

no pics unfortunately but the queen with the workers I had accidentally lost one in the transfer (fml) and then she killed the other one overnight. The "eggs" appear to be larvae but not sure if she will continue to care for them.

The solo queen that had no brood when I peeked in at her this morning had a single egg so I'm hopeful for her

[T.C.]

Them queens are beautiful! Seems odd to me it would kill it's own worker. I've heard of them doing it, but I've never had mine do it.

[Evanthomas89]

Them queens are beautiful! Seems odd to me it would kill it's own worker. I've heard of them doing it, but I've never had mine do it.

 

I may have been mistaken when collecting, she had no eggs for a while but now has eggs and I'm going to do a weekly check today and make sure I update this post afterwards. I have them all labeled "A-K" since they're all the same species and I also have index cards with their records so I remember who was collected where and keep track of growth. 

 

As of 6/21: 

 

A: 1 pupae, 3 larvae, 12 eggs

B: 14 eggs

C: 6 larvae, 6 eggs

D: 4 pupae, 5 larvae, 3 eggs

E: 13 eggs

F: 5 eggs

G: 2 larvae, 10 eggs

H: 1 larvae, 11 eggs

I: 5 larvae, 9 eggs

J: 3 larvae, 8 eggs

K: 0 eggs

[Evanthomas89]

My first nanitic is here! 

 

 

A: 4 pupae, 6 larvae, some eggs

B: 6 larvae, some eggs

C: 4 pupae, 6 larvae, some eggs

D: 1 nanitic, 6 pupae, 4 larvae, possibly some eggs mixed in the brood pile 

E: 1 pupae, 2 larvae, some eggs

F: 8 eggs 

G: 3 pupae, 2 larvae, some eggs

H: 4 pupae, 5 larvae, some eggs 

I: 2 pupae, 5 larvae, some eggs

J: 2 pupae, 3 larvae, some eggs

K: 0 eggs

[Evanthomas89]

After looking at the pictures and videos from yesterday I noticed that Queen D has not only her nanitic, pupae and larvae but also eggs! You can actually see all the stages in the previous post. 

[Evanthomas89]

Some of my Campnotus chromaiodes

 

 

Edited by Evanthomas89, June 29 2017 - 2:16 PM.

[Evanthomas89]

 

I now have 5 Camponotus chromaiodes queens with nanitics and a few more due any day now.  

Some are now for sale, NJ keepers let me know if you're interested. 

[Evanthomas89]

 

This will be queen number 9 to have workers!  

[Evanthomas89]

 

My C. chromaiodes queens are doing great and I have begun drilling and setting up small outworlds for them which I'll show you soon. 

 

You can see a short video of the nest here.

 

If anybody knows how to embed videos here please let me know

 

[Evanthomas89]

Here's a little video update: 

 

[T.C.]

Update sir?

[Martialis]

Yes. please!