14 replies to this topic

[ultraex2]

These queens were caught on 5/13/17 on a warm day a couple days after it had rained.  Most were pulled from a pool but 2 were caught in the woods.  I decided to hold off on making this journal until I at least had eggs since I had no idea how to get them started.  I will make sure to update this whenever anything significant happens.
 
I have been feeding them fruit flies and just gave them cricket legs/heads.  It seems like all the ones that have eggs/larvae have eaten the fruit flies while the ones that didn't have not yet.
 
 


They seem to be semi-claustral so I created some setups where they could forage for food out of small containers from the dollar store.
 
It looks like the setups are working - at least 2 of them have eggs/larvae!  Here is a picture of one of them which also decided to make a claustral chamber in the cotton holding the water:


It seems like no one has really ever tried keeping them so hopefully I can get a colony started.

Edited by ultraex2, June 1 2018 - 10:35 PM.

[Martialis]

I just found a really small colony of these with two queens. Good luck with yours!

[ultraex2]

Update 6/13/17:
 
Good and bad news:
 
The good news is, the first larvae!

The bad news, unfortunately, is that it looks like the only queen with larvae is the only fertile one.  The rest haven't laid eggs (6) and the other one that has laid eggs still only has eggs as far as I can tell, although it looks like there is a lot more.  The one with just eggs also has a couple mites walking around the test tube as well as another one, so I put them in a bin and put diatamaceous earth in it so they won't get out and infest the other eclosures.
 
My next update will (hopefully) be when the larvae pupate or eclose - I have no idea how long it takes but it seems like it took about 2-3 weeks for fairly large larvae, so hopefully they'll pupate soon and I'll have nanitics within the next few weeks.

Edited by ultraex2, July 18 2017 - 10:09 AM.

[ultraex2]

6/19/2017:
 
Another small update.  I fed them on Saturday 6/17/17 with small pieces of mealworm.  It looked like 2 had eggs and the one with the first larvae now has about 6 larvae!  They are starting to darken so I'm hoping they will pupate soon.

Edited by ultraex2, July 18 2017 - 10:07 AM.

[ultraex2]

6/25/17:
 
I checked on them and gave them fruit flies yesterday on 6/25.  It looks like one of the other queens now has small larvae.  The queen doing the best now has pupae!  Hopefully they should eclose soon.  These ants do not form cocoons when they pupate.
 
[This image was lost when Photobucket stopped hosting]

Edited by ultraex2, July 18 2017 - 10:10 AM.

[ultraex2]

Update 7/5/17:
 
Nanitics!
 
The first pupae has been darkening more and more the past few days so I've been holding off until it hatched.  It looks like another one will eclose in the next 5 days and there are several more pupae on their way.  Hopefully 1 or 2 will keep eclosing every week and this colony will grow well.  They seem to love fruit flies so I will probably give them some this Wednesday.
 
http://imgur.com/kQfP0q1

Edited by ultraex2, July 18 2017 - 10:02 AM.

[Martialis]

Congrats! Looks like you're the only one of us left with Stennama now.. mine died.

[ultraex2]

Thanks!

 

Darn, that stinks... do you know what may have caused them to die off?  

[ultraex2]

7/18/2017:
 
I have been mainly feeding them fruit flies and honey with the occasional cricket - there are now 4 workers + the queen. The colony seems to be steadily growing with 1-3 workers eclosing every week. They seem pretty laid back and seem to be more active at night.
 

Edited by ultraex2, July 18 2017 - 10:11 AM.

[ultraex2]

8/15/2017:

 

Been about a month since my last update!  The colony is doing well and a second queen just had workers eclose(yay).  The main colony is at 8 workers with several pupae, and I think a 3rd queen is going to have nanitics eclose sometime this week as well.

 

 

New colony:

There are 2 workers and a couple larvae.  

 

 

The main colony is doing really well - they are steadily growing and have 8 workers, with 3 more to eclose soon.  There is almost always a few eggs, larvae, and pupae - steady but consistent.

 

 

 

 

I'm hoping to get them moved into a Formicarium before long - although they're doing well in the test tube, so I don't want to force them to move.

Edited by ultraex2, August 15 2017 - 1:16 PM.

[ultraex2]

Update 9/12/17:

 

This colony is still doing well!  1 worker died a couple weeks ago, but they're up to 12 workers with about 1 pupae and 5 larvae on the way.

 

 

[ultraex2]

Update 10/7/2017:

 

Just fed them and the colony is still doing really well so far.  They are steadily growing and have a good-sized pile of brood with new workers eclosing every week and have about 12 workers + the queen.  I also gave them an outworld to forage in, giving them a bit more space in their test tube.  I don't think they're big enough for a formicarium yet - probably next year.

 

Setup:

 

 

 

Here are some more close-up pictures of the colony:

 

 

 

Edited by ultraex2, October 7 2017 - 1:47 PM.

[ultraex2]

Update 5/14/2018:

 

Took this colony out of hibernation about 1.5 months ago and they are doing great.  Massive brood piles and this colony is probably looking to double over the next couple weeks.  I think after this next round of brood hatches I will need to move them into a standard formicarium setup.

 

 

 

 

(you can see the queen in this picture)

Edited by ultraex2, May 14 2018 - 9:13 AM.

[ultraex2]

Update 6/2/2018:

 

This colony is doing great and has tons of brood, the first alates have appeared as well!  They are still in a test tube, thinking about moving them into a Formicarium soon though.

 

 

 

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Are they still alive? I found one of these queens once, but I let her go. Now I kinda regret that.