172 replies to this topic

[drtrmiller]

I highly recommend you do what I've been doing and freeze your Blue 100 so it does not go bad.  I've written instructions for how I go about this on page 3 of the new instructions: http://www.byformica...ormula-help.pdf, subheading "Storage."

 

You mentioned throwing the other out, which was probably unnecessary unless it smelled off.

 

Smaller colonies will be less consistent in their behavior, overall. If this was my colony, I would offer them distilled water ad libitum, and 1 cube Blue 100 every two days, with no other foods offered, until they exhibited the behavior I was expecting.

[dean_k]

Their behaviors have changed fairly dramatically ever since I got them, yes. But, you know, if they remain consistent, it won't be entertaining. Might as well get a dog or a cat for that.

 

One thing hasn't changed though. It's that they always take out waste to outworld.

 

I freeze Blue 100s already and have been doing that ever since I realized the lone colony would never be able to consume the entire batch in 2 months. Throwing the last batch was probably a waste but hell I have 4 more bags. I might not be able to use them before 2016. I don't think the Lasius colony is going to grow big enough to consume blue 100 any time soon also.

 

By the by, what's this Blue 155?

[drtrmiller]

155 has a slightly different mix of protein (more milk proteins, less egg), and also does not set into a gel.  It's very comparable to the old "Complete Ant Juice" THA used to sell before they pulled it, but it still has all the stuff in Blue 100, and maintains a 1:2 P:C ratio.

 

At present, 155 is intended to be used in liquid feeders for very large colonies, as it does not stay viable long enough for use with smaller colonies that only take a sip at a time.

 

When your Myrmica colony gets big enough, I would actually recommend you take a look at SuperBoost "Liquid Bugs," which you can add to your Blue 100 gel formulations to give them the nutrition of live insects, with none of the hassle.

 

Btw, do you have a population count on this colony?

[dean_k]

2 queens, 15 workers, 3 pupae, 20ish larvae, 10ish eggs.

 

According to Crystals, this was a 2 year colony when I received it from her.

 

A long [censored] way to go.

 

While the superboost sounds nice and convenient, a part of fun in anting is watching how ants behave when given insects. I certainly enjoyed how the colony chewed down on the fly and cooked mealworms as well as how they handle the wastes.

[drtrmiller]

Wow.  I had no idea those ants were such slow-growing!

 

I understand the way you feel about feeding live insects.  

 

However, my issue with insects in general is that they can cause problems with larger colonies when you're having to feed a few insects every day.  The ants produce more white, opaque poop, similar to bird poop, and this ends up on the floors and walls of your formicarium, which impairs visibility.  Also, I had a garbage pile that reached the sky, filled with cricket legs and other insect carcases.

 

Obviously, SuperBoost is intended to solve a very specific problem ;~)

[dean_k]

According to Crystals, there are ant species that are absolutely filthy when it comes to handling wastes.

 

I don't feel Myrmica is one. They take out wastes daily.

 

But when I receive or obtain more species that happen to be filthy, then I might run into the issue you are describing.

 

Meanwhile, I will turn 40 by time this colony reaches few hundreds.... probably. I lost 5 workers due to tap water. If it wasn't for that, the count would have been higher.

Edited by dean_k, December 17 2014 - 8:13 PM.

[Crystals]

Don't worry too much about getting old. 

I have found the first year with Myrmica to be one of the worst, unless you boost with some pupae.  They often go 5-9 months before they get their first worker.  I did it the hard way 5 times, now I boost from one of my captive colonies. 

 

Now that they have over 10 workers, they will grow much quicker.  Once they top 50-80, they will pick up pace again.  Most of the colonies I see in the wild rarely top 200 workers, but the locations I find them in are such that I am surprised that they are alive at all (often pure sand, hot and dry). 

In better settings (more moisture and food, fewer extremes) I find much larger colonies.  The largest I found had at least 5000 workers - and that was just foraging workers, I never did manage to find the nest so I have no idea how many queens were in it.

 

Fruit flies are pretty easy, even if you just keep 2-3 cultures going at various stages you will have plenty.  You will be amazed how many flies those Myrmica can eat when they put their minds to it.

As for mealworms, you can put a few in the fridge for constant feedings, but I would stick about 3/4 of them into a plastic shoebox with 4" of bran.  You will have your own mealworm factory.    And then you will be able to feed various sizes (and pupae, which they love).  I think mealworms are one of the easiest feeders out there to raise.  I often ignore mine for a month at a time.

[Gregory2455]

Don't worry too much about getting old.
I have found the first year with Myrmica to be one of the worst, unless you boost with some pupae. They often go 5-9 months before they get their first worker. I did it the hard way 5 times, now I boost from one of my captive colonies.

Now that they have over 10 workers, they will grow much quicker. Once they top 50-80, they will pick up pace again. Most of the colonies I see in the wild rarely top 200 workers, but the locations I find them in are such that I am surprised that they are alive at all (often pure sand, hot and dry).
In better settings (more moisture and food, fewer extremes) I find much larger colonies. The largest I found had at least 5000 workers - and that was just foraging workers, I never did manage to find the nest so I have no idea how many queens were in it.

Fruit flies are pretty easy, even if you just keep 2-3 cultures going at various stages you will have plenty. You will be amazed how many flies those Myrmica can eat when they put their minds to it.
As for mealworms, you can put a few in the fridge for constant feedings, but I would stick about 3/4 of them into a plastic shoebox with 4" of bran. You will have your own mealworm factory. And then you will be able to feed various sizes (and pupae, which they love). I think mealworms are one of the easiest feeders out there to raise. I often ignore mine for a month at a time.

You have large colonies of Myrmica? Share them! I want to see how you are keeping them.

[DesertAntz]

Are you guys speaking of Myrmica rubra? I want to see those as well. The colony that Antscanada had on his channel were amazing. 

[dermy]

He also captured it as a Mature colony, so it was already large when he got them. It'd be nice to see a colony of Myrmica that went from a few ants to a large Mature Colony.

[Trailandstreet]

I got a Myrmica this September and she founded Till November. Now there are Four workers and a few larvae.
Well I have four colonies of Myrmica rubra. They are simple to find here in Austria.

[Gregory2455]

Austria! Haha, I go to Hungary every second summer or so.

[Crystals]

Are you guys speaking of Myrmica rubra? I want to see those as well. The colony that Antscanada had on his channel were amazing. 

Myrmica rubra are not found in Canada, I am not even sure if they are anywhere in North America.

This is a list of Myrmica species in Alberta: http://www.antweb.or...ect=albertaants

I haven't put a worker under the microscope to ID them 100%.  I think most of the ones I have are Myrmica latifrons. I haven't post pictures because most of them are either for sale, or already sold and just waiting better weather for shipping.  I keep them in the test tubes as long as I can, as it is easy to move them, and they do very well in test tubes with an attached outworld.

[dean_k]

The ants are having fun tonight...

 

I placed a live worm into the outworld. In a minute or so, an ant came in a contact with the worm and the wrestling began ...

 

 

 

They were rolling around until I got tired of watching and relocated the worm right in front of the nest entrance. The worm actually crawled into the nest and all hell broke loose

 

 

Edited by dean_k, December 18 2014 - 4:44 PM.

[dean_k]

These worms may not be best for ants. Not because it's harmful but because they don't seem to have much guts.

 

The colony has already went through 3 of them. Within an hour, they had already taken out carcass to their usual garbage spot (Furthest corner) in outworld. At first, I thought they rejected it only to find out that it was really a carcass.

 

 

 

Either that, they've been really protein hungry.

Edited by dean_k, December 18 2014 - 6:36 PM.

[dean_k]

Crazy, they just completed sucking out their 4th worm just now.

 

Edit: It looks they've taken in some Blue 100. I guess the old batch may have gone bad. I also see some tiny bits of fresh blue 100 particles in queen's chamber.

 

 

Although they are now diehard on the worms.

 

Edited by dean_k, December 18 2014 - 8:14 PM.

[dean_k]

I am inclined to believe that they have been lacking severely in protein.

 

1. In a video below, a worker was eating a (probably dead) larva. ( You can see a worker in background eating it and also at 0:58 )

2. They've eaten 4 maggots on spot in 4 hours instead of taking it into the nest.

3. Finally, they've taken 5th maggot into the nest next to the queen's chamber. I assume this means their hunger for protein has been satisfied somewhat.

 

I am assuming today was the tipping point for them. Obviously, boiled egg pieces weren't enough because it became too dry before they could consume enough.

 

Edited by dean_k, December 18 2014 - 9:31 PM.

[drtrmiller]

It is long established that the novelty of the food can play a role in acceptance by ants.  

 

Even so, Rhytidoponera metallica, an avid insectivore and granivore in Australia, successfully fed exclusively from what is now Blue 100 for months, producing even more brood and having fewer worker deaths than another colony that was fed a diet of insects and sugar water.  

 

I can't see any reason why Myrmica would respond differently, except for the fact that they were offered ad libitum access to Green 600, which is a very potent sweet liquid.

 

It must be fun watching them wrestle with the worms, though.  Maybe I'll find a way to make the blue wiggle.

Edited by drtrmiller, December 18 2014 - 9:41 PM.

[dean_k]

I don't see anything wrong with Blue 100. They did accept it for months, but at a certain point, they chose to reject it. I don't know why. I don't think you'd know why also.  Green 600 was deployed only yesterday for the first time. Before that, they've always had access to sugar water in addition to Blue 100. You can even see a liquid feeder in one of my videos where they were mining Blue 100.

 

Over a week, they refused Blue 100. They did show some interest on the new batch I cook yesterday but then I got the worms today, so there was no point in keep fasting them with Blue 100.

[drtrmiller]

You're right I don't have all the answers. That's why journals like this are so fascinating :~)

If I had more colonies, I could perform my own studies with control groups and isolated variables. Maybe next year.