13 replies to this topic

[VoidElecent]

1. Location of collection: Horsham, PA. Suburb of Philadelphia.
2. Date of collection: June 8th, 2017.
3. Habitat of collection: Wooded Field/Grass
4. Length (from head to gaster): ~5 mm.
5. Color, hue, pattern and texture: Dark brown/black with silver hairs on gaster.
6. Distinguishing characteristics: Distinct Ponerine morphology.
7. Distinguishing behavior: Can't seem to get a grip! Literally! The ants have trouble getting traction on the glass.
8. Nest description: Soft soil/very rotten wood, less than 2 cm under grass, base of dead Fraxinus americana.

 

Note: These are presumable Ponera pennsylvanica, however they would theoretically have had laid eggs since last Fall when they presumably flew but not a single article of brood was found. 

 

Questions:

- These are semi-claustral, how often should we feed them & is there anything I should know about in particular?

- We found them in the same chamber, and I'm fairly sure they're known to be polygynous. Is this true, do they need any special care?

- Is it normal that we didn't find any eggs or workers with the queens?

 

[FeedTheAnts]

It looks like Ponera.

[Ants4fun]

1. Every 3-5 days should be sufficient for feeding. They love live fruit flies and will hunt them down. They will most likely not thrive in a test tube. They can't walk on glass well. I would keep them in a Petri dish with soil and have a piece of glass for them to nest under. I used the glass from an old magnifying glass. You can see the nest ideas I used for mine in my old journal. I had a large colony and they did very well and layed many eggs.

2. Yes, they are polygynous. Besides the special care outlined above, not too much. They absolutely need dirt, though, if they are to fair well long term. They require far more protein than most ants and most of their meals should be small insects.

3. It depends a lot. Sometimes I find workers, sometimes I don't. I usually don't find them with them with too many eggs, I find they raise them in bunches. With a lot of protein and a nice nesting area, they should lay eggs in no time.

Edited by Ants4fun, June 8 2017 - 6:01 PM.

[Ants4fun]

Also, keep the dirt moist. And yes, that can only be Ponera pennsylvanica.

Edited by Ants4fun, June 8 2017 - 6:03 PM.

[VoidElecent]

Also, keep the dirt moist. And yes, that can only be Ponera pennsylvanica.

 

Thank you so much! Is there a chance it's Hypoponera?

 

My brother and I are currently designing what we think would be ideal claustral chambers for them. Would a normal test tube set up with extra dirt and access to an outworld work?

Edited by VoidElecent, June 8 2017 - 7:03 PM.

[Ants4fun]

You can make sure it is Ponera by checking the bottom of the petiole. If it has spikes that are facing towards the abdomen, it is Ponera pennsylvanica. If has no spikes or angles, then it might be Hypoponera, but due to location, size, appearance, the fact that it was found near wood and moist soil and near another ants nests all suggest it is Ponera pennsylvanica.

If you choose to use a test tube with dirt, keep in mind that they might not view the test tube as a nest unless it is very small. I would not use an out world if you will keep them in a test tube. It is plenty large enough for them to build a little nest area and have a foraging area. Also, they can get lost easily in large containers.

Edited by Ants4fun, June 8 2017 - 9:23 PM.

[VoidElecent]

You can make sure it is Ponera by checking the bottom of the petiole. If it has spikes that are facing towards the abdomen, it is Ponera pennsylvanica. If has no spikes or angles, then it might be Hypoponera, but due to location, size, appearance, the fact that it was found near wood and moist soil and near another ants nests all suggest it is Ponera pennsylvanica.

If you choose to use a test tube with dirt, keep in mind that they might not view the test tube as a nest unless it is very small. I would not use an out world if you will keep them in a test tube. It is plenty large enough for them to build a little nest area and have a foraging area. Also, they can get lost easily in large containers.

 

This sounds good, I think we'll do that.

 

MrILoveTheAnts suggested pouring a very small of grout in to one side of the test tube, so it dribbled down until it reached the cotton. Then we'd wait for the grout to dry, and the ants would have a little textured floor that they could easily walk on. would you recommend this?

 

Once again, thanks for all your help.

[Ants4fun]

That would work well for a base substrate, and keeping the dirt moist, as water would soak through the grout and into the dirt. I would do that.

[VoidElecent]

I've started to prepare the tube. The queens are currently still living in the tube they were photographed in yesterday; as soon as the grout is pretty dry, I'll transfer the queens (and the dirt) to the new test tube. How does it look so far?

 

(Still Wet)

 

 

(Drying)

 

Edited by VoidElecent, June 9 2017 - 10:49 AM.

[Ants4fun]

That should be good. Add some moistened soil and it should work out great.

[VoidElecent]

That should be good. Add some moistened soil and it should work out great.

 

That's the plan.

 

Would you recommend we manually dampen the soil, or add some pretty dry soil and push it to the back so the water from the cotton moistens it? We also plan to have this function as both the nest and the outworld, as you suggested. Do you think it would be best to feed them directly in the tube (probably near the entrance)?

[Ants4fun]

Doesn't matter much. They don't freak out too much when prey items are found so you can add them however you want. They will probably drag them to the nest anyways.

[VoidElecent]

Doesn't matter much. They don't freak out too much when prey items are found so you can add them however you want. They will probably drag them to the nest anyways.

 

Sounds good!

 

We just moved them in; they headed straight for the back and nestled right into the dirt. I think they were pretty relieved, they were having lots of trouble moving around in their previous glass setup. I took a couple pictures but they were moving to quickly for me to focus on them, I'll take some more once they've settled down a bit. The only downside to this setup will be our lack of ability to check up on their brood, it's unlikely we'll be able to see it through all the dirt.

 

Thanks Ants4fun for the help, I think it will work out.

 

Don't try to look for ants in the first three pictures, we hadn't moved them in yet when I took those.

 

[Ants4fun]

No problem! These ants are suprisingly not too sensitive to light, so once you build a larger setup, you can have them nest under a piece of glass for increased visibility. They will think it's a rock and make tunnels right underneath it.