21 replies to this topic

[drtrmiller]

Lasius neoniger, a nearly identical nearctic relative of the European Black Garden Ant, Lasius niger, is one of the most popular beginner ants in antkeeping due to its relatively calm demeanor and excellent adaptation to the stresses of captivity.

 

In this journal, I'll be tracking the progress of four Lasius neoniger colonies that are being used as guinea pigs for various byFormica products.

 

All colonies were founded in test tubes about two months ago.  While byFormica products have their benefits, test tube founding is still the recommended method.  Shortly after the first nanitics eclosed, the ants were transferred from the test tubes to the formicariums.

 

 

 

 

In this video, three colonies of Lasius neoniger have been moved into byFormica micro-formicariums for testing.

 

The colonies, even though founded at the same time, have experienced differences in environment and care that have resulted in different stages of brood development.  

 

Colony 1 has a ton of eggs, but only a few larvae and pupae.  They have been living in a byFormica Found Formicarium, which can be purchased at http://www.byformica.com.

 

Colony 2 has a number of eggs and larvae of all stages, along with a few pupae.  They are living in a slightly darker colored "Found," which is only available as a special-ordered item.  The grey, speckled color contrasts nicely with the color of the larvae and ants, looking especially nice on camera.

 

Colony 3 is in a "Foundry" Micro-Formicarium, available on www.amazon.com.  Under-lighting the formicarium yielded the best results on camera for this setup.  This colony has been through a lot, losing a number of workers after the first nanitics eclosed (escapes and unexplained deaths).  The colony has since rebounded, and even though they only have a handful of workers, the brood pile continues to grow with eggs, larvae, and pupae of all developmental stages.

 

All of the colonies have been fed a diet consisting of 98% Formula Ant Diet products, available for sale on http://www.byformica...rmula-on-amazon.  Today was the first day they received something other than Formula—a single frozen fruit fly to each colony.  All the colonies accepted the offered fly.

 

More updates to come!  Expect wider camera shots as the colony grows in size.

Edited by drtrmiller, May 14 2016 - 9:52 AM.

[drtrmiller]

Reserved

[dermy]

Looking good, can't wait to see how these colonies get on in the long run!

[drtrmiller]

 

byFormica's Lasius neoniger colony #2, a close relative to the European Black Garden Ant, Lasius niger, was captured on film with several workers eclosing from pupae whose cocoons had been slightly dampened by the moist environment created by the ants having put coconut fiber media onto the air/water ducts, drawing moisture into the formicarium.  I wasn't sure if the pupae would be affected by the excess moisture, and it seems like the answer is "no."

 

They have customized their home to form a great chamber environment, similar to what they would find in nature, but infinitely more viewable by us humans, given the crystal clear acrylic lid.

 

The "Found" formicarium can be purchased on Amazon.com at http://www.byformica.com/found

 

Also try our Award-Winning Ant Diets and Supplements, also found on Amazon at http://www.byformica...rmula-on-amazon

[Gregory2455]

Hmm... Maybe I should surprise my struggling Tetramorium colony with a Found formicarium.

[drtrmiller]

Hmm... Maybe I should surprise my struggling Tetramorium colony with a Found formicarium.

 

That would be awesome. I'd really appreciate your support and feedback so that I can develop even better products.  It takes a village.

[AntsAreUs]

That would be awesome. I'd really appreciate your support and feedback so that I can develop even better products.  It takes a village.

How much do you need and what are you planning so far?

[Gregory2455]

I think I will get one, but does it come with that out world, or no? Also! Do you not think that the Tetramorium are small enough to squeeze into the water chamber of the Found?

[drtrmiller]

I think I will get one, but does it come with that out world, or no? Also! Do you not think that the Tetramorium are small enough to squeeze into the water chamber of the Found?

 

The bundle kit comes with a lot of different things, including the small, removable foraging area.  

 

Tetramorium should not be able to crawl into the water reservoirs as long as the lid is properly assembled and flush with the surface, which is easily accomplished by means of the four screws that come pre-assembled and tightened.

[dean_k]

I took pictures of the nest.

 

Look here http://forum.formicu...ement-for-ants/

[Gregory2455]

I took pictures of the nest.

 

Look here http://forum.formicu...ement-for-ants/

Seen it!

[drtrmiller]

Colony 3 was accidentally baked in a bathroom wherein a space heater was left on about 120 F for many hours.  They died because of this.  They were doing very well before the freak accident, however.  I would recommend the Experimental Micro Formicarium with the 4-row layout for Lasius species.

 

Colony 2 is doing the best.  This colony is featured occasionally on the byFormica Live Ant Cam. They have over 20 workers now, which is a 100% increase from November.  They have a few larvae and pupae, and a decent egg clutch.

 

Colony 1 suffered many casualties due to experimentation and carelessness. This species tends to put substrate on anything wet, and so they decided to put substrate on their food, and then when the nest was hydrated, move that food-tainted substrate inside the moist nest, causing mold. Since the GroTube nest is easy to disassemble, it was not difficult at all to rescue the ants and clean the nest, but now the population has dwindled, and it will be some time before they are back to normal levels, if they recover at all.

[drtrmiller]

 

Photograph notes:

 

The ants have moved in all the substrate and positioned it themselves.  The substrate was not added to the nest manually.

 

In the middle chamber is a cotton wick that infiltrates a bit of plaster stone.  The ants have placed additional substrate on this.

 

In the right-most chamber is a cotton wick leading up to the air ducts.  When water is injected into this reservoir, it soaks through the cotton and causes the ants to place substrate on it to soak up the moisture, thus making the nest very humid.  

 

It is very easy to over-water this nest, the way it is customized/configured. Basically, I only put a few drops of water in every week or two, and that easily soaks into the places the ants have placed substrate.

 

Colony 2 continues to grow.  With 20 or so workers, the queen most recently laid a mass of eggs that seemed to be as big as her—there must have been over 150 or so, and 10-20 have currently hatched into first instar larvae.

 

Colony 2 is in the same GroTube V1 they've been housed in for months, which is attached to a foraging area with a plaster bottom and substrate, on which springtails seem to thrive.  Open-top test tubes inserted into the plaster provide the means to reserve water to keep the plaster and substrate moist.  The setup requires refilling every 3-5 days.  I can post pictures if there is interest.

 

Colony 1 is down to just a lone queen, with little expectation for recovery.

Edited by drtrmiller, February 16 2015 - 10:13 PM.

[drtrmiller]

 

 

I'm now down to one colony.  As described in this journal, three other colonies were lost due to user error (test tube drowning, overheating, avoidable mold).

 

Slow, but steady growth:

 

 

The one colony I do have remaining is doing very well.  Unlike the Lasius found in the more northern latitudes, ones found in the south have a mild winter, and differ from northern populations in terms of the length and effects of diapause.  Consequently, I've observed a more slow, but consistent output of eggs, as opposed to the accelerated seasonal growth spurts found in northern ants.  

The remaining queen, interestingly, outputs a huge mass of eggs only after most larvae have pupated.  I'm uncertain if this is related to a food or other resource restriction, or if the cycle is related to the differences between northern and southern populations.

 

About Mites:

 

Another interesting note: two weeks ago, I moved the ants from an original GroTube, to the new GroTube XL.  I captured video footage of the move, but decided not to edit it because I discovered the ants were riddled with dozens of small mites.  I was confident at the time that the mites were not harming the ants, because the ants had only grown in number since September, albeit somewhat slowly.  My confidence appears to not have been misplaced, as the most recent video captured, about two weeks later, shows an over 90% reduction in mites.  There are still one or two, but many workers do not even have mites at all.  From my brief reading of "Mites: Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour," I know that mites are endemic to many ant populations, and that a "well-adapted parasite does not kill its host."  I would say that when ants kept in captivity die, and mites are found, it is likely other factors such as malnutrition, dehydration, environmental, etc. that contribute to the colony death, rather than solely mites.

 

In any case, here is the video of the ants in the new GroTube XL, shipping now from byFormica.com!

 

 

Some things you'll notice in the video:

• These, and other small ants, will place substrate along any small gaps, such as where the lid meets the top surface, or even along the integrated hidden vents.
• These ants have blockaded the large entrance, and have chosen to nest closely to it.  Other species or even other colonies of the same species may interact with the GroTube XL in different ways.
• Some of the ants and brood are hidden under the small ledge leading to the foraging area.

Edited by drtrmiller, April 28 2015 - 7:03 AM.

[drtrmiller]

May 21, 2015 Update:

 

The colony in the byFormica GroTube XL is doing extremely well.

 

 

I count 35 pupae, and over 50 late instar larvae, with many more eggs and smaller larvae.  

 

There should be a substantial population boost soon.  

 

I feed them a specially prepared carbohydrate mix that is colored green, which explains why all the larvae are green.  They also eat pieces of roach, smaller ants, they recycle their own dead workers, and they feasted on a Solenopsis invicta queen, whose carcass is still in the nest.  

 

A suitable complete synthetic diet for these ants is in development.

Edited by drtrmiller, May 20 2015 - 10:49 PM.

[Lamarr]

Very healthy looking colony! I also like how they seem to place the cocoons separately out of the middle chamber.

[drtrmiller]

Almost all ants place pupae in drier sections of the nest, since the cocoon is paper-like, and excessive moisture could hinder development or harm the ant.  

 

This photo in the above post exemplifies a unique benefit of the byFormica GroTube XL, in that it, like a subterranean environment, contains both wet and dry areas, allowing the ants to choose the best location to speed up brood development.

Edited by drtrmiller, May 22 2015 - 5:40 PM.

[drtrmiller]

No picture this time, but I counted 35 workers and 75 pupae today, with still a few more larvae on the way, and plenty of eggs.

 

I'll have a 100-strong colony in about two weeks.

[drtrmiller]

I've been very cautious to feed this colony, because they grow so quickly.  I attached their nest to a foraging area that had a small amount of soil in it, and they brought it into their nest.

 

I may move them to a higher contrast nest soon.

 

 

Not all workers are pictured—some are in the foraging area.

Edited by drtrmiller, July 11 2015 - 7:18 AM.

[drtrmiller]

I managed to kill off about 80% of this colony in two weeks by attaching them to another GroTube that still had hostile ants in it and thinking the Lasius would take them out and move in—they didn't.  Then, I let them starve and dehydrate.

 

They'll probably make a comeback, but it will take some time.