23 replies to this topic

[Evanthomas89]

Temnothorax curvispinosus 

Collected From: Lakewood, NJ

Date Collected: 7/6/2017

 

On July 6, 2017 I collected this colony in their acorn. I kept the acorn in an out world and fed them dubia nymphs and honey water. On 8/1/2017 they moved out of the acorn into a test tube set up with foil over the entrance and a hole poked into it and I finally got to see the queen and how many of these little guys can cram into one tiny acorn! Enjoy! 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Evanthomas89, September 30 2017 - 7:47 AM.

[TheAnswerIsTheLogic]

looks like you are going to have queens and drones too from that colony

[T.C.]

Did you get that colony to come out of the acorn?

[Evanthomas89]

looks like you are going to have queens and drones too from that colony

 

that's what I thought when I saw that big fat larvae! 

 

Did you get that colony to come out of the acorn?

 

yes, first i cracked it mostly open with them still secure inside up as you can see in the video and I made the entrance to the tube more appealing thanks to advice from MrILoveTheAnts and they moved in within a few days. 

[lucas3431]

Congrat's, they're so tiny, how large can a colony grow do you know?

[Evanthomas89]

Congrat's, they're so tiny, how large can a colony grow do you know?

From what I've read this seems to be about as large of a colony as they will get. I think 50-100 workers for a mature colony but somebody may know better than me.

[lucas3431]

 

Congrat's, they're so tiny, how large can a colony grow do you know?

From what I've read this seems to be about as large of a colony as they will get. I think 50-100 workers for a mature colony but somebody may know better than me.

 

Good things come in small packages and this is one of them. They seem rather tidy apart from the odd cricket leg but that's allowed. I look forward to reading more about these little guys.

[Evanthomas89]

A little update for these guys. I forgot about this journal. I feed them a roach a week along with a drop of honey water and they seem to be doing well. They don't forage often, I only really see them out in the mornings. Here's a picture of the queen and some freshly laid eggs. 

 

[StopSpazzing]

Thanks for the update! Very interesting species. Do you mind if I add your photos to antkeeping.wiki with full credits to you?

[Evanthomas89]

Thanks for the update! Very interesting species. Do you mind if I add your photos to antkeeping.wiki with full credits to you?

 

Not at all.  

[StopSpazzing]

Awesome! added: https://www.antkeepi..._curvispinosus 

[Evanthomas89]

Awesome! added: https://www.antkeepi..._curvispinosus 

 

Nice! We will have to get the rest of that information filled out soon.  I'll have to look through and see if there's anything on there I can contribute to based on my experience with them. 

[Evanthomas89]

This colony is doing great. The only challenge will be hibernation. MrILoveTheAnts pointed out to me in a recent video I shared with him that I have a worker with a gaster significantly larger than the other workers. I was able to grab a good still from the video to show you all. Any suggestions how this might have happened? I'm thinking it could possibly be a well fed worker and first generation in captivity since I collected this colony from an acorn. Is there any other explanation? 

 

[LC3]

There seems to be a few larger then average workers (counted around 3), they have noticeably larger gasters. I remember something about Temnothorax in a paper that spawned the fact or whatever that ants are mostly lazy. In the paper it was detailed that around 25% of workers didn't do anything, it was also noted that of those ants that did nothing they mostly consisted of larger workers. One hypothesis the researchers came up with are that they acted as repletes.

[Evanthomas89]

There seems to be a few larger then average workers (counted around 3), they have noticeably larger gasters. I remember something about Temnothorax in a paper that spawned the fact or whatever that ants are mostly lazy. In the paper it was detailed that around 25% of workers didn't do anything, it was also noted that of those ants that did nothing they mostly consisted of larger workers. One hypothesis the researchers came up with are that they acted as repletes.

 

I'm pretty sure I read the same thing actually. I remember thinking about how mine appeared "lazy" as well but I always just thought they were happy and calm. 

[StopSpazzing]

Do they bite/sting? Does it hurt?

[Evanthomas89]

Do they bite/sting? Does it hurt?

 

I'm not sure, I'd imagine they'd be capable of it but they are super easy going and have yet to attack me even when I cracked the acorn open. 

[WeatherAnt]

Awesome! And yeah Lakewood! I'm from Howell, but don't live there anymore. I've always tried to find a colony of these but I was never successful. Oh well! I can live vicariously by following the progress of your colony.

[MrPurpleB]

Interesting colony you have there. I just find the size adorable. Is it difficult to feed many workers in a test tube?

[Evanthomas89]

Awesome! And yeah Lakewood! I'm from Howell, but don't live there anymore. I've always tried to find a colony of these but I was never successful. Oh well! I can live vicariously by following the progress of your colony.

 

I live in Howell! haha. MILTA told me you were from my neck of the woods. 

 

Interesting colony you have there. I just find the size adorable. Is it difficult to feed many workers in a test tube?

 

They are super cute, very easy to feed, the don't get agitated much and actually seem to be pretty calm. I have the tube wrapped in foil with some feet so it doesn't roll placed in a plastic container with a baby powder barrier so I just leave the honey water drop on some foil in the outworld and a dead dubia roach nymph as well. When I pick the tube up to take pics or a video I just plug the end with a cotton ball and they don't seem to mind much at all. I probably desensitized them a bit after the trauma of cracking open their original acorn.