19 replies to this topic

[Seadogrun]

So, this has been a wild journey so far.  I knew absolutely nothing about about ant keeping 3 weeks ago.  I was traveling for work and stuck in a hotel when I stumbled onto some videos on youtube and ended up watching hours and hours of videos.  Many from AC.  I was gone for 2 weeks and returned home on 8/12.  This, my first queen, was caught on 8/13/2017.  I have posted pictures in the ID forum, but there seems to be conflicting info on what it is, but I'm sure I will figure it out soon.

 

On 8/13 I pulled this queen out of a swimming pool.

These pictures were taken one day later on 8/14.

You can see her wings that she shed in this photo and that she is 6-7mm:

8/16/17:

I was excited to see the first eggs.  I think they she must have put them on the cotton because at first I could only see one, but after a few minutes she clustered them all together on the tube:

 

I left her for a few days trying not to disturb her which is really difficult.  I checked on her today, 8/20/2017, and there are many  more eggs:

She has created two clusters one here:

 

And one on the opposite side of the tube:

I will try to update in a week or so.  Thanks for looking!

Edited by Seadogrun, September 30 2017 - 4:09 AM.

[Seadogrun]

8/26/17

 

This queen continues to lay eggs.  She still has them in two "clumps."  I'm not sure whether she tends to both piles, but I only see her on one of them.  I do not view her frequently so maybe it is just by chance that I only see her on the same pile of eggs. 

 

Here's a couple of pictures:

 

 

When do you think I'll have larvae?  

[AntsMaryland]

Probably in about a week or two weeks. When they first become larvae it's a little hard to tell. Check on her once a week. It will make the time go by a lot faster! Good luck! Have fun!

 

-AntsMaryland

[Leo]

probably pheidole

[Connectimyrmex]

Pheidole megacephala?

[Seadogrun]

Pheidole megacephala seems to be the consensus.  Are they good ants to keep here in FL? I now have several in test tube setups that were caught after that first one. 

Edited by Seadogrun, August 27 2017 - 9:55 AM.

[AntsMaryland]

The pheidole genus is a very fun genus of ant to keep. They develop majors which have big heads full of muscle. Which gives them the nickname, the "big headed ant."

[Seadogrun]

Thanks, I'll update in another week.

[AntsMaryland]

Sounds good!

[Leo]

yep its a nice sp to keep if you get more queens, put them together

[Seadogrun]

yep its a nice sp to keep if you get more queens, put them together

 

Thanks, I do have a bunch of these queens.  They were caught different days throughout the past couple of weeks.  Now they are each in their own tube.  Each have laid a bunch of eggs.  Do you think I should combine a couple now?  Tape the tubes together and add light to the queen I would like to move?  Does she need company in order to thrive or can a single queen colony work?

 

I know its a lot of questions, but thanks for any replies!

Edited by Seadogrun, August 27 2017 - 4:04 PM.

[Leo]

I suggest you keep your best queen separate just in case then tape the test tube of other queens together, a single queen colony is fine but a multiple queen colony progresses much faster.

[Seadogrun]

Thank you for the info!

[Seadogrun]

So the big storm passed(florida) and I finally checked on my ants today.  I'm a little surprised (and confused) that this ant's(and others I caught around the time) eggs don't seem to be developing.  Here she is today:

 

 I caught this queen on 8/13/17 and she almost immediately shed her wings and started laying eggs.  Yet I don't see any size difference nor larvae, etc.  And to be honest, I have 15 that all seem to be the same: shed wings, laid eggs, tending to eggs, but no noticeable development.  Hmm what do you all think?  What is the ratio of wing shedding, egg laying, egg tending ants are not fertile?

 

On a more positive note I caught some queens on 8/27/17.  They showed all the same signs as this queen, but 3 of them have hatched nanitics already, possibly workers.  I'm not sure I could tell the difference.  At any rate I think I will just shift this journal to them.  I will call them Colony Z.

 

As said before I caught this ant in my pool on 8/27/2107.  She shed her wings and began laying eggs the first day.  I checked on here a couple of times in the first week.  She seemed to progress as the other ants that I caught.  I checked on her tonight and to my surprise she has a seeming healthy colony beginning. After seeing she has this many offspring I offered them a tiny cotton ball soaked in a honey and water mixture.  They took to it right away.

 

 

 

 

Time to build a small formicarium for them.  What do you all think would be best for their first?

[Seadogrun]

Also if anyone could help.  How often should I feed these guys at this stage?

[ultraex2]

Also if anyone could help.  How often should I feed these guys at this stage?

 

I would feed them twice a week or so - they have social stomachs so it's more about getting the right amount of food and it not molding than it is about how often you feed them.  If you're not sure, just keep feeding them more and more until they stop eating - when they're full, they will stop eating and you can adjust the amount of food down.

[Seadogrun]

Thanks! Should I give them protein also?

[ultraex2]

Thanks! Should I give them protein also?

 

Yes, of course!  Assuming it's been 1 week+ since the workers have hatched, they should accept small insects or pieces of larger ones.

[Seadogrun]

Thanks, I gave them a cricket leg today.  They seemed to enjoy it.

[Seadogrun]

So I bought a Dirt Box from dspdrew.  It is a really cool house.  I love the fact that the ants get to dig in the bottom and then the "outworld" is just above, all one piece.  

 

I put this colony in the new nest.  Almost immediately the queen and workers dug a little hole, the queen went in and the workers covered her up.  I have not seen her since.  A few days pass and all I ever see is one, maybe two ants walking on the surface, but typically I don't see any movement. 

 

Two days ago, I put a small ball of cotton soaked with a honey/water mix in the nest.  A few ants came out an poked around it for a bit, but mostly it just sat there.

 

Today I began worrying about the health of the colony.  Just seeing one or two ants, I wondered if the queen and most the others died.

 

Tonight I chopped up a cricket and put a piece in the corner of the nest.  It took a while, but finally when the ants discovered it there was a small swarm of ants eating it.  I could see them eat, then retreat into a tunnel they had built I assume to feed the queen.  At one point I counted at least 14 ants out at once.  It settled the worry for me that maybe something had gone wrong.

 

Here the cool nest by dspdrew, I covered the bottom half with paper to encourage tunneling close to the glass:

 

Here are a few ants feeding:

 

And here is the little tunnel they were coming and going from:

 

I'm exited so I figured I'd share.  I do miss seeing the eggs develop, etc., but over all this setup is really neat because the ants get to do what ants normally do.