209 replies to this topic

[Dnail]

 

wow... wood nest... will they dig it?

Ya, they dig it!

just in case you meant to ask if they will dig in it, yes, one of the colonies like to stack dirt around the entrances of the nest to help with moisture and humidity. 

 

i mean the wood, so will u change it if they destroy it? or will they dig it wo destroy it?

[FeedTheAnts]

 

 

wow... wood nest... will they dig it?

Ya, they dig it!

just in case you meant to ask if they will dig in it, yes, one of the colonies like to stack dirt around the entrances of the nest to help with moisture and humidity. 

 

i mean the wood, so will u change it if they destroy it? or will they dig it wo destroy it?

 

They probably won't destroy the wood because the only reason they have to tear off pieces of it would be to shape it to there specifications. Digging it apart would not be something they would want to do because it would mess up the moisture and humidity within the nest. 

[MegaMyrmex]

Nice, and yes formica have bare cocoons. I saw many wild formica colonies, mainly pallidefulva, and literally none of the pupae were encased in cocoons.

[FeedTheAnts]

Update:

So long story short, I was hiking on a trail when I randomly flipped a rock that happened to have A Camponotus castaneus queen and 7 workers under it. Seeing as I had a test tube in my pocket(I'm always prepared) I picked them all up including the clump of eggs they had. But then I realized I couldn't keep three Carpenter Ant colonies at the same time, so I had to decide whether to keep this colony or the Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony I had also caught recently(getting rid of my Camponotus chromaiodes colony was not an option).

The choice was pretty easy since C. castaneus was my favorite species of Carpenter Ant, and a species that was on my wish list. So ya, I'm gonna release the C. pennsylvanicus colony soon.

I really don't like catching colonies and then releasing them just because I have too many colonies(too many colonies for me that is, I know there are people who think I keep a pathetically small amount of colonies). This year I'm gonna collect the species I want and just put all my time and effort into them. Honestly, I now have all the species in my area that I want except for maybe Myrmica and a few others.

One thing that is really weird about the queen is that she is rather small for her species(at least I think so), but her workers aren't. She isn't even any larger than my other Carpenter Ant queens

So far they seem to have a great appetite. When I put a large drop of sugar water in their tube then it had completely vanished without a trace in five minutes! I've also given them a cricket leg for protein of course.

 

And as an update on the C. chromaiodes colony... take a look at the pupae(upper right in the pile of brood)!

Edited by TennesseeAnts, April 3 2018 - 10:21 AM.

[TennesseeAnts]

You're lucky! All but one of my Camponotus colonies died this year! (She is a Camponotus noveaboricensis with one worker and lots of brood.)

[MegaMyrmex]

Nice! I have C. chromaiodes as well, 2 of them actually. They're really the mist common carpenter ants around here and I still really like them since the first queen ant I caught was a C. chromaiodes queen(unfortunately unfertile)

[FeedTheAnts]

Update:

The Camponotus castaneus colony has a new setup now. I figured they would probably be happy in dirt, so I took one of my containers and put a smaller containers in it and filled it with pea gravel. I then filled the rest of the space with dirt and dumped the ants in. They soon moved into the tiny hole I had poked in the dirt to aid them in building their nest... with the workers and queen barely even fitting in! I waited to see if they would, you know, dig... and they didn't until that night. Weird that they wouldn't just dig a nest sooner then that. But then again, these are nocturnal ants. I've been feeding them a steady diet of wild termites, which I usually just drop straight into their nest. The visibility is pretty good in this nest because they are right up next to the wall.

 

 

The brood in the Camponotus chromaiodes colony is developing very fast. As of today they have 13-14 larvae, 3 pupae, and around 15 eggs. 

Edited by TennesseeAnts, April 6 2018 - 3:23 PM.

[FeedTheAnts]

Update:

Here are some pics of the Valentine Soldier's and Abdo-Lemons brood piles. The Abdo-Lemons still have not had a worker eclose this year, although it looks like it might be any day now. I wonder how long it will be till they outgrow their current nest... personally I'm hoping they get near a thousand workers this year(I really have no idea how realistic this number is, just hoping). I've been feeding them a lot, so it is a full time job to gather all the insects I need for my colonies since I don't have any feeder insects. I try not to waste any random bug I see walking around my yard though.

Edited by TennesseeAnts, April 7 2018 - 3:59 PM.

[AnthonyP163]

I love this journal.

[FeedTheAnts]

I love this journal.

Wow, thanks man! Glad to see someone enjoys it, I love making it.

[YsTheAnt]

I love this journal.

Wow, thanks man! Glad to see someone enjoys it, I love making it.

Me too! I love the abdo-lemons, they have such a unique coloration, especially for formica. Keep up the great work!

[FeedTheAnts]

Update:

The Camponotus chromaiodes have 10 pupae now! Can't wait till one ecloses.

 

[FeedTheAnts]

Update:

The Valentine Soldiers are in a new tube. The old one they had been in was cheap and plastic, so it was very scratched and fogged. Now the colony looks crystal clear and so pretty. The Abdo-Lemons brood pile(s) are now huge. They have probably about 125 pupae at least. In one part of their nest they hold nearly all of their larvae completely isolated from the rest of the brood. This pile contains at least 45 larvae. I've decided to move them back into the old terrarium as soon as I can get it set up again(this time for good). I now have the ability to set the terrarium up again, so that is what I will do to house the Abdo-Lemons for the rest of their life. I plan on doing it right this time and going all out on the decorating. Especially since it will be in my living room and will (hopefully) be an actual sustaining ecosystem that will remain unchanged for as long as the Abdo-Lemons are using it. As far as plants I'm going to go with lentils. I've grown them indoors before and they sprout and grow super fast and I wouldn't have any problem just resowing the seeds in the tank every 3 months or so to keep it well planted. Another reason is because I don't want to put any plants that I would care if they died during hibernation, which is what would happen because my garage(where I hibernate my ants) has no windows, and because most actual terrarium plants would probably die in the cold. I'm going to be going to a hiking trail sometime soon to collect some pretty rocks and moss. 

 

Also worth mentioning is that the Camponotus castaneus colony has just gotten their first pupae!

 

Pic of the Crematogasters in their new tube

 

[TennesseeAnts]

My Pacific Empire (Formica pacifica) colony is huge now! They have 450+ brood and 300 workers. How old is the Abdo-Lemons' queen?

[T.C.]

Loving that Crematogaster.

[FeedTheAnts]

My Pacific Empire (Formica pacifica) colony is huge now! They have 450+ brood and 300 workers. How old is the Abdo-Lemons' queen?

I caught the Abdo-Lemons in June of 2017 when they had about twenty workers. I'd guess the queen founded the colony in the summer of 2016.

[VoidElecent]

Beautiful Crematogaster colony! One of my favorite genera.

[FeedTheAnts]

Update:

I had a chance to go to the hiking trail over the weekend and collect the supplies to the terrarium. Once the entire thing was built the Abdo-lemons moved in completely overnight. Then I added some millipedes and snails to keep the tank clean, and put some lentil seeds in the tank like I had planned. I'm hoping this tank just explodes with plant life, and there is already some Violets in it that were collected from the wild.

 

(A video showing the terrarium)

My Formica Ants New Terrarium

Edited by TennesseeAnts, April 22 2018 - 9:21 AM.

[FeedTheAnts]

Here is a video of the Abdo-Lemons just doing what they do best, digging. Their mounds are now huge and they are still digging 24 hours a day.

Formica Pallidefulva Colony Digging In their New Terrarium

[FeedTheAnts]

Update:

The Camponotus chromaiodes colony just had a worker eclose! First one of 2018.

Edit: Make that 2

Edited by TennesseeAnts, April 26 2018 - 11:41 AM.