18 replies to this topic

[Salmon]

My Pheidole pilifera queen that I captured on August 3rd has done well and has her first nanitic! So I think it's time to journalize them. (Note that this journal won't have the best photography for a while since the small plastic test tube they currently inhabit isn't the clearest.)

 

 

 

They appear to have a pile of at least 12 pupae. I'll feed them a piece of walnut and a dead insect soon, the queen is looking rather thin.

[Spamdy]

Following, just a question, I caught my Pheidole queen around the same time as you caught yours (a little after you caught yours) , I think she only has eggs as of know, any tips or tricks for the brood to develop?

Edited by Spamdy, September 13 2017 - 4:20 PM.

[Connectimyrmex]

Good job on the first worker! 

[Nathant2131]

Good luck!!

[Salmon]

Following, just a question, I caught my Pheidole queen around the same time as you caught yours (a little after you caught yours) , I think she only has eggs as of know, any tips or tricks for the brood to develop?

I did keep her in an enclosed porch, so she was generally exposed to higher temperatures and more natural temperature fluctuations than if I kept her in a room with air conditioning. Other than that I just disturbed her as little as possible.

[Salmon]

There's at least 8 workers now. They've devoured a dead fly and dragged a chunk of pecan to the back of their tube.

[ctantkeeper]

Mine is giving me a rather difficult time. I have her in a test tube setup which is kept in complete darkness and away from vibrations and disturbances. She ate most of her origonal batch of eggs and larvae, but has managed to make a complete recovery. She seems fairly weak though and has a diffiuclt time moving around. Should I feed her some sunburst ant nectar or would this just worsen my situation?

Edited by ctantkeeper, September 21 2017 - 4:13 AM.

[Salmon]

Mine is giving me a rather difficult time. I have her in a test tube setup which is kept in complete darkness and away from vibrations and disturbances. She ate most of her origonal batch of eggs and larvae, but has managed to make a complete recovery. She seems fairly weak though and has a diffiuclt time moving around. Should I feed her some sunburst ant nectar or would this just worsen my situation?

If she's weak food definitely isn't a bad idea. I would give her a piece of a nut or sunflower seed too since that'll last a while and has fat and protein.

[ctantkeeper]

 

Mine is giving me a rather difficult time. I have her in a test tube setup which is kept in complete darkness and away from vibrations and disturbances. She ate most of her origonal batch of eggs and larvae, but has managed to make a complete recovery. She seems fairly weak though and has a diffiuclt time moving around. Should I feed her some sunburst ant nectar or would this just worsen my situation?

If she's weak food definitely isn't a bad idea. I would give her a piece of a nut or sunflower seed too since that'll last a while and has fat and protein.

 

Thanks, I will definitely give that a try.

[Salmon]

Up to 11 or 12 workers now. I'll take pictures soon... I just hate disturbing them and don't keep the tube uncovered for more than a few seconds. I need a piece of red plastic for them.

[Evanthomas89]

Up to 11 or 12 workers now. I'll take pictures soon... I just hate disturbing them and don't keep the tube uncovered for more than a few seconds. I need a piece of red plastic for them.

 

Wow that's awesome and happened so fast! What should I be feeding my Pheidole? I have just given them a home made honey water mixture and a small dubia nymph. 

[Salmon]

 

Up to 11 or 12 workers now. I'll take pictures soon... I just hate disturbing them and don't keep the tube uncovered for more than a few seconds. I need a piece of red plastic for them.

 

Wow that's awesome and happened so fast! What should I be feeding my Pheidole? I have just given them a home made honey water mixture and a small dubia nymph. 

 

 

I'm not sure what species you have. There's both seed eating and insectivorous species in NJ.

[Evanthomas89]

 

 

Up to 11 or 12 workers now. I'll take pictures soon... I just hate disturbing them and don't keep the tube uncovered for more than a few seconds. I need a piece of red plastic for them.

 

Wow that's awesome and happened so fast! What should I be feeding my Pheidole? I have just given them a home made honey water mixture and a small dubia nymph. 

 

 

I'm not sure what species you have. There's both seed eating and insectivorous species in NJ.

 

 

So cool! I have organic chia seeds, I'll give them a couple and see if they do anything. 

[Salmon]

Oh, I should mention that there's 11 or 12 workers now but there's also still a large pile of larvae and pupae. I guess she's been laying eggs and growing larvae continuously.

[ctantkeeper]

I followed your advice and she and her brood are thriving! I now have 6-7 eggs, 6 larvae and 3-4 pupae!

[Salmon]

Based on the size of that larva, there might be a pretty major update soon.

[Connectimyrmex]

Nice! In my experience, the first major larvae appear when the ants receive ample protein amounts. If you give your colony lots of active protein sources (like live termites), more majors are likely to appear.

[Salmon]

Nice! In my experience, the first major larvae appear when the ants receive ample protein amounts. If you give your colony lots of active protein sources (like live termites), more majors are likely to appear.

 

Was your colony a more carnivorous species? These ones are seed eaters that rarely go after live prey so I figured giving them seeds would produce more majors. 

[Connectimyrmex]

My colony was Pheidole megacephala. Maybe you should give your colony more seeds and dead thick-skinned insects I guess.