Since I have been antkeeping (it has been about 1.5 years) I had not seen a Trachymyrmex septentrionalis queen until just a couple months ago, even though the colonies are everywhere. T. septentrionalis are one of the most numerous species around my house but for some reason it took me forever to find a potentially fertile queen. Last month, in September, I found my first Trachymyrmex queen while she was walking around on the ground. After a few days of doing nothing, she died.
On October 7, I found another Trachymyrmex queen in the pool right before a hurricane was supposed to hit.
A few months ago, I already made a founding setup for a Trachymyrmex queen if I were to ever catch one. A plastic container halfway filled with a grout/sand mixture.
On October 11, I noticed her carrying around a very tiny fungus pellet that she regurgitated. You can see her holding it in her mandibles in this picture. I put several pieces of rose leaves and grass in her setup.
By the next day, she had regurgitated even more fungus.
October 14
October 15
October 20
October 24
The past few days she has been cutting tiny pieces of the leaves I provided her with, even though the leaves have dried a lot. You can see the leaf pieces in her fungus (the dark parts). She has not laid eggs yet, so that is the next thing to watch for. I will probably update this if the fungus grows substantially or if she lays eggs.
Edited by Aaron567, February 22 2022 - 3:24 PM.
