53 replies to this topic

[AnthonyP163]

1/22/2018

 

In July 2017, there was a huge flight of Formica. I caught about a dozen Formica subsericea, and a few Formica subaenescens queens. 

 

I ended up selling or giving away all but two, and I now only have one, since the workers in the other colony beheaded their queen. 

 

I also caught a  Formica aserva queen last year, and actually got a colony started, but then, yet again, sold her to someone in Milwaukee. I plan to catch some of the more obscure species of Formica this year.

 

P.S. If I catch Polyergus, I will include it in this journal. 

 

Here are some pictures of the colony I have now. The queen decided to never take her wings off, and these are indeed her workers.  

 

I will update this journal when I can, I hope the queen will lay eggs soon.

Edited by AnthonyP163, June 15 2020 - 9:07 PM.

[Mettcollsuss]

I have a colony of Formica subsericea, too. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to help.

[AnthonyP163]

I have a colony of Formica subsericea, too. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to help.

Thanks

[Hunter]

i also have a large colony if you need help too

[AnthonyP163]

This colony has 1 pupae and two large larvae.

[AnthonyP163]

They now have 4 pupae. The workers seem to have been gnawing at the queen's wings. 

 

[Mettcollsuss]

The workers seem to have been gnawing at the queen's wings. 

Mine did that too. They gave up after a bit, so now my queen has little stubby wings.

 

Also, I'm fairly sure that yours are Formica subsericea.

Edited by Mettcollsuss, March 5 2018 - 5:59 AM.

[AnthonyP163]

 

The workers seem to have been gnawing at the queen's wings. 

Mine did that too. They gave up after a bit, so now my queen has little stubby wings.

 

Also, I'm fairly sure that yours are Formica subsericea.

 

Yup, I know these ones are. I named this thread "Formica sp." because I'll be adding other species to it.

[AnthonyP163]

The queen now has 6 workers.

Edited by AnthonyP163, April 8 2018 - 5:27 AM.

[AnthonyP163]

4/15/2018

 

I'll now be including my Formica subaenescens colony in this journal.

 

The queen was caught in July 2017, in the midst of a Formica subsericea flight. She is now on her third generation, with about ten workers living in my vivarium in my Plants and Terrariums Journal with a few other species. 

 

Here are some pictures that were taken with my new camera. Sorry that they're so bad, I'll get the diopter macro lens in a few days.

 

Edited by AnthonyP163, April 15 2018 - 12:23 PM.

[AnthonyP163]

5-13-18

 

The  Formica subaenescens colony turned out to be Formica incerta. Due to the Tetramorium colony in the vivarium, I don't see any more workers. I found the queen sitting on the surface with no workers around her. I have tried a few methods to get rid of these Tetramorium, but right now they are somehow still living and seemed to have invaded the Formica nest. If I see any more workers on the surface, I'll make sure to get them and put them with the queen. 

 

The Formica subsericea colony is being fed regularly but hasn't produced any more eggs. They are kept in a 72-80 degree Fahrenheit room, but I have recently given them the option to move to a heated area of the test tube. 

[Mettcollsuss]

The Formica subsericea colony is being fed regularly but hasn't produced any more eggs. They are kept in a 72-80 degree Fahrenheit room, but I have recently given them the option to move to a heated area of the test tube. 

They do that sometimes. Back when my colony was at 5 workers, they would eat a lot but wouldn't produce any eggs. Then, about after a couple months with no brood whatsoever, a massive batch of eggs suddenly appeared one day. Just keep feeding them sugar and protein.

Edited by Mettcollsuss, May 13 2018 - 10:59 AM.

[AnthonyP163]

5-19-18

 

The  Formica subsericea have laid a small batch of 6 eggs.

[AnthonyP163]

6-10-18

 

There's three large larvae and a few small larvae and eggs. I have been spoiling them, feeding them 1-3 bugs a week. You can see the leftovers from a small beetle and a small leafbug. The queen from the vivarium has some eggs.

 

As you can see, the queen also hasn't shed her wings yet. 

 

This summer, I'll be looking for rarer Formica species, and trying to catch ones like  Formica ulkei and Formica obscuriventris. If I do find any of these interesting, rarer Formica species then I'll be sure to include them here.

[AnthonyP163]

8-10-18

 

I haven't updated this colony in a while, and quite a bit has changed.

 

The Formica subsericea are now living in an AntKit acrylic nest, and have over twenty workers. Their setup is getting dirty, and I may need to move them out. There's a small batch of about 10 new larvae.

 

 

I caught over 10  Formica subsericea queens in the recent large flight.

[AnthonyP163]

9-28-19

 

The Formica subsericea in the vivarium have gotten workers, however none of the test tube queens were successful. 

[TennesseeAnts]

Update?

[AnthonyP163]

6/19/19

 

The colonies in the vivaria of Formica subsericea were moved to test tubes and eventually sold. The larger colony of F. subsericea is now living in a TarHeelAnts Mini Hearth, and has around 25 workers. 

[AnthonyP163]

8/7/19

 

The Formica subsericea in the last update eventually died out. I could never figure out what was up with that colony, it was always odd. 

 

I have two Formica social parasite queens. One of them has a worker, but all of her host workers died. She was caught in northern Wisconsin last year. The other queen was found this year in the beginning of August. I got them both pupae a few days ago. They now both have host workers. 

 

Here's some pictures of the newly caught queen:

 

 

I'll have an update with more pictures next time.

[AnthonyP163]

1-22-20

 

The Formica queen in the last update died after she had hosts for a few months. A different dulotic/parasitic queen has been doing well, and has 5 biological workers as well as 3 hosts, and has a large batch of eggs and larvae. 

 

 

Here's the beginning of January a little while after I took them out of hibernation.

 

I am optimistic about this colony and I will post more pictures in a few days.

 

I also have a Formica subsericea queen with ~6 workers and a huge batch of brood. Out of nowhere she laid ~30 eggs as her second generation, some are already larvae.