167 replies to this topic

[BugFinder]

Thanks six legs and LAnt.  I appreciate your comments.  I have poppy seeds, I'll give them a few of those in a couple days.  

[BugFinder]

Todays count:

 

Queen

6 workers

1 pupae

3 larvae: 1 larger one, it looks like two smaller ones

No eggs that I can see.

 

I tossed 6 poppy seeds in today.

 

There's usually four workers tending the brood with the queen, and 2 defending/foraging.

 

 

Can anyone tell me what these little white balls are in my photos.  Some appear to have a hole in them.

 

Edited by BugFinder, January 4 2015 - 10:09 PM.

[Crystals]

Those almost look like some sort of small pea seed.  Sweet pea?  Or something wild type of vine.

If you soak them in water for 48 hours and they expand, they are a seed of some sort. 

[BugFinder]

I came home from work today and noticed the queen was outside of the nest.  Is that unusual?  Once she noticed I was watching she looked a little alarmed and ran back into the nest.

[dean_k]

From that behavior, I am assuming that the queen is semi-clausteral.

 

Fully clausteral queen's life is like this.

 

1. Mate.

2. Dig into soil to make a chamber.

3. Lay eggs

4. Rise workers. (nanitics)

5. Once workers start to do their things, just lay eggs.

6. Lay more eggs for rest of her life.

 

Semi-clausteral queen's life is more dramatic.

 

1. Mate

2. Dig into soil to make a chamber.

3. Lay eggs while going out to find food to eat.

4. Rise workers, again while going out to find food to eat.

5. Even after nanitics arrive, she continue to forage from time to time.

6. The queen continues to forage from time to time until the colony reaches medium size.

7. Once the colony is deemed to be successful, she simply lays eggs for rest of her life.

[InsideAntz]

They look good BugFinder, keep up the nice work.

Not sure what those pea shaped balls are, look like seeds.

[BugFinder]

Thanks guys!  And thanks Dean, that's real good to know.  I really appreciate it.

[dspdrew]

Can anyone tell me what these little white balls are in my photos.  Some appear to have a hole in them.

 

I have a mixture of seeds I made to feed to my harvester ants. Those particular seeds I think are millet.

[BugFinder]

Thanks Drew, that makes sense, and explains why they look busted open.  The ants probably at the good stuff and threw what was left away.

[BugFinder]

So I just got home last night after being gone for a week (work trip) and my ants weren't moving around at all.  I got really worried, so I pulled them down off the refrigerator and put them under the microscope and they started running around like crazy like they were under attack.  I guess they were just sleeping and I startled them.  Now they look like they are doing really good.  They have gathered up all the seeds I put in there for them and stored them inside their nest, I assume preparing for a winter that will never come, but I'm glad they are doing that.  Now I don't have to worry if I'm feeding them enough or not because they have a reserve stored.  One of the seeds sprouted though and is growing inside the nest.  I guess I'm going to have to put them in the dark for a few days to starve it so it dies.  Hopefully after it dies they'll cut it up and remove it from the nest so I can take it out of there.

 

1 queen

6 workers

1 pupae

3 larvae

0 eggs.

[dspdrew]

Some of my Pogonomyrmex end up with plants growing from their test tube.

[dean_k]

Some of my Pogonomyrmex end up with plants growing from their test tube.

 

A picture please ... ?

[dspdrew]

I had a good garden going in one for the last month, but I think it's finally dying off. I could try to get a picture of what's left. If I do, I'll post it on my journal; I don't want to hijack this one anymore than I already am.

 

Edit: Here's that picture: http://www.formicult...ge-3#entry10687

Edited by dspdrew, January 17 2015 - 7:37 AM.

[BugFinder]

My population seems to be headed in the wrong direction and I'm not sure why.  I am down to 4 workers, 2 pupae, and one larvae that I can see.

 

It looks like the cotton in the test tube is starting to grow some mildew so I'm thinking about moving them out of there.  The cube I ordered over a month ago never arrived, so I ordered a Talice.  It should be here in a couple weeks, and if I still have any ants left, I'll move them into it as soon as it arrives.

 

I also ordered another batch of blue 100.  What I have has dried to the point where my ants aren't interested in it anymore.  With the Blue 100 I ordered a liquid feeder just to try to see if I like that better than the gel.

Edited by BugFinder, January 24 2015 - 9:57 PM.

[dean_k]

The cube? From Antsnational?

[BugFinder]

The cube? From Antsnational?

yeah that's the one.  I even went to their website and inquired about it and received no response...  so I've kissed that one off and am hanging my hopes on tarheel, lol.

[ToeNhi]

Hey Bugfinder, I placed an order with AntsNational when they had their two for the price of one Dram Nest sale. I also ordered a Cube. When the items got to me in San Jose, most of the order was damaged. The Cube looked like a box of peanut brittle. The owner offered to send me replacements if I sent back the damaged ones. Financially it didn't make sense for me to ship them back and potentially receive replacements that would be damaged also.

[drtrmiller]

I also ordered another batch of blue 100.  What I have has dried to the point where my ants aren't interested in it anymore.  With the Blue 100 I ordered a liquid feeder just to try to see if I like that better than the gel.

 

Do you mean the Blue that was fed to the ants, or that which was stored in the refrigerator?

 

The refrigerated product should be stored in a ziploc baggie so the moisture doesn't evaporate.

 

Did your ants consistently eat the food when you made it available to them?

[dspdrew]

The Cube looked like a box of peanut brittle.

I had something shipped from Canada once and it was all destroyed.

[BugFinder]

 

I also ordered another batch of blue 100.  What I have has dried to the point where my ants aren't interested in it anymore.  With the Blue 100 I ordered a liquid feeder just to try to see if I like that better than the gel.

 

Do you mean the Blue that was fed to the ants, or that which was stored in the refrigerator?

 

The refrigerated product should be stored in a ziploc baggie so the moisture doesn't evaporate.

 

Did your ants consistently eat the food when you made it available to them?

 

Yes the ants ate it readily whenever I provided it until it got too dry.  It was stored in the refrigerator.  Thanks for the zip lock bag tip, I'll try that for the next batch.