1787 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

Dump the Myrmecia queen and her larvae into the new tube.

 

Done, but it looks like that last larvae is also dead

Oh well at least I know they need water in the test tube now

[TennesseeAnts]

That is an unfortunate turn of events. I hope she can recover. It might be a bit painful, but maybe if you can give her a few pupae from a wild colony she can recover faster.

[CoolColJ]

Summer 6th January 2020

Rhytidoponera metallica 9mm queen
16mm Test tube - heat cable
5 workers, 8 cocoons, 15+ larvae, clump of brood

The girls were booming, but I have packed them up and they are on the way to their new owner!

I was going to keep them, but they are fairly common, and the person asked me if I had one for sale, so I decided to let them go


Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
9 workers, 6 cocoons, 2 large, 10+ small larvae/eggs
 

Another cocoon spun, things are ramping up.

[CoolColJ]

 

So my black and orange Melophorus queen died ages ago, but I kept the 1 major, 2 medial and 3 workers around in the same nest.
Only water and honey, but today I see a clump of eggs and some larvae! I haven't given them any protein so maybe I should... someone is laying the eggs

so 11 larvae, 1 cocoon, and probably a few eggs there.....coocon is quite big....

So I gave them a roach head and they dragged it onto the larvae and pile all the larvae onto it. The larvae seem to feed themselves much like Myrmecia and Rhytidoponera

 

click

 

could the major be the one laying the eggs...? I mean she is almost the same size as the queen, and has ocelli

 

 

 

So the cocoons have eclsoed and I see a few winged drones in the nest

 

The ya re still pumping out the eggs and larvae though

[ponerinecat]

So they're infertile. Too bad.

[CoolColJ]

Summer 14th January 2020

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
9 workers, 6 cocoons, 2 large, 10+ small larvae/eggs
 
1 worker died from old age and on the same day one of the cocoons finally eclosed.
I think she may well be the first nanitic, so she lived for quite some time.
First new worker since last season, and after the last few cocoons were eaten...

Only a few months left till winter, so hopefully numbers get up to the 20s before then, so I can move them into one of my THA Atom C nests setups.
Still plenty of water elft in their current test tube+ vinyl tubing extension setup


Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
1 medium, 1 small larvae

Dammit she ate one of the small larvae, so down to two now.
Had 7 at one stage....
At this rate a colony is a long way off, due to such slow growth


Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 3

Heat cable
Queen 4 - 20mm test tube with styro foam double chamber
2 workers (1 mini major) from donated brood, small clump of unhatched 8-9 month old 20+ eggs

eggs still unhatched

Queen 10, former member of dual queen - 20mm test tube with styro foam double chamber
200? workers and some majors of all sizes - large stack of brood

Queen 5 - 20mm test tube sitting inside THA Inception nest
300+? workers and some mini majors - massive brood pile

Very strange - they moved 50-75% of the brood down under the foil, near the heat cable - not much humidity there, at least less than the test tube and nest.
Even after removing the heat cable they are still there. Although when I open the nest up to feed them, they start rushing the brood back to the test tube


 

---

A friend is giving me back his colony since he is off to University.
So I'll likely have 3 colonies soon, but probably will sell one.
This one was the queen with the dented gaster and was fastest layers I had.

[CoolColJ]

Came across a big Dolichoderus clarki ant trail. Quite big ants at around 1cm in length.

Big colony for the size of ant, so they must grow pretty damn fast!

Wingless queens though.... so will be hard to find one...

 

https://www.instagra.../p/B7XvYFhHKuT/

[CoolColJ]

Summer 16th January 2020

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
10 workers, 7 cocoons, 2 large, 15+ small larvae/eggs
 
Second second gen worker eclosed today, and another cocoon spun.
Things are looking up as the queen has dumped a lot of eggs out and a big pile of small larvae has emerged


Camponotus aeneopilosus aka golden tail sugar ant - 12mm queen
16mm test tube - styrofoam double chamber setup - heat cable

So after birthing a drone last year, and then eating her pile of never growing large larvae last week
The end of her tragic life has come... I found her dead just then
Oh well I was going to release her when her test tube dried out, there is only 1cm of water left.
Guess she ran out of food, although I do have a honey dish out front.

 

RIP

 

Edited by CoolColJ, January 16 2020 - 4:42 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Summer 24th January 2020


Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
13 workers, 6 cocoons, 2 large, 15+ small larvae/eggs

3 cocoons eclosed this week, so up to 13 workers now.
Still lots of brood - going well.



Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 3

Heat cable
Queen 4 - 20mm test tube with styro foam double chamber
2 worker (1 mini major) from donated brood, small clump of unhatched 8-9 month old 20+ eggs

eggs still unhatched, she ate some, and appears to ahve laid a new batch...

Queen 10, former member of dual queen - 20mm test tube with styro foam double chamber
300? workers and some majors of all sizes - large stack of brood

Completely overtaken the test tube all the way to the front now


Queen 5 - 20mm test tube sitting inside THA Inception nest
400+? workers and some mini majors - massive brood pile

Queen 5's colony really do not like the nest, they put their brood every where but in the nest!
I think there is some brood under the foil as well…..
There is one bigger major now, can be seen in the video below towards the end

[CoolColJ]

Summer 13th February 2020



Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
1 small larvae

damn it, her other larger larvae died and dried out, not sure why...
into season 2 now and it's just taking forever - just as slow and hard to get going as Myrmecia


Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
15 workers, 12 cocoons, 5+ large, 20+ small larvae/eggs

Things are booming now - despite some more nanitic dying.
A few more second gen have eclosed, up to 15 workers now.
12 cocoons, a few larger and a few smaller.
Tons of eggs and small larvae
Every member has bloated gasters, so I have only been feeding them once a fortnight.



Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 3

Heat cable
Queen 4 - 20mm test tube with styro foam double chamber
1 worker from donated brood, small clump of unhatched 8-9 month old 10+ eggs

So she is down to one minor worker after the mini major died, and she keeps eating and relaying her eggs...
I might euthanize her when the water of the test tube runs out, as she is clearing infertile.


Queen 10, former member of dual queen - 20mm test tube with styro foam double chamber
400+? workers and some majors of all sizes - large stack of brood

They have tunneled into the water of the tets tube... 30 odd workers and mini majors floating inside...
A sign they are looking for more space as they have filled the front of the test tube as well.
I moved them out into a bare tub and tubes setup for now, as they a re a pain to feed

They piled all the rubbish around the blu tack holding their test tube

I might be selling them, we'll see


Queen 5 - 20mm test tube sitting inside THA Inception nest
500+? workers and some mini majors - massive brood pile

So after a few weeks they finally moved 80% of the brood into the nest! Only the queen and 30 off larger larvae remain in the near dry test tube.
Surpised how active this colony is, always workers running around outside the nest entrance willy nilly and majors doing work stripping down 2 week old dried roach.

They also like to cover any foreign item with what looks like grey substrate. Not sure from where, as all the sand/dirt in the nest is light brown...

Another good thing is their not interested in escaping, makes sense as they are subterranean type ants

Will try and get some pics soon

Edited by CoolColJ, February 12 2020 - 7:36 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Autumn 9th March 2020

Autumn has arrived...


Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
1 small larvae... a few eggs?

She laid a few eggs since last time, but now they are all gone?!
Used as food, but I have been feeding her every week...


Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
24+ workers, 17 cocoons, 20+ larvae of all sizes

They have exploded since the last month, over 24 workers now, even with the first gen workers dying off.
And tons of larvae, with queen still laying batches of eggs - should hit over 40 workers before winter arrives.
I should move them into my spare Atom C nest setup before winter even though their current trst tube still has plenty of water.

There was a large cocoon earlier and it has eclosed to a cute looking major a few days ago, with a big head
She looks about 14mm in length. Head should darken to a dark red eventually





Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 3

Heat cable
Queen 4 - 20mm test tube with styro foam double chamber
small clump of eggs

all her donated workers have died, and her test tube is just about dry as well.
She laid a new batch of eggs. Have put in a honey dish
Should have moved her to a new test tube, but I doubt she makes it to her own workers after all this time, if none of her eggs have hatched.


Queen 10, former member of dual queen - 20mm test tube with styro foam double chamber
400+? workers and some majors of all sizes - massive brood pile

Pretty much in a simple bare tub and tubes setup right now and their test tube is running dry soon.
Well behaved, they don't attempt to escape even though I don't have a lid on - makes sense as they are subterranean in the wild
Amazing how fast these girls clean up the raw honey.


Queen 5 - 20mm test tube sitting inside THA Inception nest
500+? workers and some mini majors - massive brood pile

I finally dumped the queen out of the the now dry test tube and she made her way into the THA Inception nest, but only stayed in the chamber near the entrance

For some reason the nest's water tube doesn't allow water to pass, so when I try to inject water it sprays back out
So I've had to wet the walls of the nest and pray it's enough. Plus a water test tub outside which has some ants inside and some brood
But most of the brood is inside the nest, and 25% outside recently on the damp spots on the ground where I wet the nest....They do treat the whole outside area as their nest with the lid shut...

I should take a video when I feed them nest, they literally cover all the raw honey in bodies!

[anttics]

Pictures bro. I love your colonies.

[CoolColJ]

Pictures bro. I love your colonies.

Just been so busy lately

[CoolColJ]

Autumn 4th April 2020

Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen
Atom C nest inside circular outworld
300+ workers, huge pile of cocoons and some larvae/eggs

I think they are closer to 400 workers now!
The nest is filled, and I put two small test tubes outside for water, one dried out but is filled with ants
The current other water test tube is also filled with ants, So I will need a bigger nest soon!
I only feed them once a week, with half a small roach and raw honey yet they still grow fast.

And it's a nightmware when I open the nest up, as fluon doesn't stop them, so I place their nest inside a larger tub to feed and do maintenance.
Then when the ants are back inside their nest apart from a few stragglers I round them in, and close the nest back up.


Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
3 small larvae/eggs?

Well her medium size larvae died for some reason, like the larger one previously...
She laid 3 eggs just before it died, so I think they might be small larvae now.
Sigh back to square one....


Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
30+ workers, 2 majors, a few medial, lots of brood

Colony is around 35+ workers now, despite all the first gen workers dying recently, and growing quite fast right now.
I think there are 2 majors, and what appears to be medial workers.
They have larger heads than the minors, but half the head size of the majors, and black headed instead of a more red colour.
I've been thinking about selling em as they are big and I won't have the space for a large colony of these

click






Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 3

Heat cable
Queen 4 - 20mm test tube
small clump of eggs

she continually lays, east and relays her eggs - so she is infertile and will likley die soon as she no longer has any donated workers



Queen 5 - 20mm test tube sitting inside THA Inception nest
500+? workers and some mini majors - massive brood pile
 
They finally moved into the THA Inception nest!
There is a test tube of water outside which some of the workers hang out inside with some brood, but most of them are in the nest now.
The tube that waters the nest doesn't seem to work anymore, blocked up
So I just wet the nest wall and hope for the best but they seem to like it dry anyway.
And with the lid shut on the outworld it stays fairly humid.
 
very active colony, constantly shifting large piles of substrate around! And they have a huge pile of substrate/bodyparts/roach parts under the test tube....
 
click - note the dead bodyparts used to seal the nest lid....

 

 
Queen 10, former member of dual queen - simple tub and tubes
400+? workers and some majors of all sizes - massive brood pile

I put them into a simple tube and tube setup
 
They dug into the water in the original test tube and a few dozen workers/mini majors drowned in there,
but it dried out, they turned it into a brood chamber and dumped the dead bodies outside on their special garbage dump
 
They blocked the test tube up with what looks like cotton, bits of styro foam and roach bits....
 

 

 

 

 

[CoolColJ]

 

 

So my black and orange Melophorus queen died ages ago, but I kept the 1 major, 2 medial and 3 workers around in the same nest.
Only water and honey, but today I see a clump of eggs and some larvae! I haven't given them any protein so maybe I should... someone is laying the eggs

so 11 larvae, 1 cocoon, and probably a few eggs there.....coocon is quite big....

So I gave them a roach head and they dragged it onto the larvae and pile all the larvae onto it. The larvae seem to feed themselves much like Myrmecia and Rhytidoponera

 

click

 

could the major be the one laying the eggs...? I mean she is almost the same size as the queen, and has ocelli

 

 

 

So the cocoons have eclsoed and I see a few winged drones in the nest

 

The ya re still pumping out the eggs and larvae though

 

 

new batch of brood is up, lots of cocoons. All of different sizes.... so 1 looks like major sized, a few medium and a few small...possibly some minor workers here

The drones are still alive and well, about 5 of them

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

The Camponotus are gorgeous! What a simply amazing journal!

[ponerinecat]

that's amazing, hopefully the melos can actually have gamergates.

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole antipodum

 

Had some cooked mince on my plate. Decided to test out if they like cooked meat, as Pheidole and most ants do not usually take to cooked meat.

Well turns out they do! Video was taken within a minute of dropping it in!

So they are more like Carebara ants, than regular Pheidole in behaviour, plus the similar type of polymoprhism

 

[Nare]

Funnily enough, I believe 1 or more of the majors in my queenless Camponotus pennsylvanicus colonies is also laying eggs in a similar manner to the major in your Melophorus sp. colony. I don't expect to get anything besides drones, which is frightening, because judging by the sheer size of the brood pile, the nest is gonna be absolutely swarming with drones.

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole antipodum nuptial flight photo from the web
 
Man, none of my colonies have even the medium sized majors, let alone the super major which is about 2/3 of the queen's size.
The super major is about double the length of my current largest mini major and 3 times thickness!
The best is yet to come...
 
click