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[CoolColJ]

Colony update - Winter 5 August 2018

Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen

7 nanitics, 12 larave

They have 12 larvae now, if the nanitics stay alive till they eclose, not likely since none have died yet, I will have 19 workers.
They take ages to eclose, but they also seem to live a long time
 
click to enlarge



Melophorus sp.- red black 6-7mm queen
1 minor worker, no brood. 

eh

Melophorus sp.- black orange 7-8mm queen
No eggs. 5 workers
 
eh
 
Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm queen - Pheidole Colony A
 
Around 30 workers, 1 major semi pupae, at least three major larvae in line
 
I've lost track of how many workers there  are, but it's about 30 despite the recent eclosures, as a few have died.
Their first near pupae Major hidden at the back, 3 minor worker pupa, a few smaller major larvae, and at least 20 eggs, and 5 smaller larvae
 
dirty test tube... once the major arrives they are ready to go into my Inception Chamber, or get sold, we shall see how the other colonies turn out, before deciding...
 

 

Pheidole sp, all black  8mm - Pheidole Colony B
 
15 workers. 1 Major larvae
1 nanitic died, but another pupa is about to eclose
 
Major larvae shown here, and a fair amount of brood

 
size difference between nanitic and regular minor worker

 
caught this worker, mid jaw opening note the spots of the larvae

 
Black queen closeup


2x Phediole sp. red head/black body 7mm queen - Pheidole Colony C
 
7 nanitics

5  pupa to eclose tonight, and tons of brood.
At 12 workers, it starts to get to the stage when secondary queens get banished or killed....fingers crossed


 
Cute nanitic feeding queen

 

Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
 
No eggs, 2 nanitics, 1 crippled
No changes, till spring most likely


Camponotus suffusus 18+mm - queenless
 
10 workers, 15 brood (9 foreign from a different Camponotus species), 5 pupa
 
Lots of eclosures the last few days, but still all workers are suffusus.
Pity there is no queen, things are starting to boom!


Polyrhachis femorata - triple 11-12mm queen

About 15 workers and 2 queens. A bunch of larvae

I separated the third queen that was in the outworld.
She appears to be dying, per previous post above... That's why she separated herself from the colony
She's lying pretty motionless in the test tube, and sometimes rolls onto her back, until I upright her

Edited by CoolColJ, August 5 2018 - 5:53 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 5th August 2018 - Queen update


Banished Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm

clump of 13 small larvae - heat cable

click to enlarge



Pheidole sp. red 7mm

12+ larvae and eggs - red cellophane wrap - heat cable

I think there 7 large larvae now, and one looks about to pupate.
Plus some small ones and eggs.
The water is getting pretty low. down to 33% I think.
This is the only setup on the heating cable with a red cellophane wrap around the test tube. Once workers arrive I will expose her.




3x Phediole sp. red head/black body 8-9mm

On heating cable
3 large larvae, and 6 smaller ones - pathetic, spring can't come soon enough, and they don't use the heat cable either!




Camponotus consobrinus 16-17mm

No eggs


Pheidole sp, light red head, dark red body, 6-7mm

Queen 1 - big clump of brood, over 20, some small larvae
double chamber setup
 
Queen 2 - clump of about 6 larvae
I have her in my double test tube modded setup, with a polystyrene foam chamber entrance

Queen 1 is doing way better.



Gotta love the lack of mold in my double test tube mod setup



 
Pheidole antipodum? 14+mm
in magnetic glass top gypsum founding nest

5 eggs as of this morning


Lioponera ruficornis/larvata 5mm

no eggs


Rhytidoponera species 6-7mm
 
no eggs

I have her test tube in an outworld now, she has been exploring a little.



Iridomyrmex queens - 8.5mm - multiple test tube setups with aquarium filter dam and cotton wool chamber wall/entrance
3x singles, 2x dual queens - all exposed to light
Exposed to light setups on heat cable

Week 3 - solo aggressive queen is leading the pack in brood development, with 5 large larvae and a bunch of smaller ones


The second dual queens, that used to have 3, has the most but just only small larvae


second solo queen has a lot, but mostly just eggs


third solo queen has the least, this one laid last and a few days later


Last two setups were not on the heat cable for two weeks.
The first dual queen setup, not shown above, has less eggs than the second solo queen...
The solo aggressive queen has placed her brood right on top the heating cable the most and it shows.

Edited by CoolColJ, August 5 2018 - 6:53 PM.

[CoolColJ]

hmm so that one femorata queen was staying out in the outworld. I thought she was banished, but it turns out she was dying and hence separated herself from the colony.

She was chewing on the Byformica mini liquid feeder, much like the other queens I find dead with cotton in their jaws.

Then I saw her lying on her back but she was still moving when I picked her up.

 

She then started to leak brown fluid like one of my antipodum queen did before she died....

And twitch her legs in a similar painful fashion

[CoolColJ]

That Femorata queen is dead this morning - RIP

[CoolColJ]

Winter 6th August 2018


Iridomyrmex queens - 8.5mm - multiple test tube setups with aquarium filter dam and cotton wool chamber wall/entrance
2x singles, 2x dual queens - all exposed to light
Exposed to light setups on heat cable

third solo queen has the least, this one laid last and a few days later

 

I found this queen dead this morning... she was at the cotton wool entrance.

She leaves behind 5 or so small larvae, but probably not worth my time giving it to the others as they all have plenty of their own.

 

Last in, first out

 

from over 20 queens, we have 6 left, and 4 setups. Pretty high attrition rate!

Edited by CoolColJ, August 5 2018 - 6:30 PM.

[CoolColJ]

I went strolling in my backyard to that Iridomyrmex nest I posted about a few weeks back. And I saw a bunch of ants buzzing around. On closer look they were attacking an ant.

At first I thought it was a trap jaw ant they were ganging up on, but in the sun I saw greens and reddi'sh legs... could it be a Rhytidoponera aspera, a queen, in my backyard?!

 

I had to soak her in water to get rid of two ants holding onto her limbs, well she is also missing a few limbs and legs

If you look closely you can see a bit from her attackers on her antenna

 

She does not appear to be a queen. About 7mm in length

This worker is quite a bit larger than the other Rhytidoponera queen I have although they look similar, but this ant has very obviously red legs even in the shade

But I would never have known Rhytidoponera aspera would be in my backyard!!

I just know there is a nest somewhere nearby, so they will fly in spring. Fingers crossed

 

click to enlarge

Edited by CoolColJ, August 5 2018 - 10:41 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Hmm might not be an aspera, as the back end of the gaster is rough, whereas on an aspera it's glossy. Apart from not looking as green and purple like

 

 

vs

 

Edited by CoolColJ, August 6 2018 - 1:12 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 7th August 2018

Pheidole Colony C - 2x Phediole sp. red head/black body 8mm queen - 13 workers,
 
Damn, from 8 to 13 workers in 2 days.
And they still have a ton of eggs.
Already catching up to Pheidole Colony B

 

 

Pheidole antipodum? 15mm queen

 

I see one egg right now.

She has been constantly eating her eggs and relaying them.

She may have laid them too early, waiting till spring.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 8th August 2018


Iridomyrmex queens - 8.5mm - multiple test tube setups with aquarium filter dam and cotton wool chamber wall/entrance
2x singles, 2x dual queens - all exposed to light
Exposed to light setups on heat cable

I've come to the conclusion, the more aggressive and independant the queen is, the better a mum she shall be.
The solo aggressive queen is by far the most fussy of all the queens with brood placement and care.
She is constantly arranging the brood, and tending them, never sitting idle.
Full on micro manager and super neat and organised with her brood.

The two dual queen setups are the opposite, passive queens that don't mind being paired with others - well they are also very lazy, sitting on the water dam most of the time.
Their brood is messy and untended whenever I look.
The other solo queen is somewhere inbetween, and her brood is also the second most developed, but still high in number.

And it shows - the solo aggressive queen has the first pupae after only 3 weeks!
Amazing, and during winter

click to enlarge

Edited by CoolColJ, August 7 2018 - 5:35 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole Colony A - Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm queen - 30'ish workers

Been wanting to see and take a pic of the colony's first major pupa, which should be into its stage 3 transformation
But they seem to have buried it down at the bottom under an overhang of cotton

Now the second major larvae is starting to pupate!
And there is enough larvae forming to take the colony over 50 workers.
While the queen gets a side scratch


click to enlarge 

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole antipodum? 15mm queen
 
Well the single egg that has been around for a few days now has hatched into a first insta larvae
There is another smaller egg...

After laying up to 9 eggs, before eating them, she is taking the slow and steady road this time around I see....

There may be more eggs, but the queen's body is in the way.

Hmmm maybe she has stashed some on the bottom side of her gaster, the same way Carebara diversa queens do...

[CoolColJ]

Winter - 9th August 2018

Pheidole antipodum? 15mm queen

in magnetic glass top gypsum founding nest
 
I see 6 eggs in a small cluster... back up we go again...

 

Nest still reads 99% humidity after 2.5 weeks

 

edit - ahh she must have been hiding some of them in the cotton plug I put in the closest port to her...

I see her digging around there, and voila more eggs showed up in the pile

 

It could be due to the warm air entering into the nest there from the nearby heater, so she stashes some eggs there

Edited by CoolColJ, August 8 2018 - 5:01 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 9th August 2018


Iridomyrmex queens - 8.5mm - multiple test tube setups with aquarium filter dam and cotton wool chamber wall/entrance
2x singles, 2x dual queens - all exposed to light
Exposed to light setups on heat cable

Watched the solo aggressive queen casually curl over and pluck an egg from her gaster last night   
She has 4 pupa now, the other others are a no show...

And one pupa is already showing darkening in the head/eyes
 
 
Pheidole antipodum? 15mm queen
in magnetic glass top gypsum founding nest

 

So she had 6 eggs, but I wondered where they went, and then saw 3 on top of her gaster and 3 on the underside, stuck there... oh no not again!

Then the 3 bottom ones fell off somewhere...

 

 

click to enlarge

Edited by CoolColJ, August 9 2018 - 2:02 AM.

[CoolColJ]

What a beast, this solo aggressive queen is, she is injecting the brood with drugs for sure... 4 pupa now, and one has dark eyes already, and not even 4 weeks yet.

The other queen's brood are no where near.

 

[CoolColJ]

Winter 10th August 2018

 

Pheidole Colony B - Pheidole sp, all black  8mm queen
16 workers. 1 Major pupa

 

OK that went fast, 4 days later, boom they're first major larvae has turned into a pupa!

Happened so fast I didn't notice...

They just might pip Pheidole colony A to the first major....

 

click to enlarge

 

 

size comparison between the queen, nanitics, regular minor workers and major pupa

Edited by CoolColJ, August 9 2018 - 10:15 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 11th August 2018
 
Pheidole antipodum? 15mm queen
in magnetic glass top gypsum founding nest
 
She looks to have finally settled down and has a stable clump of eggs now.
About 8 as of this morning.

I still see her wander off to the cotton block the port nearest to her, stay tehre for a bit ebfore returning to her eggs.
Not sure why. I think she uses the cotton as a toilet of sorts... I noticed this with my Rhytiponera queen, her cotton double chamber entrance is filled with poop stains

Nest still reads 99% humidity after 3 weeks

[CoolColJ]

Being a warm day I checked them out an Iridomyrmex nest in my back yard, medium size black species, with reddish tinged heads in the sun, and there was a long trail from their other nest 10m away.
Interestingly, I saw 5 alates walk along this trail and into the main nest in brick pavement cracks, plus brood as well. That was in the 5mins I was watching, so who know much more more was transported in the last hour or more.
So it looks like all the flights will take off from this nest
And the alates are not that large, pretty similar to the 8-9mm Iridomyrmex queens I have been keeping recently. Even though these are larger than I.bicknelli ants
These should fly in spring, which is only a few weeks away.

I captured what looks like a Polyrhachis femorata worker stumbling out of this!
never though I would have these in my backyard

Looks like a femorata, but different from my current colony, all brown legs, instead of upper red.
She curled up into a ball and froze, feigned dead, while her limbs shivered

click to enlarge

[CoolColJ]

Someone I know may have two of these large 12mm Melophorus queens for sale soon.
Really want to get a colony of these going.
My last queen died.
Someone told me the majors he has seen in the wild are as big as the queen, so at least 10mm, nice!




I think these are the minor and majors from this species - but the genus is extremely polymorphic as a rule
And I tend to keep polymorphic ants
Minors look like Camponotus

https://www.wildsout...s-sp2/i-8vvPjJb

size difference

Edited by CoolColJ, August 12 2018 - 8:10 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Sold my Polyrhachis femorata colony of two queens and 13 workers, plus brood
Final pic from last week, where a queen and two workers munched a small cricket

click to enlarge

[CoolColJ]

Colony update - Winter 13th August 2018

Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen

7 nanitics, 12 larave

Not much has changed, slightly larger larvae,.
They did munch on a small cricket leg I left at their doorstep.


Melophorus sp.- red black 6-7mm queen
1 minor worker, no brood. 

eh

Melophorus sp.- black orange 7-8mm queen
No eggs. 3 workers
 
Two workers died, nanitics, was a matter of time.
Spring in a few weeks time, hope she lays. Which she hasn't since I had her.
Melophorus being a heat loving genus, don't like Autumn/Winter.

 
Pheidole Colony A - Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm queen

30'ish workers, 1 major pupae, and a few more major larvae, one must be close to pupating

I haven't been able to get a clear look at the major pupae in 2 weeks, as they have hidden it down low under a cotton dent.
As the water gets low and sucks the cotton back, it gets uneven and drags a mess across the test tube surface.
That's why I hate it when it does that, so I always try and get my test tube setups to not suck the cotton dam as the water empties.

I really need to move them from this 15mm test tube into a fresh 16mm one, but Pheidole are so stubborn, you really have to brute force them out.
Might wait till the major eclose before doing so though.
Maybe squirt water in there with a syringe. From my experience with the test tubes that leak water, the ants don't stay on the water for long.
 

Pheidole Colony B - Pheidole sp, all black 8mm queen
 
18 workers. 1 Major pupa
1 brown pupa to eclose soon.

Major pupa is starting to brown a little in the gaster. My best guess is 2 weeks from eclosing.
They actually put it closer to the heat cable than the colony above, so it should eclose faster.
Might beat Colony A to a major, even those this one started a few weeks behind.



Pheidole Colony C - 2x Phediole sp. red head/black body 7mm queens

13 workers
tons of eggs and brood, 1 brown pupa

This colony is catching up to the others fast, even though it started a month behind at least.
Dual queens help, which so far have stayed together. Surprised, as at one stage one was looking like getting banished.



Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
 
No eggs, 2 nanitics, 1 crippled. 1 small Camponotus larvae
No changes, till spring most likely

Dropped a piece of small cricket at their doorstep last night, queen enjoyed it, and then dumped it outside
crippled nanitic is starting to darken, after weeks!
They still have that small Camponotus larvae


Camponotus suffusus 18+mm - queenless
 
10 workers, 13 brood (9 foreign from a different Camponotus species), 3 pupa
 
two nanitics died, which got replaced by two new eclosures, so numbers remain the same

Only three pupa remain, one looks ready to eclose and has been a while, I can see the black ant underneath, but it might be a foreign one

So the pheromone signals are different and the workers cannot read it and have not helped it out... maybe

A few wriggling larger larvae that look like foreign ones, that should start to spin a cocoon soon.

 

---

 

Thinking about getting another Camponotus aeneopilosus setup going in this nest

Yeah like the very first colony I ever had, at the start of this journal, where the queen died after 2 nanitics and 10 eggs....

Edited by CoolColJ, August 13 2018 - 2:08 PM.