1787 replies to this topic

[Rstheant]

Pictures? CCJ quality?

[CoolColJ]

There you go, nothing has happened still the two of them there

 

The queen has been standing with her gaster pointed straight down lately, for hours at a time!

Kinda like an Aphaenogaster queen

She supports her body with her gaster tip....

 

Both are filled with honey, look at the black bands on their gaster

 

click

[TennesseeAnts]

This journal makes me wish I lived in Australia....

[Leo]

There you go, nothing has happened still the two of them there

 

The queen has been standing with her gaster pointed straight down lately, for hours at a time!

Kinda like an Aphaenogaster queen

She supports her body with her gaster tip....

 

Both are filled with honey, look at the black bands on their gaster

 

click

Mine are constantly feeding their larvae trophic eggs, 80% of the times I see the queen curled into a pretzel above her larvae while the workers glare at me and demand food.

[TennesseeAnts]

You have Myrmecia in Hong Kong?

[Rstheant]

He got it shipped. Hong Kong allows such things.

LUCKY

[TennesseeAnts]

Awww.

[Rstheant]

I know right? If I could, I would order a M.fulvipes right now!

[CoolColJ]

Well it's certainly illegal to ship ants out of here, so somebody smuggled them out

Unless your  Ant keeping Depot and only for a few species

Edited by CoolColJ, March 14 2019 - 6:29 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Autumn 14th march 2019

 

Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 6
All setups 20mm test tube and a styro foam double chamber entrance

Heat cable
1) Dual queen - red dirt - cleared all the red dirt and heaped up at the middle of the test tube
40+ workers - huge stack of brood
2) Dual queen
20 workers - medium stack of eggs, some donated brood from queen 5 and setup 1
4) Queen with red dirt
12+ nanitics, small clump of 15+ eggs, 5+ donated brood from queen 5
5) Queen - bare test tube
60+  workers - big stack of brood

 

All test tube are pretty much bare now, now that the ants have moved all the substrate out to cover the food I feed them

and barricade their styrofoam chamber entrance.

I even see some substrate on the sides of the exit cotton between it and the glass... too much airflow I guess

 

Setup 1 has a few larger sized larvae now

 

Queen 5 has a few even larger larvae.

And yesterday I spotted a major pupa with a head the same length as the current minors.. twice the length and width of the current mini major head sizes!

Edited by CoolColJ, March 14 2019 - 6:37 AM.

[Rstheant]

I think that Mrymecia fulvipes lays in batches like when you first acquired them.

[CoolColJ]

I think that Mrymecia fulvipes lays in batches like when you first acquired them.

 

Winter is 2 months away so maybe they are already shutting down

[CoolColJ]

Autumn 16th March 2019

Camponotus cf nigriceps 19mm queen, 20+mm when bloated
20mm test tube - heat cable
1 nanitic - 6 cocoons, 1 large, 4 small larvae

2 more cocoons spun. The next one should be soon.

[TennesseeAnts]

I think that Mrymecia fulvipes lays in batches like when you first acquired them.

Winter is 2 months away so maybe they are already shutting down

Winter?

Edit: Nevermind.

Edited by Ant_Dude2908, March 16 2019 - 6:44 AM.

[Rstheant]

How’s you suffusus doing?

[CoolColJ]

How’s you suffusus doing?

see my up and coming weekly update

[CoolColJ]

Colony update - Autumn 17th March 2019

Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen
Atom C nest inside circular outworld - tip of heat cable pressed against side of nest
70+ workers, 20+ cocoons, tons of brood

Saw the queen with an egg stuck on her gaster tip, so she's still laying


Melophorus sp.- black orange 7-8mm queen
Acrylic founding nest - heatcable
6 workers - brood?

These girls are a lost cause, still no brood that i can see.
Into second season now and still at 6 workers


Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
1 worker - 8 small larvae

zzzzz

click


Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
9 workers, 2 cocoons, 1 medium, 4 small larvae, 5 eggs

Every member of the colony is super bloated, the queen even more than last week!




Camponotus aeneopilosus aka golden tail sugar ant - 12mm queen
16mm test tube - styrofoam double chamber setup - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
1 drone - 15 large larvae

still no cocoons yet...


Camponotus cf nigriceps 19mm queen, 20+mm when bloated
20mm test tube - heat cable
1 nanitic - 6 cocoons, 1 large, 4 small larvae

They like the heat cable




Myrmecia fulvipes, bull ant, 17-18mm queen
20mm test tube - in small outworld
1 worker

Queen standing and walking around shaking her gaster, very odd.
Pointing it straight down.
maybe an egg is stuck...


Colobopsis macrocephala 9mm queen
16mm test tube - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
3 nanitics - 1 large, 2 medium, 7 eggs

3 nanitics now.
The second gen is well on the way. Queen has laid some new eggs
I saw a bit of a wing on the feeding dish, but she still her most of her wings...




Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 6
All setups 20mm test tube and a styro foam double chamber entrance

Heat cable
1) Dual queen - red dirt - cleared all the red dirt and heaped up at the middle of the test tube
50 workers - huge stack of brood
2) Dual queen
20+ workers - medium stack of eggs, some donated brood from queen 5 and setup 1
4) Queen with red dirt
15+ nanitics, small clump of 15+ eggs, 5+ donated brood from queen 5
5) Queen - bare test tube
70+ workers - big stack of brood

Setup 2 - finally getting going, their own brood is pupating. Their current workers are from donated brood.



Setup 1 - over 50 workers now I think, with a few mini majors. They have some larger sized larvae coming up



Queen 5 - has over 70 workers and quite a few mini majors, but there are some bigger girls coming up, and some bigger plump larvae 😎



That mini major with the dark head is the largest so far, but the pupa in the middle is by far the largest yet. Her head is about the same size as the small minor workers, and twice the size of the current mini majors. There are some other smaller major pupa as well, but bigger than the current mini majors. So when these eclose there will be 5 tiers of size



big headed girl pupa in the centre



The other bigger girls, one that is about to eclose, but smaller than the one above

[TennesseeAnts]

This is why I want Pheidole! I never knew they got 15 millimeters though.

[CoolColJ]

This is why I want Pheidole! I never knew they got 15 millimeters though.

There are only 3 species of Pheidole that I know of that are over 1cm in queen size.
Antipodum, Rhea and Sinica.
Most are under 1cm though

To be fair the Pheidole antipodum I have do not look like typical Pheidole.
The queens look like Carebara queens, minors look different, and the majors look like a cross between some Carebara and Dorylus
Plus the fact there are many different size of majors, whereas Pheidole typically only has one soldier caste, and in rare cases a super major caste.

The genus used to be Anisopheidole antipodum, which IMO should have been retained...

Carebara melasolina, from China, reminds me a bit of my antipodum so far

[Rstheant]

That queen is probably saying, “Get the hell off me!!!!!!!!!”

Edited by Rstheant, March 17 2019 - 9:23 AM.