1787 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

Winter 25th June 2019


Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 4
All setups 20mm test tube and a styro foam double chamber entrance

Heat cable
Queen 10 - former partner of Dual queen setup 2
50+ workers - some large larvae, medium stack of brood
Queen 11 - former partner of Dual queen setup 2
20+ workers - small pile of brood

Queen 4 with red dirt
8 nanitics from donated brood, small clump of unhatched 4-5 month old 15+ eggs
Queen 5 - bare test tube - balled up tissue acting as a chamber in front of the styrofoam chamber entrance
200? workers - some large larvae, massive teaspoon sized brood pile

Regarding queen 5's colony...
 

So Pheidole antipodum queen 5's colony pushed their styrofoam chamber entrance, against the bit of balled up tissue I put at the front of the of the test tube yesterday
And piled most of the brood against it, and then today I see the queen hanging onto it, with workers riding her.
I was puzzled, but it looks like some condensation has formed and dripped down to the test tube bottom.
That styrofoam is also pretty chewed up now

click

Ok I know why they did this now, the tunnel they dug into the water cotton caused the water chamber to lose vaccum so it started to slowly leak out...
lucky I had that balled up tissue in there as it was really damp... I was wondering why the water level dropped so quickly.

At first I tried to open up the test tube in a fluon lined container with a new test tube (with styrofoam chamber entrance butting against it, with all the tissue and styrofoam pulled out,
but the brood was water logged and stuck fast on the glass.
Then I tried using those 3D printed test tube connectors, plus heat cable on the new tube, and then they did move some across, but I cracked the old test tube in doing so
(grrr I have cracked so many test tubes on these things!)

Even more water leaked out, so in the end I tipped the queen across, opened the test tube again in the container and scared the queen into the chamber.
Then put the old, now broken test tube against it, and over time most of the brood was moved across as the water dried out.
There are still a lot of workers hanging around in the old tube and 20% chilling out in the now empty water chamber of the old tube they dug into....

Also you can hear the ants chewing on the styrofoam

click



The current largest major prefers to stay in the old broken tube... plus 2 larvae...
In a few days time I will dump them all out and pull put the cotton and reunite them with the queen

Edited by CoolColJ, July 13 2019 - 7:38 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 30th June 2019

Colobopsis macrocephala 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
4 workers, 1 large larvae

I noticed a dead worker today.
So the first nanitic has passed away... she was born on the 20th February, so she lived for 4 months

The rest of workers were born within 1-2 months of her, so they might end up all dying before the end of winter...

 

 

[CoolColJ]

Winter 2nd July 2019


Camponotus aeneopilosus aka golden tail sugar ant - 12mm queen
16mm test tube - styrofoam double chamber setup - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
10+ small to large larvae

So 3 weeks since my last update on her - I checked up on her in my incubator, and her brood, larvae, are still just that, no cocoons!
Some have been quite large for 6 months now, and it's like they haven't developed at all, even at 27 degrees average....
The first cocoon that eclosed into a drone only took about 2 months.

The water in her test tube had dried out, so I dumped her into a new one, and gave her a dish of raw honey.
Will check again in a couple of weeks time. She still has around 10 or so small to large larave.

I did see some stuff that looks like cocoon shells against the styrofoam in her old test tube.... maybe she is killing and eating them?

As soon as I took her test tube out, she was slowly moved her brood to the back of the test tube.
Not too stressed, but cautious. All her brood are neatly stacked together.

Edited by CoolColJ, July 2 2019 - 12:43 AM.

[BeginnerAntKeeper]

Update?

[CoolColJ]

Winter 14th July 2019

Slow going since it's winter here, so not much to report in most of my colonies.
The brood just don't seem to be developing much in most of my colonies, but Pheidole ones are still growing somewhat


Colobopsis macrocephala 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
4 workers

So their only larvae is gone, I see what appears to be the remains of it on top where the heat cable is...
So they ate it.



Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 4
All setups 20mm test tube and a styro foam double chamber entrance

Heat cable
Queen 10 - former partner of Dual queen setup 2
50+ workers - some large larvae, medium stack of brood
Queen 11 - former partner of Dual queen setup 2
20+ workers - small pile of brood

Queen 4 with red dirt
8 nanitics from donated brood, small clump of unhatched 4-5 month old 15+ eggs
Queen 5 - bare test tube - balled up tissue acting as a chamber in front of the styrofoam chamber entrance
200? workers - some large larvae, massive teaspoon sized brood pile

Queen 11 has small pile of her brood since she was separated, that appeared to developing.
Along with a few larger larvae from her original dual queen colony

Still no progress on Queen 4's brood, they just don't develop
Which seems to be a fairly common issue with this species.


Queen 5's colony - I saw the head of the largest major so far of all the colonies getting dragged and carried around...
either she passed away or she was beheaded. S
She didn't live for that long so it makes me wonder...
And no replacement or the same size. There are some smaller majors.
They still have a large brood pile of all worker and major sizes


red Pheidole queen 6-7mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
5+ nanitics - small clump of eggs/larvae/pupa

Brood developing well, despite the cold.
They don't use the heat cable

Edited by CoolColJ, July 13 2019 - 7:39 AM.

[Acutus]

Winter 25th June 2019


Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 4
All setups 20mm test tube and a styro foam double chamber entrance

Heat cable
Queen 10 - former partner of Dual queen setup 2
50+ workers - some large larvae, medium stack of brood
Queen 11 - former partner of Dual queen setup 2
20+ workers - small pile of brood

Queen 4 with red dirt
8 nanitics from donated brood, small clump of unhatched 4-5 month old 15+ eggs
Queen 5 - bare test tube - balled up tissue acting as a chamber in front of the styrofoam chamber entrance
200? workers - some large larvae, massive teaspoon sized brood pile

Regarding queen 5's colony...
 

So Pheidole antipodum queen 5's colony pushed their styrofoam chamber entrance, against the bit of balled up tissue I put at the front of the of the test tube yesterday
And piled most of the brood against it, and then today I see the queen hanging onto it, with workers riding her.
I was puzzled, but it looks like some condensation has formed and dripped down to the test tube bottom.
That styrofoam is also pretty chewed up now

click

Ok I know why they did this now, the tunnel they dug into the water cotton caused the water chamber to lose vaccum so it started to slowly leak out...
lucky I had that balled up tissue in there as it was really damp... I was wondering why the water level dropped so quickly.

At first I tried to open up the test tube in a fluon lined container with a new test tube (with styrofoam chamber entrance butting against it, with all the tissue and styrofoam pulled out,
but the brood was water logged and stuck fast on the glass.
Then I tried using those 3D printed test tube connectors, plus heat cable on the new tube, and then they did move some across, but I cracked the old test tube in doing so
(grrr I have cracked so many test tubes on these things!)

Even more water leaked out, so in the end I tipped the queen across, opened the test tube again in the container and scared the queen into the chamber.
Then put the old, now broken test tube against it, and over time most of the brood was moved across as the water dried out.
There are still a lot of workers hanging around in the old tube and 20% chilling out in the now empty water chamber of the old tube they dug into....

Also you can hear the ants chewing on the styrofoam

click



The current largest major prefers to stay in the old broken tube... plus 2 larvae...
In a few days time I will dump them all out and pull put the cotton and reunite them with the queen

 

I can't get over how much larger the Queen is than the rest!! It's amazing!!

 

OH, and we need more Strobe Ant Pics!!!!     

Edited by Acutus, July 13 2019 - 8:21 AM.

[CoolColJ]

I can't get over how much larger the Queen is than the rest!! It's amazing!!
 
OH, and we need more Strobe Ant Pics!!!!     

How about an older video of them feeding on a roach?

Note the girl spraying formic acid on the roach... I never knew they did that, and I finally captured it on video!

[CoolColJ]

Winter 21st July 2019


Colobopsis macrocephala 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
3 workers

Another nanitic died. Saw her body dumped onto the raw honey at the front.
Down to 3, and all will likely be dead before spring comes around...

Been thinking about releasing them...

[Acutus]

 

I can't get over how much larger the Queen is than the rest!! It's amazing!!
 
OH, and we need more Strobe Ant Pics!!!!     

How about an older video of them feeding on a roach?

Note the girl spraying formic acid on the roach... I never knew they did that, and I finally captured it on video!

 

 

Awesome!

[CoolColJ]

Winter 22nd July 2019


Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 4
All setups 20mm test tube and a styro foam double chamber entrance

Heat cable
Queen 10 - former partner of Dual queen setup 2
50+ workers - some large larvae, medium stack of brood
Queen 11 - former partner of Dual queen setup 2
20 workers - small pile of brood

Queen 4 with red dirt
11 workers (3 mini majors) from donated brood, small clump of unhatched 4-5 month old 15+ eggs
Queen 5 - bare test tube - balled up tissue acting as a chamber in front of the styrofoam chamber entrance
200? workers - some large larvae, massive teaspoon sized brood pile


Queen 4's tube had no visible water left so I moved them to a new tube.
I didn't have the patience to wait for them to move and at this colony size of 11 or so, I doubt they would.
So I just tip them across and thankfully the eggs fell across as well. The queen didn't even react, just had mop up a few workers and move them across.
Put their old styrofoam chamber entrance in after.
The water cotton was a touch wet and workers sensed it and started plucking some styrofoam and placing it agains the wet cotton....
thankfully they stopped later on

With queen 5 and 10's colonies getting a handful feeding them in their test tubes, I figure it's time to move queen 11 on.
I waited till she laid her own brood, and to see if they would develop normally first, since been separated from the dual queen setup.
And they have, some small larvae and tons of eggs.
All her current workers and large larvae are from her former dual queen colony.

farewell pic before I send her off tommorrow.

click

Edited by CoolColJ, July 23 2019 - 4:43 AM.

[CoolColJ]

feeding time for my largest Pheidole Antipodum colony - boy they love their raw honey!
Here they are piling ontop each other and literally fighting their way to the honey and a piece of roach... standing room only!
 
They are supposed to have army ant style foraging behaviour... more than half the colony piled up here, probably over 100
 
click

One of the larger mini majors trying to get a look in





meanwhile back in the Queen's chamber

Edited by CoolColJ, July 25 2019 - 2:19 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 29th July 2019


Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen
Atom C nest inside circular outworld
100+ workers, tons of brood

So Fluon does not stop these girls... and a whole bunch of them were chilling on the mesh trap door lid of their outworld
They are pretty chill with good eyesight, and don't tend to want to escape or run around madly.
So I popped the lid open to do some maintenance and replace their water and honey.

Usually I get 1-2 coming out, but this time I let 10 odd out...some were crawling on my hands, and a few around on the table etc!
Things looked to be out of control but after I put their nest/outworld combo inside a tub/container, and then one by one got each worker onto a cotton bud and tapped them back into their outworld.
And shooing any worker trying to come outside at the same time.
Phew got them all back in!

I put more fluon on the underside of the mesh trap door frame, and even one of them stood upside down on the fluon and still got the mesh to chill out...!
Lucky they are not aggressive and escape artists.
Amazing grip...


Melophorus sp.- black orange 7-8mm queen
Acrylic founding nest - heatcable
5 workers

Still no brood

They have dragged all the roach bits I have feeding them from the last couple of months and stacked them up like a wall near the water side of their narrow acrylic founding nest...


The other species of Melophorus I have, where the queen died, still has 1 major, 2 medial and 3 minor workers alive.
Even though I no longer update on them, I don't have the heart to kill them
They just sit in their nest day and night, motionless


Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
8 workers, 5 large larvae, 1 egg

The larvae haven't developed much, winter, but the queen decided to lay a new egg!
I noticed it just now, on top where the heat cable is, along with 3 of the larvae.
Even then the heat does not seem to be helping development



Myrmecia fulvipes, bull ant, 17-18mm queen
20mm test tube - in small outworld
1 worker - no brood

Fed them a roach bit, the first time in a while.
They usually reject it, but this time they dragged it back in and the queen fed on it for a bit before they dumped it back outside.

And they must be dragging the foil that covers their test back towards the water side, as every time I look, it appears to have shifted position, even though I keep moving it back...



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

Still can't believe her larvae have paused and still not cocooning after 4+ months.
The incubator holds a steady 27 degrees all round the clock as well.

Edited by CoolColJ, July 28 2019 - 10:44 AM.

[Kaelwizard]

Strobe ants are my favorite. Too bad they don’t live here.

[CoolColJ]

Strobe ants are my favorite. Too bad they don’t live here.

Only found in Australia, and not where I live in Australia as well

[CoolColJ]

Winter 3rd August 2019


Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
8 workers, 5 large larvae, 3 eggs

I just noticed 2 new eggs. Unexpected in the middle of winter....


red Pheidole queen 6-7mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
15 workers - small clump of eggs/larvae/pupa

Damn, quite a population jump since I last updated on them.

Some 8 new workers, and more on the way soon

The first major should not be far off

 

Still not sure if I will keep them. Small and cute.

 

[Kaelwizard]

Strobe ants are my favorite. Too bad they don’t live here.

Only found in Australia, and not where I live in Australia as well

So you still have to travel a little to get them?

[CoolColJ]

 

 

Strobe ants are my favorite. Too bad they don’t live here.

Only found in Australia, and not where I live in Australia as well

So you still have to travel a little to get them?

 

 

Yeah AFAIK they found in two other states in Australia. Never heard of any in my state, but perhaps out of the city areas there might be some.

The climate and terrain is quite varied across Australia

 

 

 

Winter 4th August 2019


Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
8 workers, 1 cocoon, 4 large larvae, 3 eggs

I see a new cocoon, which spun overnight

First one in a while. This one took well over 2 months to get here.

 

This colony is so sensitive to vibration, even casually rubbing the cotton plug with your fingers will alarm them!

Doing the same for my other ants, and they barely bat an eye lid.

On the other hand being exposed to light 24-7 doesn't bother them one bit

Edited by CoolColJ, August 4 2019 - 3:57 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Friend has a small colony of desert species of trap jaws available for trade, which I am thinking about...

This species likes it dry so very easy to look after

 

colony is less than 6 months old and already this big

 

Odontomachus ruficeps I think

 

Edited by CoolColJ, August 4 2019 - 4:10 AM.

[TennesseeAnts]

You should definitely get those!

[Kaelwizard]

You had colonies of them though. Right?