1787 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

That is some subtly beautiful coloration on that species! Would love to see a journal on this species eventually.

 

Here is a 2 year old colony from a friend I had here briefly, before I posted it to someone

Crazy fast growth for a species of this size!

About 50 workers and 15 cocoons....

 

https://www.instagra.../p/CMJAPFxAK04/

[CoolColJ]

Autumn 8th March 2021
 
Polyrachis ammon 12mm queen
Small 3D printed founding nest - heating cable taped against one side
3 donated cocoons

Of the 6 donated cocoons I found for her, 1 was discarded which I fed to my Pheidole antipodum colony.
Another she left outside, she reclaimed

Last week one cocoon eclosed a disabled worker, which died a day later....and she disposed of the body
Today she finally got a healthy worker.
Leaving 3 cocoons

The worker will help her get going as winter approaches hopefully.

[Antcatcherpro3]

Ah man too bad. I know this is being posted 3 years later but that still sucks. I have a ant farm like that.

 

OH my Camponotus Aeneopilosus queen just died!! 
 
I saw her lying on her side and shone the LED light from my magnifier on her, and she moved her antenna a bit, but now she is motionless on her back
I was wondering why she moved from ontop the water tower to the side last night....
 
Now I'm second guessing whether the Atom C odour killed her or she died from natural causes 
One worker is still fussing over her.
I squirted some water on her from a syringe and she didn't react
 

[CoolColJ]

Autumn 11th March 2021
 
Pheidole sp. red 7mm queens x 2
16mm test tube on heat cable - exposed to light
 
Colony 1 - about 15+ workers now, and some brood
 
Colony 2 - 40+ workers now, lots of brood
Hmm not sure what happened, but they had 2 majors, and now I can't see them any where?!
I suspect they may have been killed off, even though they had bloated gasters and were used as repletes
I can see what I think may be major heads on the rubbish pile, but who knows....
Possibly the majors were brought in too early, with only 30 odd workers at the time


Polyrachis ammon 12mm queen
Small 3D printed founding nest - heat cable attached on one side
2 workers - 2 donated cocoons

So second worker from donated cocoons has eclosed.
Queen is holding one of the cocoons against the wall where the heat cable is attached

 

She still hasn't laid her own eggs though

Edited by CoolColJ, March 11 2021 - 5:13 AM.

[Kaelwizard]

 

Ah man too bad. I know this is being posted 3 years later but that still sucks. I have a ant farm like that.

 

OH my Camponotus Aeneopilosus queen just died!! 
 
I saw her lying on her side and shone the LED light from my magnifier on her, and she moved her antenna a bit, but now she is motionless on her back
I was wondering why she moved from ontop the water tower to the side last night....
 
Now I'm second guessing whether the Atom C odour killed her or she died from natural causes 
One worker is still fussing over her.
I squirted some water on her from a syringe and she didn't react
 
 

 

Yes, it's sad, but it is a 3 year old post and you commenting on it is pointless and I'm sure CoolColJ doesn't appreciate pointless posts taking up space in his journal.

Autumn 11th March 2021
 
Pheidole sp. red 7mm queens x 2
16mm test tube on heat cable - exposed to light
 
Colony 1 - about 15+ workers now, and some brood
 
Colony 2 - 40+ workers now, lots of brood
Hmm not sure what happened, but they had 2 majors, and now I can't see them any where?!
I suspect they may have been killed off, even though they had bloated gasters and were used as repletes
I can see what I think may be major heads on the rubbish pile, but who knows....
Possibly the majors were brought in too early, with only 30 odd workers at the time


Polyrachis ammon 12mm queen
Small 3D printed founding nest - heat cable attached on one side
2 workers - 2 donated cocoons

So second worker from donated cocoons has eclosed.
Queen is holding one of the cocoons against the wall where the heat cable is attached

 

She still hasn't laid her own eggs though

At least she accepted the pupae. Maybe having workers will encourage her to lay.

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 2

Queen 10, former member of dual queen - simple tub and tubes
3000+? workers and some majors of all sizes - massive brood pile spread across 3 test tubes

So the population has exploded. now filling up 3 test tubes, 2 filled with brood. And the third 20mm test tube has a small pile of brood.
Lots of ants in and outside.
I added a third 20mm test tube for water, but all the other ones are bone dry.... guess they don't mind low humidity.

I fed them some freeze dried meal worms and they love it, unlike my other ants.
Probably because they come from an arid area and dried up food is the norm

Queen 5 - 20mm test tube - simple tub and tubes
100+ workers and small majors - medium size pile of brood

So this queen/colony is back on it's feet after nearly being wiped out by mites in the old THA nest which didn't vent air well with the lid on, the mesh is way too small!
Way too humid for these desert ants.
This colony used to be larger than the one above, so it's well behind now.

Their test tube is about dry so I temporarily put it into a container and opened it up for easy feeding and access to another test tube of water.
I put a bit of cotton on the test tube with a small gap for an entrance, and they have plugged more crap on it
They have constant small amount of workers on the honey and a small trail to the water tube.


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

So I was going to put them into a larger nest, but their numbers have stayed fairly constant for a while now
I think this is as large as a colony as they get to in the wild, around 300-500
Season 3 just about done, maybe we will see alates next season?




Other ants

 

I captured a smaller Iridomyrmex species queen a few days ago, and she already has a pile of 10+ eggs after 3 days, while exposed to light... too easy!

Probably just gonna raise and then release like the last one, but I think the workers will look different.

This queen came from a bush area and was really iridescent green outside

 

Also found a Myrmecia nigrocinta queen , which i won't be keeping.

Once she lays she will have a new owner.

Edited by CoolColJ, March 11 2021 - 5:30 AM.

[antsandmore]

any pictures coming soon? your pictures are awesome.

[CoolColJ]

any pictures coming soon? your pictures are awesome.

Pheidole antipodum, the others nothing much has changed

[CoolColJ]

I can confirm baby oil stops my strobe ants cold - they can't make any headway through it

 

now i can observe them in peace and without stress

[CoolColJ]

After years of seeing the workers and uncovering nests in my area, I have finally found a Polyrachis ammon queen!
Found her under a rock this afternoon

She is around 12mm
 
click

 

 

RIP, she passed away last night....
she had 3 workers from the donated cocoons.
I saw her in the outworld trying to climb the sides a few hours before I saw her lying on her back, one leg twitching a bit, with a worker above her....
This makes two Polyrachis queens that have died in this nest, within a few weeks.

My 3 year old P.rufifemur queen also died here. Makes me wonder if there is some toxity in the nest.
Will see what happens to the 3 workers

[Kaelwizard]

NO!!!

[Lillyrose]

I'm so sorry:-( that sucks

[CoolColJ]

Myrmecia fulvipes, bull ant, 17-18mm queen
Small AusAnts ytong nest - in small outworld

 

RIP, it appears my fulvipes queen of 3 years is about to die.

She was very weak in the outworld and slowly twitching her legs lying on her side...

 

 

She had 1 worker and 2 lots of brood in the first year, but nothing since they all passed away.

The last year she has been tapping her gaster and seemed not normal.

 

 

[Lillyrose]

Awww I'm sorry :-( that really sucks

[CoolColJ]

Video update of my largest of my Pheidole antipodum colonies - 15mm queen

 

I think they are around 5000 strong now, or maybe higher, hard to count them

There two larger majors in the 7-8mm range, but still no super majors which should be around 2/3 the size of the queen.

 

https://www.instagra.../p/COcnRu_gmD8/

[Antkeeper01]

update?

[CoolColJ]

update?

Spring only just started not much has happened here

 

Although I did move my regular red Pheidole colony out of a test tube into a small nest

 

Spotted one of the biggest Pheidole antipodum majors yet, close to 8mm, but still smaller than the largest super majors

[Antkeeper01]

 

update?

Spring only just started not much has happened here

 

Although I did move my regular red Pheidole colony out of a test tube into a small nest

 

Spotted one of the biggest Pheidole antipodum majors yet, close to 8mm, but still smaller than the largest super majors

 

sorry

[CoolColJ]

Colony update - Summer 13th March 2022

 

What I currently have - a lot of colonies died out

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

Numbers are down to 30% of peak, but there is a brood pile building up.
They don't eat much.
i assume they are a mature colony now, but not much happening


Melophorus sp.- black orange 7-8mm queen
Acrylic founding nest - heatcable
<5 workers - a few larvae, eggs?
 
I think season 4-5 now, and still under 10 workers.... I did see some brood, but they are so slow
 
 
Pheidole sp. red 7mm queens x 2
Small clay nest inside an acrylic container

300-500? workers and some 10+ majors

 

They are doing well and are fun to interact with.

I see workers foraging on the table sometimes... since I haven't bothered with fluon...

They stay inside the nest mostly.

Majors are always bloated, so I rarely feed them, maybe once a fortnite.

I never see then take the honey much, but love the roaches and nuts I give them

 

Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queen
Queen 10, former member of dual queen - simple tub and tubes
5000-1000? workers and some majors of all sizes - massive brood pile spread across 4 test tubes

 

Quick update of my last and largest of my Pheidole antipodum colonies

I guess they are getting near  10000 strong now

 

I just had one of last two colonies' queen just die out of the blue, without me noticing for a couple of weeks.... after a few more weeks I moved in the remaining workers/brood into my last big colony

and they happily accepted the test tube of brood and workers, but I did see a smaller major get killed off.

 

They do seem to accept ants from other colonies no problems from what I have seen.

 

The queen of this colony was moved out of that tube she was in before, and into the blocked up one at the top of tub one night, without me noticing.

They have exploded a bit with 4 test tubes worth of brood.

A few large majors, but still no super majors

 

They clean up food so fast now!

 

https://www.instagra.../p/CbAx-shAX-2/

 

dry test tubes not a problem for them. I just squirt some water into a cotton filled cap for them, and some drops here and there.

[ANTdrew]

Good to see you back.