14 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

Pic of my recently deceased red/black to maybe all black Pheidole queens.

To the casual eye, these all look like the same species , but as you can see the size ranges from 6mm to 8mm, and they are not the same colour patterns and shape.

They are often sold around here as species #2

 

The largest two live queens I have are closer to 9mm

 

click for bigger

 

 

 

These two are my largest, in length and girth, Slightly larger than the ones below, and even bigger gaster.

 

 

 

These three are around 8-9mm. red headed, the majors I believe are also red headed

 

 

Edited by CoolColJ, April 22 2018 - 4:20 PM.

[StayLoki]

They're beautiful queens!! Great pictures!
Not sure if they're my cup of tea, but they are a beautiful ruby/onyx color huh? Wow 👀

[CoolColJ]

They're beautiful queens!! Great pictures!
Not sure if they're my cup of tea, but they are a beautiful ruby/onyx color huh? Wow 👀

 

 

Well the minor workers will be mostly black looking, while the majors will have a dark purple to dark red head, depending on light.

Although in bright sunlight they can all appear more red'ish

 

I think they will end up looking like these, 6-7mm majors, with the possibility of super majors

 

 

[StayLoki]

I'm totally unfamiliar with Pheidole.. I see they're subfamily is Myrmicinae..
Are they carpenter ants or soil lovers?
Just curious..

[StayLoki]

I enjoy the pictures anyway..
If you guys keep desensitizing me, at this rate I'll be keeping termites and spiders

Edited by StayLoki, April 23 2018 - 3:09 PM.

[CoolColJ]

I'm totally unfamiliar with Pheidole.. I see they're subfamily is Myrmicinae..
Are they carpenter ants or soil lovers?
Just curious..

 

Soil dwellers

 

All species tend to have small 2-3mm minor workers and larger class of majors with large heads. in some cases the size difference between the minors and majors are really big.

A few species also can develop even larger super majors

They also like seeds and nuts in addition to the regular diet of ants.

 

These are some smaller red species from my side pavement

 

 

 

And larger black ones from my backyard at the start and end of this video, enjoying some raw macadamia I dropped

While a major stands guard

 

Edited by CoolColJ, April 23 2018 - 3:22 PM.

[StayLoki]

Are they in the us? Is this something I could come across?
I really don't recall any red&blk ants around my parts..

Edited by StayLoki, April 23 2018 - 3:38 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Are they in the us? Is this something I could come across?
I really don't recall any red&blk ants around my parts..

 

Yes, they can be found worldwide. Probably the most wide spread genus.

 

The thing is if you only see the minor workers, you would just think they are just some small ant.

You won't know they are Pheidole until the majors come out, which they rarely do, but some large food that the minor workers have issues with breaking up and carrying can coax them out

 

They are also easy to keep, feed and grow pretty fast.

I mean even the black ones in my yard went for a greasy Pizza Hutt potato gem

 

Edited by CoolColJ, April 23 2018 - 3:48 PM.

[StayLoki]

Oooh maybe I have seen these... I thought they were harvester ants or maybe l.niger
Could have been these, they're smaller than I thought

Edited by StayLoki, April 23 2018 - 4:08 PM.

[CoolColJ]

My largest dual Pheidole queen's first nanitic worker

These two queens are 9mm, with chunky build and bigger gasters than the others.
The nanitic is barely 2mm if that

click to enlarge

Edited by CoolColJ, April 24 2018 - 1:21 AM.

[super_oil]

Very beautiful ants. The native Pheidoles I have here are mostly pretty small. It's very hard for me to identify what species a Pheidole colony is just by looking at the workers because the genus is so diverse. I really want either dentata or obscurithorax because they are the only ones here that are relatively large as Pheidole species.

[CoolColJ]

Even though these ants are polygynous, it seems so hard to keep the queens together all the way through.

 

Either they fight, and cull the weak.

 

And even after the nanitics arrive queens can get banished and be out cast like they did in the above dual queens

They are up to 7 nanitics now, but over the last few days, one queen has been hanging out near the entrance side cotton... and she doesn't budge from there.

So it's safe to say she has been outcast

 

Edited by CoolColJ, May 13 2018 - 11:19 PM.

[StayLoki]

Survival of the fittest.
You can't tell an ant it doesn't have to compete for resources..
..even if it's a polygynous sp. I don't get why people try to keep them together 🐉

[CoolColJ]

Survival of the fittest.
You can't tell an ant it doesn't have to compete for resources..
..even if it's a polygynous sp. I don't get why people try to keep them together

Because it saves test tubes/nests

And faster growth etc.

I did end up moving the banished queen to her own test tube this week.
Add some raw honey on a foil for her, and a small piece of raw macadamia. She ended up laying 3 eggs of her own

click to enlarge

[CoolColJ]

 

Two different Pheidole species ants munching on raw almonds.

The black ones have larger majors with bigger heads, and are probably the second largest species here.

I think I currently have queens of both types, plus a few other types, with the black ones currently into young colony status, while of the red types, only one has eggs, while the others are most likely waiting till spring to start laying