14 replies to this topic

[Shifty189]

4/10/2018

Hi everyone, this will be my very first Journal on my very first ant colony! I’m hoping that it turns out for the best, but since its so early in the process I’m not getting my hopes up to much yet. Any advice would not only be appresheated, but that’s one of the main reasons for starting this journal (the other would be to show off my girls ) So please keep in mind that I am not a professional writer.

 

​Also, I have been keeping this journal for some time, but am only now feeling conferrable posting it online so there will be a bit of a back log.

 

 

Today I found a Dorymyrmex bureni queen at work. I was sitting by the stairs and she just walked up to me. I hope she makes it

 

I took her rite home and into a test tube setup (AC test tube). I’ll check on her in a week or so and see how she is doing.

 

Edited by Shifty189, May 4 2018 - 10:40 AM.

[Shifty189]

4/12/2018

My Dorymyrmex queen laid eggs! I’m very excited about his, but I’m also worried. She got panikd when I checked her, so I quickly put her back in the dark to continue her work of founding a colony. 

P.S. I have given her a name! I will call her Dora

Edited by Shifty189, May 4 2018 - 10:40 AM.

[Shifty189]

4/22/2018

 

 

So I checked on her today and took a good measurement. She is about 8mm in length, and she had a nice pile of eggs. I attempted to give her some hony, but she didn’t seam very interested so I cleaned it out. 

 

In the above photo the top side of the ruler  is cm and the bottom is inch

[Shifty189]

4/30/2018

 

 

Got a macro lense today that clips onto my phone. It doesnt produce the best quality images, but for $7 I can’t beat it. 

 

Anyways, Dora is doing good and I have confirmation of larva

 

[Shifty189]

5/2/2018

 

 

I decided to try and feed Dora a small amount of pure clover honey tonight. She accepted it without much hesitation. Unfortunately I didn’t get a great look at the brood. There certainly is no pupa yet, but I can’t say that I noticed any larva either. I wouldn’t be surprised if they where still here and I just didn’t see them because as soon as I put the test tube in the light, the queen moved all the brood next to the water side cotton. Hopefully the meal serves her well. 

 

The photo shows the queen “Dora" feeding on a small drop of honey. 

[Shifty189]

Just a quick update. I couldn’t help myself and checked ok Dora again. I was able to confirm she still has larva

 

[Shifty189]

I checked in on Dora again today and found that her pupa are close to eclosing. 

 

[Shifty189]

I decided to put these girls and a small out world. I put a small section of straw through the Cotton as an exit point.  They have still not made an exit, but I have seen ants going into the straw to explore so I don’t think it will be long before they explore beyond the tube

 

I set half of a small cricket for them, along with some honey water in a small test tube. 

[Shifty189]

Very sad news. The test tube with the honey water started leaking from the cotton (no idea why) and partially flooded the out world. This killed five workers, and now this small colony is down to only three workers. The good news is it looks like the next generation is coming along nicely. I suspect two weeks or so before they hatch.

If anybody knows what would make the car and leak fluid like that, please let me know.

[super_oil]

I used to keep this species, but they always died off shortly after founding for reasons I do not know, perhaps I was taking care of them incorrectly. I don't know much about them but I've seen them carrying Solenopsis invicta alates and drones into their nest, so maybe you can add them to the mix of proteins.

 

I saw a care sheet written last year by 123LordOfAnts123, it might help you out.

 

"Despite how common they are and how numerous delate queens can be, they can be a bit of a sensitive species. They do best in warmer temperatures ranging from 78-82 degrees. Queens and even colonies seem to have a high failure rate with most never quite taking off while others may thrive. Once workers have arrived they eagerly take to carbohydrates but protein can be harder to get them to accept. Small and sometimes desiccated insects are the key at first. They seem to be incredibly efficient at processing and utilizing small amounts of protein that other ants might not normally touch, likewise with them for the most part avoiding conventional protein items. A heat lamp in the outworld can help stimulate worker activity and foraging but is not absolutely necessary. They can acclimate to light but always remain sensitive to slight vibrations.

Most literature seems to state they max out at somewhere between 400-600 workers. My largest colony grew to around 300 after 6 months before I got rid of them. "

 

Original link: http://www.formicult...heet/?hl=bureni

Edited by super_oil, June 2 2018 - 7:36 AM.

[Shifty189]

Thank you for this. I have read over this in the past, but it’s good to have the link. I have had some good luck with them taking small crickets, rite up till I drown half of them ☹️

I’m considering brood boosting this colony, but I don’t know if I want to lower my chances with another queen of this species like that.

[super_oil]

Thank you for this. I have read over this in the past, but it’s good to have the link. I have had some good luck with them taking small crickets, rite up till I drown half of them ☹️

I’m considering brood boosting this colony, but I don’t know if I want to lower my chances with another queen of this species like that.

If you do want to brood boost them, it is important to know that their pupae are very fragile.

[Shifty189]

After some time now, these girls have built there numbers up to about 10 again. With the mandibles to spare I decided to give them a new nest, this on should last them for some time. It’s an auts ants acrylic nest size 2. They took some persuading to leave there tube, and even then they took 2 days to move from a tube section to the actual nest. Ants, go figure. The outworld section is a large Tupperware plastered to give a large flat section covered with a thin layer of sanitized soil and rocks as substrait for them to use. After having it all set up, I do wish that I used light colored sand instead, as it would give a better contrast against the ants. 

 

I fed them a fruit fly and some honey, and filled a large test tube with pure water for them to enjoy, and left them in the dark to settle in. 

 

[Shifty189]

Over the past few day i have been dealing with invaders into this colony's territory. On Thursday (6/21/2018) when i check on these girls in the morning, i found that there sugar water tube was filled with feral ants. when i checked further i found them all over the outworld. I took immediate action (in spite of occupational promptness) by blocking the tube leading to the nest with some cotton. I then removed the sugar water tube from the outworld and cleaned it out. I found that despite my cleaning of the area with pure white vinager the feral ants found an opening in the lid to my outworld. I have some "bug net" cloth glued to the lid of this tuperware container via hot glue. turns out this wasn't the best idea on my part, as there is small opening that tiny ants are able to slip past. I'll also note here that i have the inside and the outside of the outworld treated with a thin layer of PTFE to prevent any ants from entering or leaving the outworld, but these feral ants are somehow able to cross the barrier.

Anyhow, I was able to prevent further access to the outworld by securing the netting on the lid with some duct tape. From there i left the lid off for some time to allow the feral ants time to leave, since there is nothing they could want in the outworld anymore. I also placed done a large amount of Terro bait next to the outworld to feed the feral colony. They quickly took the bait, and now a few days later are nowhere to be found.

threwout the ordeal these girls seam to have taken some casualty's. I'm guessing that they lost 5 to 10 works in total. I have no choice but write this off as a lerning experience for me, and hope that i don't make this mistake again in the future.

Edited by Shifty189, June 24 2018 - 4:30 AM.

[Shifty189]

There isn't much to report here, but i see a population boom on its way. These girls can't get enough protein! I have feed them superworms, crickets, fruit flys, and even a wild turmite that ended up in there outworld.