18 replies to this topic

[YsTheAnt]

YsTheAnt's Camponotus hyatti Journal

 

These have been on my to-catch list this year, so I walked a block away at night and plucked some queens off a tree during a nuptial flight . They were all found sometime late March or early April, over the course of one or two weeks.

I currently have three queens, one queen with a reddish head, and two with black heads. One of the black head ones I have was caught in my pool, and it shed all but one of its wings. The other queen with a black head has two nanitics. The other queens all have pupae. For now, I will just include images of the one that has workers, and will update this when the others get their nanitics.



That is the one queen with two workers. The newer one is hiding under the queen, but you can see her antennae poking out.

Edited by YsTheAnt, June 6 2018 - 3:26 PM.

[nurbs]

Come on guys, you should know how to embed by now!

 

 

 

 

These have been on my to-catch list this year, so I walked a block away at night and plucked some queens off a tree during a nuptial flight . They were all found sometime late March or early April, over the course of one or two weeks.

I currently have three queens, one queen with a reddish head, and two with black heads. One of the black head ones I have was caught in my pool, and it shed all but one of its wings. The other queen with a black head has two nanitics. The other queens all have pupae. For now, I will just include images of the one that has workers, and will update this when the others get their nanitics.

[/IMG]Second C. Hyatti worker https://imgur.com/gallery/vtpPF3m[/IMG]

That is the one queen with two workers. The newer one is hiding under the queen, but you can see her antennae poking out.

[sirjordanncurtis]

That's pretty good

Wish I could get a better view of the second worker though.

How often do you check on her (them)?

Edited by sirjordanncurtis, May 10 2018 - 9:04 PM.

[YsTheAnt]

Come on guys, you should know how to embed by now!

These have been on my to-catch list this year, so I walked a block away at night and plucked some queens off a tree during a nuptial flight . They were all found sometime late March or early April, over the course of one or two weeks.

I currently have three queens, one queen with a reddish head, and two with black heads. One of the black head ones I have was caught in my pool, and it shed all but one of its wings. The other queen with a black head has two nanitics. The other queens all have pupae. For now, I will just include images of the one that has workers, and will update this when the others get their nanitics.

[/IMG]Second C. Hyatti worker https://imgur.com/gallery/vtpPF3m[/IMG]

That is the one queen with two workers. The newer one is hiding under the queen, but you can see her antennae poking out.

Fixed! I was working on getting it right just as you posted it , thanks though.

Edited by YsTheAnt, May 10 2018 - 9:17 PM.

[YsTheAnt]

That's pretty good
Wish I could get a better view of the second worker though.
How often do you check on her (them)?

I shouldn't do it this often, but I checked every day. I'm going to leave my lone queens alone for a few days now... I'll try to get better photos soon, probably tomorrow when I get done with some work I have.

Edited by YsTheAnt, May 10 2018 - 9:19 PM.

[Mettcollsuss]

 

 

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Looks just like my old C. nearcticus!

[Jadeninja9]

How do you have it so easy that you can just pick queens off trees. South Bay has it so easy.

Edited by Jadeninja9, May 11 2018 - 7:55 AM.

[YsTheAnt]

Update: 5/11/18

 

So I have some good news, and some terrible news. Lets start with the terrible. The colony in the above update was completely wiped out by a swarm of Tapinoma sessile, as since they are very flat, they were able to get through the gaps in the hinges of a pencil case from Daiso. On the bright side, I have one more queen that should get her first workers very soon, and was identical to the deceased one. She also has much more brood than the other one did. 

 

Also, my favorite C. hyatti queen I have, the reddish-head variety, just got her first worker! I currently have them in a petri-dish formicarium of my own design, similar to TarheelAnts' devolve chamber. Pics coming within the next day or two.

Edited by YsTheAnt, May 11 2018 - 4:15 PM.

[YsTheAnt]

How do you have it so easy that you can just pick queens off trees. South Bay has it so easy.

In reality I spent around three nights (9-10PM) out there, and the park that I hunt has a lot of cool species. I'm sure you have some good places near you, any forested area without argentines is prime ground for Camponotus Spp. Try looking tonight, I strongly think that there will be good Liometopum and Camponotus flights!

[sirjordanncurtis]

How do you have it so easy that you can just pick queens off trees. South Bay has it so easy.

 

He's not actually that* far from us.

[YsTheAnt]

Update: 6/6/18

 

I am left with one colony of these, with two workers still. I will update this with pictures if anything changes. Those dumb Tapinoma in my walls have killed off so many of my colonies , I decided to go on a killing spree. I think I killed off the bulk of the colony, but I will need to do more this summer.

[Jadeninja9]

Dude that sucks so much. Did your parents call pest control?

[YsTheAnt]

Dude that sucks so much. Did your parents call pest control?

Nah, just me vs. Tapinoma. I used 3 different baits all around the house, and sealed up cracks with Vaseline and baby powder. Not one feral ant on my desk in 3 weeks .

Edited by YsTheAnt, June 6 2018 - 6:44 PM.

[sirjordanncurtis]

How do they get into your nests?

I don’t really know those ants to be killers to be honest, just escape artists

[YsTheAnt]

They find the smallest gaps, I use pencil cases from daiso and the hinges are big enough for them to get through.

[Jadeninja9]

When I moved into the house I’m in now, last summer, there was a huge Argentine ant problem. They were all over the patio and we’re coming into my room. Pest control comes every month and I haven’t seen a single Argentine worker since last August.

[CoolColJ]

You could try applying white vinegar on the surface around your ant setups

Edited by CoolColJ, June 7 2018 - 1:16 AM.

[YsTheAnt]

Update: 6/24/18

The black head queen is up to 3 workers, the red head one has layed five eggs. I also boosted her with one worker from another colony, pictures to come soon.

Edited by YsTheAnt, July 19 2018 - 4:57 PM.

[YsTheAnt]

Update: 7/19/18

 

The black head queen has 5 workers now  ! She had 6, but I stole one of her workers to isolate and introduce to another queen. Yep, that's right, I got another one! I managed to find a queen and a few workers in a log, and caught the queen and one worker. The worker escaped just as the queen pooped out some eggs, so I am going to be transferring the one worker over in a few days. I want to wait a while before attempting this as I know it can work with this species (been there, done that), just need to give the worker(s) ample time before attempting introduction.

 

The red head queen is doing marvelous, she has about 15 eggs now. The one worker that I introduced to her is helping her out a lot too  . The pupae that I boosted them with ended up being alates, at least all but one. I had to manually tear open the cocoons and 'eclose' the workers myself since the queen and her one worker were too lazy to do it themselves. I knew the pupae were ready because I could actually see the ants inside squirming around, but the queen and worker did nothing about it. I separated the alates since they would just burden the small colony, and gave them a freshly eclosed worker.

 

These ants being lazy, evil monsters killed the little callow  . At least they got a good meal....

 

I made videos of both colonies. The video of the red-headed queen was taken before I had to open the pupae, hence why they are still there. Enjoy!