150 replies to this topic

[rbarreto]

Camponotus novaeboracensis are probably the second most common camponotus here in Ottawa. Unfortunately no C. castaneus for me

Edited by rbarreto, May 31 2019 - 12:13 PM.

[ANTdrew]

They seem more suited to captivity than C. castaneus.

[Acutus]

They seem more suited to captivity than C. castaneus.

     

[rbarreto]

They seem more suited to captivity than C. castaneus.

It's very 50/50, some queens will eat their entire brood pile if even slightly disturbed. The other 50% seem to be ideal for ant keeping.

[Lazarus]

Camponotus novaeboracensis are probably the second most common camponotus here in Ottawa. Unfortunately no C. castaneus for me

Our first season hunting queens my son found 5 C. Novae here in Ottawa. The only other queens we found were Lasius but those were all found in Montreal. Last year my first find was also a C. Novae. They're everywhere here. But I want diversity so that does not help me.

[rbarreto]

Camponotus novaeboracensis are probably the second most common camponotus here in Ottawa. Unfortunately no C. castaneus for me

Our first season hunting queens my son found 5 C. Novae here in Ottawa. The only other queens we found were Lasius but those were all found in Montreal. Last year my first find was also a C. Novae. They're everywhere here. But I want diversity so that does not help me.

Maybe switch locations, I know for a fact C. pennsylvanicus are everywhere. Try finding a nest beforehand and then search that area when you know flights are happening.

[rbarreto]

Formica pallidefulva

Very slow growers, up to around 22 workers with more on the way.

 

Camponotus novaeboracensis
New major eclosed and the gigantic pupae is starting to darken (couldn't get a good picture of it). Good news, they can't cross the fluon barrier I placed around the rim of the Minihearth. They have reached 50 workers and are starting to really fill the nest. They have two brood piles; the large one is closer to the heating cable and consists of pupae and larvae, the small one had some small larvae and all the eggs sitting on top of the water reservoir.
 

 

 

Lasius neoniger

Got this queen from a gigantic flight in Prince Edward Island when I was visiting. Once they reached about 5 workers I decided to dump them into one of ants nationals dram nests. I have some reservations about the hydration system and I know this species is quite hardy (also kinda disposable)' so I will use them to test out the nest.

 

 

Crematogaster cerasi
Oh boy..... this is way too big of a second batch, I'm already going to have to move them into something bigger.

 

Edited by rbarreto, June 10 2019 - 5:24 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Crematogaster grow as fast as Tetramorium if not faster! That's why I downsized to just one colony of them. 

[rbarreto]

So not much has happened recently other than Camponotus flights (I caught a bunch). I caught these two beautiful bright orange Camponotus nearcticus queens but neither have shed their wings or laid any eggs  . I also sold off my Crematogaster colony, the price was right and they were starting to intimidate me with their intense growth. I just wasn't ready for it. Here are the neacticus queens:

 

 

 

Camponotus novaeboracensis

I basically feed these guys everyday now. They never reject food of any kind. They went particularly nuts over the Lasius americanus alate larvae.

 

 

 

 

Here's a picture of when I added too much water and they moved all the eggs and small larvae into the outworld.

 

 

Finally a clearer picture of the new eggs the queen has laid.

 

Edited by rbarreto, June 19 2019 - 10:38 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Ah, man - you left Team CrematoMaster?
I understand your reasoning, though. That’s why I only kept one of my colonies.

[rbarreto]

Ah, man - you left Team CrematoMaster?
I understand your reasoning, though. That’s why I only kept one of my colonies.

 

I made them really expensive and someone still wanted them. I just couldn't say no lol.

[ANTdrew]

I gotchu, bro.

[rbarreto]

Camponotus herculeanus

First queen with workers so I gave her a bit of honey. I really like the look of this species.

 

 

 

 

Camponotus novaeboracensis

They have pretty much filled the Minihearth and now permanently have 20ish workers in the outworld. I decided to get them a Fortress formicarium so I'll move them in when it gets here.

 

 

Formica pallidefulva

Nice big batch of eggs. This colony is growing nicely.

 

 

Lasius claviger

Look at this naked claviger pupae.

 

[rbarreto]

Camponotus novaeboracensis

These guys had definitely outgrown the mini hearth. They had around 35 workers in the out-world and even kept some eggs and small larvae in one corner. There was a nice discount on ant-depot so I decided to buy them a Fortress. Safe to say they loved it and moved in in less than an hour. Unlike the Minihearth, the Fortress actually has museum glass. I highly recommend it, I sometimes can't even tell if there is glass there at all.

 

Before

 

 

After

It doesn't look like it but I counted roughly 90 workers.

 

 

These are just some nice pictures showing the clarity of the museum glass.

 

 

[ANTdrew]

Sounds like a great colony! I hope I can get my chromaiodes to that level.

[enflamingo]

My Camponotus Novaeboracensis just got one worker. Definitely my favourite species I'm keeping right now. Love the journal by the way, it's amazing! 

[TennesseeAnts]

Camponotus novaeboracensis
These guys had definitely outgrown the mini hearth. They had around 35 workers in the out-world and even kept some eggs and small larvae in one corner. There was a nice discount on ant-depot so I decided to buy them a Fortress. Safe to say they loved it and moved in in less than an hour. Unlike the Minihearth, the Fortress actually has museum glass. I highly recommend it, I sometimes can't even tell if there is glass there at all.
 
Before
 

 
After
It doesn't look like it but I counted roughly 90 workers.
 

 
These are just some nice pictures showing the clarity of the museum glass.
 

 

Colony

Amazing... The only Camponotus noveaboracensis colony I have seen get this big was Crystal's huge colony.

[Kaelwizard]

My Camponotus Novaeboracensis just got one worker. Definitely my favourite species I'm keeping right now. Love the journal by the way, it's amazing! 

My friends queen still has larvae! Great job!

[TennesseeAnts]

I counted 105 workers in the Camponotus noveaboracensis colony.

Edit: you got the same style and color of fortress as I got for my 500 worker Camponotus chromaiodes colony!

Edited by Ant_Dude2908, July 16 2019 - 7:06 AM.

[rbarreto]

Amazing... The only Camponotus noveaboracensis colony I have seen get this big was Crystal's huge colony.

I've actually seen quite a few, I know antscanada had one, Lazarus who is also form Ottawa has several large colonies, and I know canadian anter has a decent sized one too.