24 replies to this topic

[ponerinecat]

First journal! Nabbed a small two queen colony from under a rock and then brood boosted them with pupae. I ave them housed in a petri dish full of dirt. They dragged all the pupae and 1 larvae into a cavity in the center. I've never kept a ponerine species before so I need help.

[AntsAreUs]

Are you sure this is Hypoponera? I'm pretty sure most if not all Hypoponera are monogynous. Ponera are however polygynous. Anyway for keeping, you can feed them mostly anything but they don't really need sugar. Small food items are preferred due to their small size. Fruit flies may be the easiest to get/use. As for the setup I would highly recommend you get springtails to add to the setup or else mold will take over. They may possibly hunt on the springtails too.

[ponerinecat]

I dropped in some springtails, but they all got eaten. how many should i put in?Also, I live in california and i don't think ponera is present.

[AntsAreUs]

I dropped in some springtails, but they all got eaten. how many should i put in?Also, I live in california and i don't think ponera is present.

Ah, ok, I'm not too familiar with CA ants. I would say you should sort of try to culture the springtails inside their setup. You may obviously need to continue adding springtails over and over until this happens. Once you get a balance to work out, your life becomes that much easier.

[ponerinecat]

Thanks! Also,how do I make them comfortable enough to lay?

[ponerinecat]

After checking some sources, I am pretty sure they are indeed ponera pensylvannica.

How do I change the title?

[Batspiderfish]

Hypoponera and Ponera are very similar in appearance. If you look underneath the petiole node, do you see a tiny backward-facing spike?

[AntsAreUs]

After checking some sources, I am pretty sure they are indeed ponera pensylvannica.

How do I change the title?

There are some key differences between Ponera and Hypoponera. As Batspiderfish pointed there is a small hook under the petiole of Ponera which is the main way to tell them apart. Hypoponera are normally a bit slimmer or smaller than Ponera but not always smaller. Hypoponera queens in comparison to Ponera queens the thorax is more bulky in Ponera queens. The care for both of these are very similar, although I would say Hypoponera are possibly pickier in what they eat. Ponera seem to be able to eat most normally used feeders.

Edited by AntsAreUs, June 15 2018 - 4:00 PM.

[gcsnelling]

If these were collected in California they are Hypoponera.

[ponerinecat]

Oh. They look so similar. Do cocoon pieces promote mold? They're scattered everywhere.

[ponerinecat]

There is indeed a spike. It was complicated getting a worker out to look.

[ponerinecat]

Worker count went up to 8. They are much more active now.

[ponerinecat]

 Was able to ID them as H. opacior. These girls are viscous hunters. They decimated the twenty spring tails in there and left one little one alive. They lunge around and run all over the setup. Also, they seemed have laid eggs. I thought they were cocoon pieces, but then some workers carried them away from the light. Sorry for the lack of pictures, they're just too small.

Edited by ponerinecat, June 20 2018 - 4:39 PM.

[ponerinecat]

I can see several small larvae with the eggs. These girls seem much easier to raise than ponera. I found a good food sourc are fly larvae. Put some fertilizer out and keep it moist, and some should start appearring.

[ZllGGY]

I can see several small larvae with the eggs. These girls seem much easier to raise than ponera. I found a good food sourc are fly larvae. Put some fertilizer out and keep it moist, and some should start appearring.

is it wise though to feed your ants other insects that have been rolling around in fertalizer?

[AntsAreUs]

 

I can see several small larvae with the eggs. These girls seem much easier to raise than ponera. I found a good food sourc are fly larvae. Put some fertilizer out and keep it moist, and some should start appearring.

is it wise though to feed your ants other insects that have been rolling around in fertalizer?

 

Hypoponera are vastly different from other ants. They can pretty much live off springtails. Although as long as there isn't anything bad with the fertilizer...

[ponerinecat]

The fertilizer was sterilized, and the ants loved the maggots.

[ZllGGY]

i was just mostly worried about the fertilizer, like is it all natural or is it something like miracle gro?

[ponerinecat]

It's all natural, made of plant cuttings and rotting vegetables. I baked it before putting it out.

[ponerinecat]

I had a huge stroke of bad luck this morning. My Camponautus modoc queen ate her large larvae, and my other unidentified Camponautus queen ate three of her five eggs. Worst of all, when I checked on the H. opacior, they were all gone except for one half dead worker. Most likely a civil war broke out from some workers not recognizing each other.   Luckily I found one lone queen under a slab and some more pupae. The queen has already adopted the eggs and larvae and piled them in the back of a tunnel I poked in some dirt in a test tube I just have to slowly add the pupae now. Hopefully this works.

Edited by ponerinecat, July 2 2018 - 3:33 PM.