58 replies to this topic

[skocko76]

The colony has finally settled in. I removed the red filter and they didn't flinch. It probably doesn't work well anyway, as a lot of white light is entering from the sides.

There are a couple of protesters who took camp in the outworld, but at least they are no longer parading inside the nest raising their gasters and throwing tantrum.

 

 

[skocko76]

The colony just got new toys - a couple oak galls to dig galleries in.

I was unsure if they would bite, but in the morning I found the colony in a very excited state. 

Some workers are excavating, followed by a period of dusting off and tending to body hygiene. 

Some are just parading, going in and out, pretending they're doing the hard work.

Some others are sitting on top of the gall, unionising.

And about a half couldn't care less, resting in the nest.

 

The introduction of the galls has definitely changed the dynamic of the colony.

One of the galls is preferred, the other mostly ignored.

I hope the entrance I drilled is too small for the queen to go through.

 

Edited by skocko76, December 8 2020 - 9:03 AM.

[Ants_Dakota]

amazing progression of events!

[KitsAntVa]

I love these crematogasters they are my favorite because of the flat head. I know that these ones if anything like the ones we have in virginia with flat heads, will like sweets a lot. I recommend that you get some pitcher plants when they get to a mega colony because at the butterfly garden they like drinking the nectar out of it and dying in it also.  

[ANTdrew]

I will be following this with great interest! Such a lovely species with the red heads.

[ANTdrew]

Update?

[skocko76]

They had a day or two of digging, but generally, all I see is one forager and one guard peeking out of the entrance hole haha.
They still haven't started reproducing, so no activity really.

[skocko76]

Spring is at the doorstep, and the colony has started digging again. Sawdust everywhere. I wonder what I can do to evict them from there...hmmm. It would be interesting to split the gall and take a peak inside..

[skocko76]

Hmmm, looking at the journal, looks like I skipped the event of the colony actually ditching the old nest and moving into the gall. They gnawed larger the gall entrance hole, as well as a plastic cap I put to prevent moving the queen. 
They have been inside forever, and I was going mad not knowing what was going on inside. All I could observe were the foragers and heaps of sawdust they periodically threw out.

Well, the curiosity got the better of me and I set on removing them from the gall. 

First, I picked the foragers with a brush and put them in a separate outworld with a new gall. This gall was previously sawn in half and fitted with acrylic windows.

I put protein bait and waited for scouts to recruit a force. Then I relocated them and waited for the next squadron.

That worked for about 30 ants, after which they did not as much as peek outside for a couple of days. I knew there were some 50 of them still inside.

I got antsy and begun to saw the gall in half  .

I saw it smidge by smidge, trying to give the ants ample time to move away from the blade. Interestingly enough, they did not evacuate the gall at all... they would peek outside, then a worker or two would go out to investigate. And would be greeted by my brush.

In the end, I am happy to report a single casualty.

Currently, the colony is in process of moving into a new gall. They are working on the entrance hole and should move from the old half in a couple of days.

 

[skocko76]

The colony has moved into a new gall. It is a bigger gall, and a single half is sufficient for them, for now.

I suspended the half with magnets to get insight into the nest.

The larvae are on the way, and the workers have just started excavating the gall.

 

[Lillyrose]

That looks so amazing...

[skocko76]

The colony is producing new eggs. They haven't dug much into the gall, but I expect they will soon want more space.

Protein is being swarmed and devoured.

 

[Antkeeper01]

update?

[skocko76]

Here's the update!

They have a lot of brood. The brood is maturing slowly, which is normal for C. scutellaris. They make up for it by huge quantity of brood. This makes them a very proliferate species.

I am a little worried though - The colony has done very little digging...it makes me think that they don't need more space. But, the colony should have almost a hundred workers by now, and a ton of brood.

Where do they all fit in?

There are 15-20 workers foraging at all times. This should mean 50-80 are inside the gall. I haven't observed a lot of corpses being brought out ...maybe a few since the last move.

They are probably inert inside. I don't believe the gall is too hard for them to dig in. I will wait for the brood to enclose and observe their behavior then.

The inside space is circular, with a raised center ... sort of doughnut shaped. Well, half doughnut, since the gall is sawn in half. The central raise partly obstructs the view inside. So it may be that the insides are packed.

The sharp increase in the number of workers should come pretty soon. I'll keep you posted on the development.

 

 

[skocko76]

Surprise, surprise!

A new gallery just became visible.

This explains a lot. I was worried there had been a reduction in colony size, but looks like they have more space dug out after all.

And... even more brood got amassed.

 

 

[ANTdrew]

So cool!

[skocko76]

A new gallery opened, and as the gall is reaching its capacity, I put in the second half.

It was inspected and has some light digging, but no larvae has been moved in yet.

They have tons of brood, can't wait for them all to enclose!

 

[skocko76]

I noticed the workers tend to hang out under the queen gall, instead of moving into the one I provided on top.

I guess they were trying to protect the entrance to the queen gall and did not want to move higher up.

Once I swapped the two gall's positions, they moved in presto.

The second gall has brood in it too.

Looks like pretty soon, I shall be adding more of them.

 

[ANTdrew]

So frickin’ cool!