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Daves' Ant Journal - Australian Ants

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#101 Offline DaveJay - Posted September 30 2018 - 6:32 AM

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And the other, a Bull Ant Queen! 

Possibly Myrmecia pyriformis but I haven't put much effort into I.D. as yet.

I set her up in the temporary tub but I have bought larger tubs today. I've set up a 20mm test tube and covered the top with black tape, she does see it as a cave.

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Taking out the rubbish. It was amusing when I first put the cricket in there, she inspected it then ignored it. Each time she came across it while exploring she would feel it with her antennae and go on past it. Obviously at some stage she decided it had to go.
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And just where do think you're going with that sand young lady?!!!
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#102 Offline DaveJay - Posted September 30 2018 - 6:43 AM

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I don't think that is an Intrepidus. Looks more like a subspecies of C.suffusus
the red legged variety, Camponotus suffusus bendigensis
which seems smaller than the usual C.suffusus of 18mm

Intrepidus are around 2cm, and have a completely maroon thorax and head
Anyway workers will tell the story


https://img.alicdn.c..._!!24298958.jpg

Yeah, she has a black topped head and a much smaller maroon patch, I thought she was all black until I saw the photos.

What she is she is I guess! :)  



#103 Offline CoolColJ - Posted October 6 2018 - 1:46 AM

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Does the black Camponotus appear to have red legs to the naked eye?

Current ant colonies -
1) Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant), Melophorus sp2. black and orange, Pheidole species, Pheidole antipodum
Journal = http://www.formicult...ra-iridomyrmex/

Heterotermes cf brevicatena termite pet/feeder journal = http://www.formicult...feeder-journal/


#104 Offline Leo - Posted October 6 2018 - 8:54 PM

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Oh, I buy ants from that website.


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#105 Offline DaveJay - Posted October 17 2018 - 1:11 AM

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17th October 2018

 

On the 22nd of September I caught this little Queen.

022 Cr
 

Last night I checked up on her, her brood pile is growing!

 

Tina Tiny
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I also looked at the bottom of the Rhytidoponera metallica tub, lots of brood there too but I still can't spot a definite Queen, not to say she's not there, it would be very hard to discern her from the others.
 
Everyone else doing fine as far as I can tell.


#106 Offline DaveJay - Posted October 17 2018 - 4:16 AM

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17th continued 

 

On the 15th I put some crickets in all of the enclosures, out of morbid curiosity I guess I put small live crickets into the Rhytidoponera metallica colony and into both of the C. consobrinus colonies. The metallica colony reacted predictably, at first only one or two ants were on guard and biting the cricket when it came near, but in the end only about 6 ants emerged to take down the cricket once it was partially immobilised by the two ants hanging off of it, once that happened it was over quite quickly once the stinging started.

The two consobrinus colonies reacted totally differently to the cricket appearing in their territory, in hindsight I wish I'd hadn't fed one colony and not the other but that was also due to the difference in the reactions rather than a cause I think.

Colony A were not bothered at all, even when it ventured into the nest a few nips made it leave but there was no follow up response, I put the food dish in and they were actually drinking sugar water with the cricket sitting next to them! In the end I squished the cricket with the tongs whereupon it stuck it's head into the nest entrance and died! The ants dragged it in. In a video I took I can see the queen picking up and eating what I hope is a cricket leg, not a larva!

Colony B reacted totally differently, as soon as a couple of workers got disturbed it was pandemonium! All hands on deck! Even the Queen came out and patrolled the boundaries. I couldn't take the lid of to feed them because they were going crazy! Because of the greenery in the enclosure the cricket was getting bitten a lot but could then hide, in the end I waited till there were none near the top and squished the cricket a bit and they finished it off because it was getting a bit cruel to the cricket and I assume stressful on the colony going on so long.

It's interesting though, one colony paying no mind, just not allowing the cricket into the actual nest and the other colony on high alert for hours.

 

Also, I've been experimenting a bit with the sugar water so I've coloured each batch a different colour only the Rose Pink I used first looks very similar to the Scarlet Red I used last, I have no yellow so I'm limited, purple just looked too dark so I tipped it out and used the Red, as long as I can tell one batch from the last it hardly matters. I see that the larvae seem to get a lot of sugar water in their diets, the pink/red is still visible in these pics even though they'd covered the sugar water a couple of days ago (same sugar water batch fed). You can see the pink in the workers gasters too, some have a light creamy coffee colour visible, that is a broth style catfood, their protein meal from a few days before.

 

Pictures of Queen A and brood.

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Cca 2
Cca 8
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Queen B and brood
Ccb 1
Ccb 2
Ccb 3
Ccb 4
Ccb 5

 

And a few pics of Colony A workers drinking, not worried about the cricket at all (not starving or dying of thirst btw, they were fed a few days prior).

Cca 6
Cca 5
Cca 4
Cca 3

 

I thought I'd share what the Camponotus aeneopilosus have dug, they went sideways, then down, then horizontal again. this Formicarium has only a few gaps in the surface where a decent sized tunnel could be dug but the horizontal tunnels are below the surface layer of grout. I thought they were ready to move but they seem to have stopped digging and are still living in the test tube they came in. When I got them they had no brood at all but they've had a small pile for what seems like a long time now, hopefully when the weather warms up they'll get their stuff together! Since I've had them they've been at pretty constant 19/20 C but it will get much hotter than that very soon.

Gb2
Gb 1
Gb 3

 

 


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#107 Offline DaveJay - Posted October 17 2018 - 5:42 AM

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A quick video, let me know if the link doesn't work for you.


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#108 Offline DaveJay - Posted October 17 2018 - 5:43 AM

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#109 Offline Rstheant - Posted October 17 2018 - 5:41 PM

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Looks a lot like C Hyatti lol
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#110 Offline Kalidas - Posted October 17 2018 - 6:09 PM

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Jeez those bull ant Queens get HUGE
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#111 Offline DaveJay - Posted October 17 2018 - 10:43 PM

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Jeez those bull ant Queens get HUGE

Yep, she's an easy inch long but that doesn't quite tell me if it is the larger or smaller of two similar species, even with the smaller species workers can be an inch long, hence the older name "inch ants" (we went metric in '66).

#112 Offline DaveJay - Posted October 20 2018 - 7:57 PM

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Well I've been wanting to do this update for a while but better late than never.

 

18th October 2018

 

Received a package from CoolColJ, I wasn't quite sure exactly what he would send.

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There was a beautiful Rhytidoponera Queen, possibly R. metallica but I think there are a lot of undescribed species in the genus so I hesitate to claim a positive I.D. She has quite a few eggs, approx a dozen.
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Then a quite mature Pheidole colony, lots of brood and one major! I still haven't had a good look at the queen as she stays on the cotton dam surrounded by brood and workers with the major on guard duty.
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Then one that's been on my wish list since I first contemplated keeping ants, Myrmecia nigrocincta, one of two species known as Jumping Jacks or Jack Jumper Ant.
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What I didn't see until after I moved her into her new home and was looking at the photos.
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I pulled the plug out and put her test tube into place then noticed an egg dangling from the cotton so I put it on top of her tube.

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I thought I'd move the plug so it was directly in front of her tube but the egg fell off, landing in front of the tube where I left it rather than risking damaging the egg trying to recover it. When editing the pictures I noticed what looks like another egg on the sand on the right in the picture, could just be sand though.
Going by the pictures I took in the tube there were 3 eggs on the cotton dam so I'm not sure if these are displaced eggs or if there are more than three. I've left her alone to settle in but it's feeding night tonight so I'll have a good look then.
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I had a couple of taller tubs ready (ventilation added) so I housed both her and my other Myrmecia Queen in similar set ups. I filled the 2cm tubes with compacted damp sand and made starter tunnels in case they would prefer to dig a nest in sand. There is no water dam so the sand will gradually dry out giving them the option of a nest with the traditional water dam or a drier nest in sand.
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I set the Rhytidoponera Queen up in fairly similar fashion, but kept it simple.
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I'll end with pictures of both Myrmecia Queens exploring their new homes.
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So I have to give a big THANKS MATE! to CoolColJ!

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 



#113 Offline CoolColJ - Posted October 20 2018 - 8:10 PM

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Hey, that Pheidole major looks pretty red headed, does it look as red to you as it does in the pic?
When it left here, it was still quite light in colour.

Also damn, did that bull ant queen lay all those eggs while in transit?!

Edited by CoolColJ, October 20 2018 - 8:10 PM.

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Current ant colonies -
1) Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant), Melophorus sp2. black and orange, Pheidole species, Pheidole antipodum
Journal = http://www.formicult...ra-iridomyrmex/

Heterotermes cf brevicatena termite pet/feeder journal = http://www.formicult...feeder-journal/


#114 Offline DaveJay - Posted October 20 2018 - 10:53 PM

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The majors head looks dark with a red/orange tint but definitely not pale. I took these pics using the flash as I always do so I've just adjusted the contrast and tone, I never mess with the colour.
And yeah, I guess the Jumping "Jane" did lay in transit, all the photos are from the day they arrived, I haven't disturbed them since but when I do the feeding tonight I'll try to see how many eggs she has, I know there were at least 3 when I got her because you see them on the dam in the pictures but whether the one (or two) on the plug are some that came loose from the dam I don't know, it could be she arrived with five eggs.

#115 Offline CoolColJ - Posted October 20 2018 - 11:59 PM

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I meant she was pale because she had eclosed a few days before I sent her to you.
I didn't have her long enough to confirm if she indeed had a dark red head like I thought her species would have.

Edited by CoolColJ, October 21 2018 - 12:46 PM.

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Current ant colonies -
1) Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant), Melophorus sp2. black and orange, Pheidole species, Pheidole antipodum
Journal = http://www.formicult...ra-iridomyrmex/

Heterotermes cf brevicatena termite pet/feeder journal = http://www.formicult...feeder-journal/


#116 Offline Rstheant - Posted October 21 2018 - 11:57 AM

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Good luck
I would add some real oak @nurbs advice
It helps Camponotus
Gave my quercicola 3 more workers
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#117 Offline YsTheAnt - Posted October 21 2018 - 12:14 PM

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Good luck
I would add some real oak @nurbs advice
It helps Camponotus
Gave my quercicola 3 more workers


Oak bark only works for ants that live on oak, in Australia they don't have those. This advice doesn't apply to many Camponotus species, only a few like Camponotus hyatti, quercicola, and clarithorax.
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#118 Offline Rstheant - Posted October 22 2018 - 3:53 PM

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Pls keep updating
Love the colony
Do you know where the person u bought them from caught them?
Pls keep updating
Love the colony
Do you know where the person u bought them from caught them?
Pls keep updating
Love the colony
Do you know where the person u bought them from caught them?

#119 Offline Rstheant - Posted October 22 2018 - 3:55 PM

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Love the colony.
Keep updating.
Good luck, and hope they do well..
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#120 Offline DaveJay - Posted October 22 2018 - 6:40 PM

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Love the colony.
Keep updating.
Good luck, and hope they do well..

Thanks, I assume you are referring to the Camponotus consobrinus colonies, I really like them myself. I'm not sure where they were caught, I bought them online from an established seller, I think he has a "physical" aquarium store as well as doing online sales.
I just looked, his shop is located in the ACT (Australian Capital Territory ) but I would think some ants would be caught locally and others bought from interstate, he definitely buys some tropical species from Cairns in Queensland.

Edited by DaveJay, October 22 2018 - 6:46 PM.






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