173 replies to this topic

[DaveJay]

I didn't mean to be rude, and I guess it depends on your budget and how much sand you actually use. Also, some landscape yards don't have weighbridges anymore so they sell by volume, strangely enough by the cubic yard, I guess it relates to the sizes scoops for earthmoving equipment comes in, I don't want a cubic yard either! For me I stand buckets in my car boot and fill them with a shovel and pay by weight. A few times a year I buy about 100kg of sand and gravel which always costs under $5, I use a lot over a year as I have a lot of inverts to house so I don't like to run out, the used sand I include in potting mixes or seed raising mixes.

[Rstheant]

Do you have bull ants?

[CoolColJ]

Do you have bull ants?

 

I guess you don't read this journal in too much detail

 

 

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Davejay

 

regarding the Pheidole colony -

Did you wet the soil in their container? if so that's probably when they tunneled into the dirt.

[DaveJay]

Do you have bull ants?

I guess you don't read this journal in too much detail


--

Davejay

regarding the Pheidole colony -
Did you wet the soil in their container? if so that's probably when they tunneled into the dirt.

Yes, just so I could firm it down but I didn't think it was deep enough for a nest, they'll soon move out into a tube when they want moisture I guess.

To be fair to Rs, I don't think we've actually used the term "Bull Ant", just Myrmecia But yes, Rstheant, Myrmecia is the genus all Bull Ants are in, both Inch Ants and Jumping Jacks/Jack Jumper Ants are types of bull ants, atm I have a queen of each.

[DaveJay]

On the weekend I dug up a Melophorus sp. colony, it was a bit larger than expected, the last two were queens with about 20 workers and no brood, the nests were just chambers a few inches below the surface. As the sun has been warming stretches of what was mud in traffic islands little colonies have been popping up everywhere but for the most part they have been trying to move to other locations or I find black ants have taken over the nests. This nest was in a slightly different part of the carpark closer to the gardens and paddocks surrounding the rear of the hospital. What I thought was two small nests was actually two enterences to the same larger nest about 6 inches underground. My first spadeful of dirt cut through the side of the main chamber so I had to take another spadeful. The spade is a little camping spade so it doesn't hold much dirt. When sorting through the dirt at home I found the queen but she was injured, missing a rear leg and dirt stuck to her gaster made me think it may have been ruptured. How unlucky to hit her when the spade only passed through the dirt twice. 4 days later and she seems fine, still very lively and quick to bolt for the gap in the lid before I can even get the tub open. If she's still okay I'll post her and a good amount of both minor and major workers to Colin. I still have another colony in a bucket to sort through so once I find that queen she'll be posted too as insurance against a long term problem with the queen that was injured.
The reason I'm adding this to the journal is that while sorting through the dirt I found a small black queen as well, I want to remind myself that I marked her tube with a star. I haven't been able to get a good photo to zoom in on to get a better look at her but she looks shinier than the Iridomyrmex queens I caught previously, there is a species of small black ants that look very shiny on the gaster in the same area, I'm hoping she is a queen of those. I didn't find any black workers in with the Melophorus colony, just a black queen.

[DaveJay]

1st November 2018

I checked on the Myrmecia nigrocincta queen last night, it looks like her brood might have drowned. There's sand on the bottom of the tube but it is saturated, the brood is basically sitting in a puddle. She has moved out into the substrate and I think she has more eggs there. I'll leave the tube for now but I think the eggs and larvae are dead, once I'm sure I'll replace the tube with a fresh one. This set up is supposed to be temporary while grout cures so I would prefer her to nest in a tube. The sand substrate was only dampened to compact it so it should dry out fairly soon.

[DaveJay]

5th November 2018

The Camponotus aeneopilosus have made another attempt at moving out into the nest they dug, hopefully the Queen will stay there this time. Now they are out of the tube I can see that the larvae are fairly well developed despite them not taking much protein at all.

[DaveJay]

18th November 2018

 

This will not be a complete update, I'm pushed for time but.....

Last night I fed the colonies gravy from a tin of gourmet dog food and it was a big hit with the Camponotus colonies, video and pictures pending.

 

Something I've kept under my hat for a bit was Formica Modular Ant Farms asked for people to trial their products and I was selected to trial their Ant Habitat Starter Kit. I set it up and attached the test tube containing my founding colony of Camponotus sp. "Cairns" to it. I took photos which I will post soon but I decided to give my public review in the form of a video.

The footage was not taken specifically for the review but I used what I had taken when I set it up, I hope it is entertaining and concise enough.

[DaveJay]

The Rhytidoponera metallica colony had some cocoons on view the other night, so here's those pictures and some of the workers. 

 

When you look at these ants under led light you'd swear they were just black, but in sunlight or even a flash you can see the sparkle and the colours. These ants provide a lot of entertainment although it's rare to even see two or three at a time, but you can always count on one out foraging at any given time. These were a colony I collected, something I have mixed feelings about but in this case I feel I did the right thing, my daughter had been told the yard would be renovated but as it turned out the yard was obliterated, it is now car parking and there is no garden.

[DaveJay]

Camponotus sp. "Cairns"

 

Here's three good pictures of the first brave scout exploring the new formicarium, she's drinking the gravy from one of those little gourmet dog food tins. All the Camponotus colonies liked it. 

 

A few pics of the colony in the tube, they only had brood when last I looked closely, now there are two callow workers!

[DaveJay]

This is the Formica Modular Ant Farms' "Ant Habitat Starter Kit" that I was sent to trial. I made my review a video but I might as well post the pictures too. When I can I'll definitely be expanding on this kit.

 

It came with a long test tube and adaptor piece but I used a shorter test tube to save space and the Camponotus colony was in the same type of 12mm tube. They fit on tightly but I would have liked them tighter, a slight taper on the tube that they go on to might make for a tighter fit. It's not like they would fall off if you picked the formicarium up but I was still a bit worried that if it were dropped they might come off so I put some tape on.

 

 

A close up on the hydration grid. One concern I have is that with this particular configuration this grid would be the only ventilation. Whether this will be a problem I don't know. Some solutions would be to plug one of the adaptors with cotton, or to put ventilation holes into the caps that cover them when not in use. For the manufacturers, incorporating a ventilation grid into the feeding module or into the caps might be something to consider. It's not so much that I think ants will die of suffocation as it is that lack of ventilation may lead to problems with food going mouldy quickly.

 

I added sand to the nest because I thought Camponotus might prefer it. I'm not sure if the clear cover is meant to come off but I got my fingernails under it, the divider between the nest and hydration chamber is flexible, and I removed it without breaking anything but it is a VERY tight fit.

 

The feeding module. I think the rock is supposed to be the feeding bowl but it needs to be removable or you'd have to clean the whole thing. One idea I've had since providing feedback is that a small printed bowl that fits inside the depression in the rock would be perfect. The lid is lightweight and could easily be knocked off or moved accidentally, having it slide into grooves might be safer. Of course I just added a tiny bit of tape to secure it, not a problem.

 

And a few general pictures.

 

Here's the video again.

 

And their website -

https://www.formica-antfarm.com/

 

Overall I really like it, and they have many components that can be added in seconds. There really is no end to how much you can expand or change the configuration of the set. New products are constantly being added to the website, my wish list is getting longer by the day! 

Of course these comments are just my first impressions, the practical test is just starting.

[Kalidas]

I just saw the recent Antsaustralia channel. Are you considering spider ants? They look soooo awesome, if I lived in Australia (assuming I was close to their habitat) that's what I would he going for

[CoolColJ]

I just saw the recent Antsaustralia channel. Are you considering spider ants? They look soooo awesome, if I lived in Australia (assuming I was close to their habitat) that's what I would he going for

I see solo workers all the time near my house. Two different species.
One day I will spot some queens leaving their nests on nuptial day....

Apparently Myrmecia nigrocincta slave them, and funny enough my area is also infested with their nests

[Kalidas]

I just saw the recent Antsaustralia channel. Are you considering spider ants? They look soooo awesome, if I lived in Australia (assuming I was close to their habitat) that's what I would he going for

I see solo workers all the time near my house. Two different species.One day I will spot some queens leaving their nests on nuptial day....Apparently Myrmecia nigrocincta slave them, and funny enough my area is also infested with their nests

So envious of you guys. I would love to have a colony of them

[Leo]

 

I just saw the recent Antsaustralia channel. Are you considering spider ants? They look soooo awesome, if I lived in Australia (assuming I was close to their habitat) that's what I would he going for

I see solo workers all the time near my house. Two different species.
One day I will spot some queens leaving their nests on nuptial day....

Apparently Myrmecia nigrocincta slave them, and funny enough my area is also infested with their nests

 

They have ergatoid queens... (wingless and worker-like)

[DaveJay]

I saw that they had a video on them but I haven't watched it yet. I haven't noticed spider ants around but I have seen Ant-Mimic Spiders in a friends garden. Mind you, now that my eyes are tuned into ants I see lots more species than I've ever noticed before.

[DaveJay]

I gave both Myrmecia Queens a dead cricket each today, both eventually took it into their nests so they definitely have larvae to feed. I have been offering a live cricket each week which are usually killed, dumped and buried as is most of the protein foods I offer in between the crickets. Both also filled up on sugar water, drinking for quite some time.
The Rhytidoponera metallica colony dragged their cricket across to an entrance, it took them over an hour, then found it doesn't fit so they've spent the last few hours with it stuck there firmly, I guess they'll work it out soon! During the week I've been giving them thistle buds covered in aphids, only when the aphids started dying did they start to gather them to take to the nest, I never once saw them attack a live aphid, they just took the dead ones.
The Rhytidoponera queen I got from CoolColJ has been out a lot more lately, she also havested dead aphids so I guess she has larvae too. She moved out of the test tube as soon as I put it into a tub with just enough sand to cover the bottom. Not having any depth didn't bother her, she made a hollow mound out of sand, something like a long oval mud hut to live in. I've been letting the sand dry out to try and coax her to move back into a covered tube but she hasn't although I see her go in there a few times a day lately, but then go back to her mound, I presume she's just drinking from the cotton (The Pheidole colony are doing the exact same thing, I gave in and wet a far corner of the sand, I am worried that they'll die from stubbornness!). There was a cricket that was partially cannibalised overnight so I gave that to the Rhytidoponera Queen but so far she hasn't shown interest.
I've been giving all the colonies cotton tip ends soaked in the gravy from dog food, with a few little chunks and they all have filled up on it, it's a hit all 'round. The Camponotus colonies absolutely love it, they drink till all their gasters are swollen, the queens like it too and will take it themselves.

Edited by DaveJay, November 24 2018 - 4:03 AM.

[FSTP]

Have you kept or come across any Camponotus inflates ?

[DaveJay]

Have you kept or come across any Camponotus inflates ?

No but I'd love to! I think they're a Central Australian species, I'm not sure how far south they occur. I do plan to visit the "Mid North" part of South Australia, basically put, heading north in South Australia once you're past the Mid North you're in Central Australia, there is no area called "Northern South Australia", so there is a small chance I could find some. I haven't seen them for sale anywhere.

[CoolColJ]

Protected species, so a no go