3 replies to this topic

[giraffedom]

7.26.18

 

I collected eight of these queens in my local park on 7.16.18. Two had fungus pellets and 6 did not. One of the six missing a pellet died, leaving me with 7 total. I put the two queens with fungus into a foraging area with mesquite leaves, oatmeal, and some flowers. In only 10 days, one queen's fungus garden has grown a lot from just a small pellet. I also see eggs, although they're hard to see in the photo.

 

 

These small flowers with the bright red stamens are their favorite substrate out of what I've offered them.

 

They have also shown interest in oatmeal, and the mesquite leaves are chewed apart too. Here's a photo of their current setup. Recommendations for improvements are always welcome!

 

 

[sirjordanncurtis]

What happened to those missing pellets?

[giraffedom]

What I've read is that these queens often will drop their pellet as they dig their chambers. They are also semi-claustral, so I may have stumbled upon a few that had already dug a chamber and were just foraging.

[giraffedom]

8.1.18

 

This queen is doing really well. Her fungus has gotten a lot bigger, and I see that she has eggs. You can see one in her mandibles in the first photo. Soon I think her fungus will be big enough that I can start donating small bits to the queens that don't have any.

 

 

One thing I've noticed is that these ants like to surround the wet cotton ball in the outworld with substrate. I don't know if this is to soften it or because its an instinct for them and they just think it's a big fungus ball. It all molds very quickly, which is a pain, but at least it's all in one spot and I can quickly clean it out. You can't see it in this photo because I already retrieved the moldy plant material, but I'm sure they'll do it again. I place substrate in a small dish now in hopes of preventing this.