24 replies to this topic

[kellakk]

2-8-15

I dug up 4 Veromessor pergandei queens out in the desert with dspdrew and Chromerust.  I put one of them in a normal test tube setup, but made up some agar-base test tubes for the rest.

Edited by kellakk, June 10 2015 - 9:52 PM.

[kellakk]

2-11-15

 

The queens in the agar-base test tubes started digging!  They've also each laid a pile of eggs.

 

 

 

 

[Chromerust]

Nice, I might finally try a agar test tube. How long does it last before it needs to be changed on average?

[kellakk]

This is my first time trying it, so I don't know.  I wouldn't think the water evaporates out of the agar very quickly though.  So it may last years even.

[Chromerust]

Haha I don't know about years but that would be pretty cool

[kellakk]

Yeah, I'm probably wrong. That was just a ballpark estimate

[Michaelofvancouver]

The test tube filled with food idea seems very interesting.
Good luck with your queens!

[kellakk]

The test tube filled with food idea seems very interesting.
Good luck with your queens!

 

Thanks!  Just to clarify, it's not food.  The agar is only for water/humidity, so it shouldn't mold for a while. 

[Michaelofvancouver]

Oh, I thought agar was like the type of gel that you can use to feed your ants.

[kellakk]

Agar is just a gelling agent.  I used it with water as an alternative to the water + cotton ball method, but you could also add it to liquid ant food to form a jelly-like substance.

Edited by kellakk, February 12 2015 - 5:27 PM.

[kellakk]

2-24-15

 

The 3 queens in the agar tubes are doing great. They've each set up a little chamber for themselves in the agar and spend most of their time sitting in it with their eggs.  These eggs are large and yellow, and one of the queens even have a larvae in their brood piles.  I will be updating this journal tomorrow with pictures of the chambers they dug as well as their brood piles.

 

This is one queen.

 

This is another.

 

This is the third.

 

On the other hand, the queen in the normal test tube setup spends all of her time trying to dig into the cotton and seems to be damaging then eating her eggs.  She has nowhere near the amount of eggs that every other queen has, so I decided to giver her an agar tube as well. I taped her tube to one of the extra agar tubes I made and left it alone, hopefully she transfers her eggs over and digs a chamber.

 

Edit: Updated with pictures.

Edited by kellakk, February 25 2015 - 2:28 PM.

[Chromerust]

Thanks for the update. I'm interested in seeing how much agar you fill the test tube with.

[dspdrew]

Yeah, I'd like to see the pictures of them now.

[kellakk]

I added the pictures to my post from yesterday to keep chronological order.

[kellakk]

3-13-15

 

It's only been a month and already one of the queens has nanitics!  I haven't gotten pictures of them yet but these photos are from the other day, before they eclosed.  You can see that some of them had already begun to darken.

 

 

[Foogoo]

That's a really good idea now that I see your pictures, convenience and portability of a test tube but lets the queen dig the chamber she'd feel secure in. I'm going to give it a shot!

[dspdrew]

That was pretty quick. How warm is it in your house?

[Foogoo]

Does your agar sweat? I filled a few small containers and jars with agar the other day in preparation for future queens (couldn't convince any of my existing ones to move peacefully) and noticed some would give off a few drops of water once brought to room temperature. Agar isn't supposed to melt below 104 (IIRC) so I'm assuming it's excess water in the formula.

[kellakk]

The tubes are above a roach colony that I heat when cold. It tends to stay around 80 degrees F there.

 

Foogoo, agar definitely sweats out excess water.  I had a D. insanus queen almost die from drowning in the water and then later it died from squeezing itself into the space that was left between the agar and the glass.  That space was there because I was hasty in putting the queen in though, if you let it sit for a while there wouldn't be a problem.

[Foogoo]

My concerns with the agar is 1) mold, since it's the perfect medium and moisture content and 2) small ants getting stuck/drowning. I definitely want to try it with any Pogonomyrmex or Messor queens I find (fingers crossed) though since they seem to prefer substrate.