6 replies to this topic

[Vendayn]

Here is the ID thread:

 

http://www.formicult...pictures-added/

 

Not exactly sure if they are Pheidole flavens, but closest I and LC3 (he did his best to help in chat) can guess.

 

 

 

 

Got them on the 17th of this month (August). I did get some brood, but not much. They now have over 1,000 eggs (estimate, not going to count each single tiny egg). The egg pile is huge. I estimate every morning there is about 100 new eggs a day. Every morning when I wake up, the egg pile is very noticeably larger than the previous day.

 

Not sure how many queens, but definitely multiple. Some I'm not sure about. There are a lot of wingless females, but a few act like workers.

 

I do know at the rate eggs appear every day, they will match or more likely surpass how fast my single queened Solenopsis invicta colony grew (100,000 ants in 6 months). I'm hoping I didn't go crazy on too many queens and end up with a too fast growing ant colony lol. Or they slow egg production down...

Edited by Vendayn, October 17 2018 - 4:02 PM.

[Major]

What's their setup? Can you take a pic of the brood and there setup?

[Vendayn]

Colony is doing okay. Despite me introducing multiple colonies together, there was never any conflicts. All the colonies just joined together.

 

Sadly they got invaded by mites. So I put them outside cause I didn't want mites invading my ant closet and getting to my other ants or termites. And guess at some point the pack rat we have on the porch knocked the container over and all the ants went right back where I found the vast majority of them. Cause I had the ant farm against the wall underneath the grill we have and so no one can just walk by and knock it over

 

Guess being on the ground wasn't the best idea, I just wanted it out of the way. I didn't want mites everywhere. Hopefully whatever mites got out dies in the Winter time. As for the ant farm. The rest of the mites were still in the container and I killed those ones with bleach.

Edited by Vendayn, September 29 2018 - 9:45 AM.

[Vendayn]

Got another colony of Pheidole flavens. Same exact spot/colony I got before. They are pretty easy to get but I'm hoping this time is more a success. Unlike before, I sifted them out of the soil and then baked the soil.

 

Now they are in Drew's dirt box like the previous colony was. As for number of ants. I got a bunch of queens, not sure exactly how many but definitely over 10. Plus a bunch of soldiers and workers.

 

My last colony was doing great with so much eggs being laid; until mites took over.

[Vendayn]

Since I got the new colony they've already laid somewhere between 100 to 150 eggs I'd say. They have a huge egg pile. They are actually eating too, the other colony wasn't eating anything at all. Probably because of the mites.

[Vendayn]

Since October 6th, the Pheidole flavens now have around 500 eggs. Their egg pile is huge.

Edited by Vendayn, October 17 2018 - 3:58 PM.

[Vendayn]

The egg pile has grown a large amount. Last night when I looked it was almost twice the number of eggs, to close to 1,000 I'd estimate. The queens are crazy egg layers.