39 replies to this topic

[Wa.Va]

Well it does mean one of the queens is infertile...

That is what i thought. Pf, maybe I shoud ask my money back then.. :c awh I really don't like this

[Leo]

or maybe one of the workers laid a trophic egg and threw it in the egg pile.

 

Still, ask for a refund. And quick question, how do you stop explosions of mold from happening in your terrariums?

[Wa.Va]

or maybe one of the workers laid a trophic egg and threw it in the egg pile.

Still, ask for a refund. And quick question, how do you stop explosions of mold from happening in your terrariums?

The problem is that almost all the new cocoons eclosed into males.

What I use is right above my drainage layer, there is a layer made of active charcoal. Also some organisms like springtails and isopods are helping reduce waist. I just leave the plants or mushrooms that dies inside. And I never had any problem with mold.

But I want to redo the big eco. Because isopods are terrible. I am never going to use them they eat everything. All my newly hatched plants are already eaten. I think i don't have mold becaus of the high rate in isopods dx

[Wa.Va]

Small update!

First,the bad news.
My C. aethiops queen is dead. :c I never had the chance to have a Camponotus colony.
Only one L. flavus gyne remaining. (There goes the multiple queen colony plan)

I noticed a mold growing in the Myrmica rubra chambers. It seems it doesn't harm the ants. The chambers are filled with brood. All of them:)
(The fungus looks like small white lines rooting on the acryl)) but they clean themselfs more, sometimes even in small groups together.

We have a cat staying for two months. And because of this, I can't open the windows in the room. I'm sure, once I get the ventilation back. The mold will disappear.

Phiew! That is all!

Now the good news.
My M. barbarus is doing great. This was the only colony that did bad. They always stayed below 10 workers.
Now it's already around the 30+ and already a couple of media. I noticed a reddish colour on their heads.

The Polyrhachis dives laid another bunch of eggs. If these hatch, I'll know more about their infertile behaviour.

I can only say good things about everything else. Not much is different, exept that all the colonies grew alot!

The Crematogaster are exploding out of their nest xd, I really love them, but that makes it so hard to create something beautifull, yet optimized for them, as a bigger, new nest.

Normally, over the course of next month, i'll have more time for creating new ant spaces.

I am hoping to get to change alot of things with the experience I have now.
For example the big enclosure. Just to get rid of the isopods. (In longterm i hate them, for using in short term, they are great xd)

Edited by Wa.Va, January 5 2019 - 11:41 AM.

[Wa.Va]

http://imgur.com/a/L7g9YDH

Hooray, the Polyrhachis dives finally moved into their walnut

Suddenly yesterday evening they decided to start with building inside the 1/2 walnut. This is build in half a day. The nut was empty.

Edited by Wa.Va, January 10 2019 - 12:57 PM.

[Wa.Va]

Another update!

I started creating an active island surrounded by water.

I dreamt of a living piece of native swamp. I love the look of mosses and plants climbing on branches. So I searched for the perfect piece of nature to start with. Without harming any living animals, I carefully examined each part i took home. And yes. Finally i found the perfect piece to start scaping the island.



I wanted to make the feeling that the woodpiece was partially under water with roots, without letting the main island's dirt touch the water. So different parts of wood were being used as hardscape.
This is my first real attempt for an eco-system paludarium.



This is the filter, surrrounded by water made of filter mousse. So water gets in and out, debris gets stuck. But main goal is to let the mosses grow under and above water surface level.

This is hollow!

It is filled up with different layers.
First layer is made of hydroballs,then a feeding substrate for the flora. And a piece of filtercotton that makes sure the dirt on top doesn't soak in water. The water gets sucked in by a small pomp. And hopefully get filtered by the island.








This is just starting up. I don't even have a my small pump back
I used different kind of mosses. In the left corner background i even put a Riccia fluitans with the hope it will cover the ground.
I let a little patch of dirt in front empty.


Possibility to plant a edible herb or something.


Everything is fine with the ants. Even my Messor is doing great!



The only bad thing is that the Crematogaster world is getting really dirty.



Each day more workers. Each day more work.

So i left a little empty tube hanging with hope they will use it as trash place. Same with what the Pheidole does. They are cleaner.


My Temnothorax nylandri does not want to move into a fresh test tube. But maybe I introduce them first on this island once everything is settled. But i hope to see my Myrmica rubra wandering this island one day. With the use of a tube going under water.

I love to see the P. dives nest like this.

Edited by Wa.Va, January 14 2019 - 1:54 PM.

[Wa.Va]

Updated the pictures!

[Wa.Va]

I already lost a queen of the Polyrhachis dives colony. the others only laid male alates. But what i just witnessed beats it all!



One of the male alates started harrasing one of the queens. I don't't really know what to do. I once saw simular behaviour with my Myrmica, were male alates been born, and started to harass the workers. They died fast. That's different.

[CoolColJ]

maybe it's trying to mate

 

I would pull the males out, they don't do anything in the colony

[Wa.Va]

maybe it's trying to mate

I would pull the males out, they don't do anything in the colony

They moved out the test tube and went inside a walnut. What makes it really difficult to grab the males. They never come outside. Exept this one. He was trying to mate with his own mother. I already have males for a small month now, and still none died. But if i have the chance, I will remove them. I just don't want to destroy their new home.

[Wa.Va]

Small update

I notice more movement in all the colonies.

The Solenopsis fugax queens finally laid eggs. I hope they stay polyginous. This marks the beginning for a new species adventure. We don't have them here in the west. Very rare, except southwards.

I almost never see them.

I gave fruitflies to all the colonies and they loved it. All gone in seconds. Even the Temnothorax colonies came with up to 20 ants to get the protein. I guess they were tired having almost only cricket during this winter.

[ANTdrew]

Amazing! I’m still hoping you can try to post at least a few photos here using the formiculture.com gallery. I would love to see what you’re describing, but I simply can’t.

[Wa.Va]

Amazing! I’m still hoping you can try to post at least a few photos here using the formiculture.com gallery. I would love to see what you’re describing, but I simply can’t.

I post some pics of the new paludarium in my gallery. Maybe I'll upload everything else

[Wa.Va]

The island. One month later. I love it. It is filled with life. Everyday I see something new. It's just incredible




And again. I have mushrooms growing. But this time inside the Myrmica formicarium. This is already more than a year old. I didn't plant these.




I saw my first ants of the year. And a pretty rare one in Belgium. The beginning of a new season has started.

The Formica rufa.




Everything is just fine with my ants. The only thing that happened is that I lost another queen of the P dives Colonie. So one remaining I hope. It still sucks tho.

Edited by Wa.Va, February 18 2019 - 3:22 AM.

[Wa.Va]

Small update


After so many years of antkeeping, everything stil goes very well. I still love to look every single day.

This is a small video I made a couple of months ago to show the Myrmica rubra formicarium

https://www.instagra...id=l8smya739wnk

In this short clip u can see a close up of eating Myrmica rubra workers.

https://www.instagra...id=6geciihhoypb

This is a short clip of a Polyrhachis dives worker bringing some food back in to the nest.

https://www.instagra...d=1lc7pe80w6mmj


This is a clip of a time-lapse of mushrooms growing inside one of the eco-systems.

https://www.instagra...d=19rh6f0nyoy0v



I hope u will like these!

[Wa.Va]

Time for another update!

It is going so great.
All colonies are doing amazing.
The setups are doing amazing. I can't really update alot because nothing bad has happened. Only growth. Bigger nests, bigger ants. No mold or major casualties. I gave my Crematogaster scutellaris a new piece of wood to make a new satellite.




The only bad news i have is that I'm going away for a year in a couple of weeks. Luckily my friend will take care of the animals.

My multiple queen colony of Myrmica rubra is going into hibernation. Yet still they come in many numbers to drink some honey.

To bad i won't see them as active as in the summer. But now it its easier to clean and feed.

This is becoming really hard with my crematogaster. They just walk over every barrier i give them. And i have to change the plastic tubes often. Yet nothing escaped after so many escapes. I'm paranoia about it. That helps, by checking every setup to often.



I don't have a picture of their new nest. I'll wait until After the big move.

My polyrhachis dives is doing great.
I love this setup. Their big nest. And i can see easily a big part of the inside interior. They could made it so i couldn't see them. But they decided to make the chambers close to me..
I notice that I'm one of the few who keep this species without plants. I donth think they need it since they are semi arboreal. And prefer a lower height than most people expect. Although, that's what i think.
Well. They are doing great. Lots of workers and brood. Wiithout heating them.

My small lasius niger colony is really inactive. I guess it is hibernation.. I could be wrong.

My pheidole noda is still really active and accept almost everything.
I hate the setup. I can't ventilate well enough. They take everything inside the nest.










I'm going to travel around europe. Not the cities tho. Only me, my gf, our bird, nature and our diy campervan. Together with our cameras we're going to shot as many animals as possible. Mostly birds and insects. Maybe I should make an off topic journal here xd. First south of france, Spain, Portugal, Italy and the Balkan.

Edited by Wa.Va, October 22 2019 - 10:23 AM.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

That's a shame. Well, I am sure there are many other interesting colonies you have and will get to observe

[Wa.Va]

That's a shame. Well, I am sure there are many other interesting colonies you have and will get to observe

I'll make sure they will get the care that I want for them. By writing everything down for him. I'm also already looking forward to recieve these colonies back after a long time. What would be the differences.

And yh, i'll have the chance to see most ant species in Europe. Yet I don't have a anything to capture queens or colonies, only my macro lenses.

[Leo]

 

or maybe one of the workers laid a trophic egg and threw it in the egg pile.

Still, ask for a refund. And quick question, how do you stop explosions of mold from happening in your terrariums?

The problem is that almost all the new cocoons eclosed into males.

What I use is right above my drainage layer, there is a layer made of active charcoal. Also some organisms like springtails and isopods are helping reduce waist. I just leave the plants or mushrooms that dies inside. And I never had any problem with mold.

But I want to redo the big eco. Because isopods are terrible. I am never going to use them they eat everything. All my newly hatched plants are already eaten. I think i don't have mold becaus of the high rate in isopods dx

 

[Wa.Va]

or maybe one of the workers laid a trophic egg and threw it in the egg pile.

Still, ask for a refund. And quick question, how do you stop explosions of mold from happening in your terrariums?

The problem is that almost all the new cocoons eclosed into males.

What I use is right above my drainage layer, there is a layer made of active charcoal. Also some organisms like springtails and isopods are helping reduce waist. I just leave the plants or mushrooms that dies inside. And I never had any problem with mold.

But I want to redo the big eco. Because isopods are terrible. I am never going to use them they eat everything. All my newly hatched plants are already eaten. I think i don't have mold becaus of the high rate in isopods dx