102 replies to this topic

[SMILEforAnts]

With 54 queens and more to come, I'm not surprised if this colony does end up becoming a super colony! I decided to start a journal here because I am currently working on their new tank nest setup and I want to document the progression of the colony from making their tank nest setup, to moving them in, adding a satellite nest, and then moving them in to that, and so on.

 

This is a recent picture of the colony. I'm suprised with 54 queens, they are growing a lot slower than I anticipated, but there are a lot of eggs. This past week I did up their food intake, so hopefully that helps with the colony growth.

 

 

Yesterday I started on drilling the holes in the tank and making the plaster nest. It's a 10 gallon aquarium and instead of getting a bigger tank which I originally planned, I will just connect another one of these tanks to it in the future.

 

 

 

I plan to drill 4 more holes throughout the tank. I was nervous while drilling the holes, but I think I got the hang of it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be compared to the first time I drilled a hole from my previous tank setup.

 

And this is a rough sketch of how I want the chambers and tunnels to look like. I usually improvise when I carve out the tunnels and chambers but I really want to take my time on this setup and not rush it at all.

 

 

So yeah I will continue to update this journal with progress pictures hopefully weekly! Laters!

Edited by SMILEforAnts, March 2 2015 - 7:46 PM.

[Gregory2455]

Are there ant crickets in Hawaii? (I think they are called Myrmecophylus?)

[SMILEforAnts]

Are there ant crickets in Hawaii? (I think they are called Myrmecophylus?)

 

Cool that you brought that up. When I caught my Yellow Crazy Ant colony a while back, and when they moved into the plaster nest there was this tiny cricket like insect following them into the nest. There was like 3 or 4 of them. And the workers seem to ignore them when they make contact. That's weird but pretty interesting! Thanks for bringing that up.

Edited by SMILEforAnts, March 2 2015 - 8:13 PM.

[Foogoo]

I just looked through your album, does the red acetate seem to calm them? I've noticed most of my ants can still detect a bright red LED light.

[Miles]

Where did you get the current plaster nest? I really like it.

 

Also, how are you hydrating the new nest?

[SMILEforAnts]

I just looked through your album, does the red acetate seem to calm them? I've noticed most of my ants can still detect a bright red LED light.

 

For my previous colony, it didn't make a difference at all. For this colony they do seem to calm down faster when I put it on, after I like disturb their nest. Cool I'm not the only one who uses an LED light to view ants. Do you use a normal LED light? Like a keychain light? or an actuall EDC flashlight. I use the Fenix e05 2014 edition, and I like it alot. The lowest setting is 8 lumens, and it last 15 hours on one single AAA battery. I use to use a Maglite Solitaire LED but that sucked!

 

Where did you get the current plaster nest? I really like it.

 

Also, how are you hydrating the new nest?

 

I use cardboard to shape the nest. I bend it into the shape I want, and then tape it to the tank. Then just pour the plaster mixture into the "frame" "mold"

 

In the past I usually just use a syringe and just straight shoot water onto the nest. I'm not sure if I'll do the same, but if not I'll figure out a new way and then show how I do it when I continue to update.

[Miles]

Sorry, I mean that nest in the picture that the ants are in.

 

I figure you may need more moisture than what a syringe can offer.

[SMILEforAnts]

Sorry, I mean that nest in the picture that the ants are in.

 

I figure you may need more moisture than what a syringe can offer.

 

I totally missed the word "current" lol. I made it myself.

 

These ants seem to like it a lot drier from experience with my previous colony. But so far so good, I fill the bottom of the nest water reservoir 3 times with water every 2-3 days. Plus I don't mind constantly hydrating the nest. After a long day I like to just watch them, so hydrating the nest isn't a hassle for me.

[Miles]

 

Sorry, I mean that nest in the picture that the ants are in.

 

I figure you may need more moisture than what a syringe can offer.

 

I totally missed the word "current" lol. I made it myself.

It looks great! How did you do the texture on the outside area?

[SMILEforAnts]

 

It looks great! How did you do the texture on the outside area?

 

 

Thanks bro! It's this plastic sheet I took from my dad's garage. One side is smooth and the other side has that texture. And then I made the frame put the glass in the middle then poured the plaster mixture. So when I remove it it has that texture.

[AntGuySA]

Hi SMILEfotAnts

 

your colony is looking so healthy and good job on your formicarium, I can't wait to see the tank setup keep us updated.

 

Regards, AntGuySA

[antmaniac]

Nice drawing there. I would definitely panic when I drill glass, but those holes look so professional. Look like you are going to have a huge formicarium with that super size ant colony you got there, shocking amount of brood!

[Foogoo]

 

I just looked through your album, does the red acetate seem to calm them? I've noticed most of my ants can still detect a bright red LED light.

 

For my previous colony, it didn't make a difference at all. For this colony they do seem to calm down faster when I put it on, after I like disturb their nest. Cool I'm not the only one who uses an LED light to view ants. Do you use a normal LED light? Like a keychain light? or an actuall EDC flashlight. I use the Fenix e05 2014 edition, and I like it alot. The lowest setting is 8 lumens, and it last 15 hours on one single AAA battery. I use to use a Maglite Solitaire LED but that sucked!

 

Let's see, I have a red/white headlamp, red/white/blue flashlight, white LED penlight and yellow penlight. I like the penlights the most since they focus on a small area, but the ants hate it. I have larger flashlights similar to the Fenix, but I'm pretty sure it would drive them nuts.

[SMILEforAnts]

Hi SMILEfotAnts

 

your colony is looking so healthy and good job on your formicarium, I can't wait to see the tank setup keep us updated.

 

Regards, AntGuySA

 

Nice drawing there. I would definitely panic when I drill glass, but those holes look so professional. Look like you are going to have a huge formicarium with that super size ant colony you got there, shocking amount of brood!

 

Thanks guys!

 

Quick update on the colony and their new formicarium. Queen count is down to 53. The workers dismembered one of the queens. She was being fed a lot. So much that her gaster got huge and it was my first time ever seeing a Pheidole megacephala queen with an expanded gaster like that. Funny thing is I don't think she ever laid any eggs. Everytime I observed her she never did. So I was thinking in my head, you better start laying eggs or doing something useful other than being a fat a$$ or else the workers will kill you. And sure enough they did. This was a picture of her.

 

 

Colony is doing good. With the increase in food, the egg production increased just a little, but definitely noticeable. There is a lot of pupae now and they will eclose soon. It also has been really cold and chilly here so maybe that's why the pupae are taking a lot longer to eclose. Hopefully when warmer weather comes the colony will start to really explode. Other than that since I'm still working on their new setup, they can take all the time they want.

 

So for the new setup, I drilled one more hole opposite of the other two, and I also started to make the chambers and tunnels. My friend let me borrow his dremel, so that'll make it much easier to carve it out. And then when I have free time I will work on cleaning and carving each chamber out one by one, but for now I just drilled out the chambers with the dremel.

 

 

It didn't turn out like my drawing because there was so much more space to work with than I thought. If I did it like my drawing, the chambers would've been HUGE.

 

Also I'm looking into what background I am going to put for the tank. But before I do print it out, I photoshopped some backgrounds I like into the setup.

 

 

 

 

Let me know what you guys think. I'm leaning towards the last one. But it doesn't matter which one because I can always change it.

 

I also will be busy within the next month, so If I don't update regularly, I will as soon as I get the time. Laters!

Edited by SMILEforAnts, March 24 2015 - 7:37 PM.

[Foogoo]

Thanks guys!

 

Quick update on the colony and their new formicarium. Queen count is down to 53. The workers dismembered one of the queens. She was being fed a lot. So much that her gaster got huge and it was my first time ever seeing a Pheidole megacephala queen with an expanded gaster like that. Funny thing is I don't think she ever laid any eggs. Everytime I observed her she never did. So I was thinking in my head, you better start laying eggs or doing something useful other than being a fat a$$ or else the workers will kill you. And sure enough they did. This was a picture of her.

 

 

On a serious note though, I didn't know they would do that to non-producing queens. It's scary how an established colony operates like a single organism...

[SMILEforAnts]

Lol yeah, pull your weight (no pun intended) or you're OUTTA HERE!

[Jonathan21700]

Nice formicarium!

[Myrmicinae]

How is this colony doing?

[SMILEforAnts]

Nice formicarium!

 

Thank you! ^^

 

How is this colony doing?

 

Here’s an update for ya!

 

This is a recent picture of the colony. Lots more pupae, and it’s starting to get a little crowded. I’m sure when all the pupae eclose, it will definitely be packed and then they’d need to move soon. They use to pile their garbage outside into the foraging area, but they suddenly stopped. You can see at the top left it’s starting to pile up in there and it’s touching the glass. Hopefully I’ll be able to move them soon, maybe this upcoming weekend.

 

 

Now an update on their tank setup. This past weekend I finally finished carving out the nest, and last night I printed out the background I chose to have in there. Here’s how it looks.

 

 

I placed a bunch of workers and a soldier in the setup so they can explore and I can also observe them if there is anything toxic that could kill them. You can see that some of them are just chilling near one of the nest entrance and a solo explorer near another entrance.

 

 

Here’s a worker that wanted to explore the foraging area. She’s climbing up a tree branch I placed in there.

 

 

And this is a closer look at the workers relaxing near the entrance.

 

 

A lone worker exploring more of the nest.

 

 

And then here’s just another close up of the group hanging out.

 

For hyrdrating the nest, I'll just do what I did in the past. Use a syringe and directly shoot water onto the nest and then mist the foraging area daily. I didn't plan as much as I'd like because I got too excited and I wanted it to be done already. The next one I'll definitely plan more when it comes to hydrating the nest.

 

So yeah when I move them I’ll update and post pictures of it. Oh and I caught 3 more queens, so now the total queen count is 56. (:<

[Myrmicinae]

Nice formiacrium design!

 

I have a quick question that I was hoping you could answer.  I recently collected a Pheidole megacephala colony from a potted Yucca gloriosa plant.  I managed to extract hundreds of workers and four queens, along with a very small amount of brood.  These ants quickly relocated to the test tubes I provided.  However, they've shown barely any interest in the dead (frozen) insects that I have been offering them.  

 

Did your colonies have a similar lack of appetite in the first couple of weeks after collection?  I'm hoping that this is just a temporary consequence of stress during the move, or perhaps a result of low brood numbers.

Edited by Myrmicinae, March 25 2015 - 11:19 AM.