83 replies to this topic

[ANTdrew]

Beginning 9-14-2021

 

This is the first year I've kept Aphaenogaster. I am starting this journal to log the progress of an A. fulva  treatae queen that is special to me because my five year old son found her while we were camping in Prince William National Forest. I've trained the lad well, apparently!

 

 She was found on an exceedingly hot and humid morning on July 12th. My son spotted her walking along the bottom of a slide on a playground at the park. She still had her wings when we collected her. She did end up shedding her wings a few days later. Since I've decided to keep her, I've officially named her Jord, which means soil or earth in Norse.

 

 Here's a look at some of her first nanitics. The colony is growing pretty quickly for such large ants.

 

I've been feeding them insect pieces every other day, along with some Sunburst and sugar grains, which I've heard these will eat. Feeding them in the tube was getting more difficult, so on 9/11 I moved them into a mini-hearth by simply shaking them into the outworld.

 

 

They quickly found the way down into the nest and settled in. Everything about these ants makes them seem very easy to keep compared to some of my other mischievous colonies. The best part is that my son is very excited about the colony. Hopefully he can find many more queens in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by ANTdrew, March 4 2022 - 6:33 AM.

[TacticalHandleGaming]

What a beauty! I look forward to seeing them grow! 

[Chickalo]

A. Fulva is so much prettier than A. picea, I'm jealous (as per usual with antkeepers south of me)

[Antkeeper01]

A. Fulva is so much prettier than A. picea, I'm jealous (as per usual with antkeepers south of me)

Aphaenogaster is beautiful overall!

[Kaelwizard]

I assume they are in hibernation now?

[ANTdrew]

Yes, in my parents’ basement. They haven’t been that cold yet, but that should change.

[NicholasP]

I love fulva.  Hopefully you can find Aphaenogaster Tennesseensis too this year since Aphaenogaster Fulva are the hosts for A.Tennesseensis.

[ANTdrew]

Update 1-19-2021

 

 This colony remains in diapause. They are in my parents' unheated basement, which is down in the 40s now. I checked them on Monday, and everything looks great. I'm looking forward to waking them up in a month or so. I expect big things from this colony in 2022.

[ANTdrew]

Update 2-22-22

Happy Twosday! I officially woke this colony up from diapause last week. They had no losses over the winter and have a cluster of 20 or more eggs at the moment. I've fed them a piece of dubia roach, one cricket, and a few hemp hearts. All the protein sources were eagerly accepted. I really like the graceful, slow-mo movements of these ants. I have high expectations for them this season!

 

You can see their egg cluster here:

 

Some shots of Jord and her workers.

[OiledOlives]

There is a possibility of this not being A. fulva, as the workers seem to be much larger. Can you get a picture of the propodeal spines?

[ColAnt735]

 

Update 2-22-22

Happy Twosday! I officially woke this colony up from diapause last week. They had no losses over the winter and have a cluster of 20 or more eggs at the moment. I've fed them a piece of dubia roach, one cricket, and a few hemp hearts. All the protein sources were eagerly accepted. I really like the graceful, slow-mo movements of these ants. I have high expectations for them this season!

 

You can see their egg cluster here:

 

 

Some shots of Jord and her workers.

 

These are some beautiful ants ANTdrew best of luck with the colony this year! I agree with OiledOlives that these might not be Aphaenogaster fulva as the workers seem to large I think these might be A.treatae. 

Edited by ColAnt735, March 3 2022 - 9:55 AM.

[ANTdrew]

There is a possibility of this not being A. fulva, as the workers seem to be much larger. Can you get a picture of the propodeal spines?

Interesting. I’ll try to get a good shot.

[ANTdrew]

Addendum 2-24-22

 

I'm happy to say that three of Jord's eggs have hatched into larvae. They still have quite a few left to hatch, so their activity level should really spike up. They are readily taking all sorts of protein. I'll work on getting some more photos tonight.

[antsriondel]

Addendum 2-24-22

 

I'm happy to say that three of Jord's eggs have hatched into larvae. They still have quite a few left to hatch, so their activity level should really spike up. They are readily taking all sorts of protein. I'll work on getting some more photos tonight.

That is awesome!!!!   I wish I had aphaenogaster where I live.

[ANTdrew]

Update 3/1/2022

 

This weird and wonderful colony is really growing on me. Aphaenogasters' lack of a social stomach makes them very active ants. The queen dives right into any of the dubia roach pieces I've been feeding them after workers drag them down into the THA Mini-Hearth nest. They have five fat larvae at the moment with more eggs yet to hatch. Workers stuck the larvae right into a roach butt I fed last night, and I could watch them wriggling away as they fed. I imagine it will be even more fun to watch their feeding responses once their numbers increase.

 

 

[TacticalHandleGaming]

If your Aphaenogaster are anything like mine, a very aggressive worker response to protein will become normal once they have at least 40 or so workers. 20+ workers come pouring out of the nest every time now in my colony. 

[ColAnt735]

 

Update 3/1/2022

 

This weird and wonderful colony is really growing on me. Aphaenogasters' lack of a social stomach makes them very active ants. The queen dives right into any of the dubia roach pieces I've been feeding them after workers drag them down into the THA Mini-Hearth nest. They have five fat larvae at the moment with more eggs yet to hatch. Workers stuck the larvae right into a roach butt I fed last night, and I could watch them wriggling away as they fed. I imagine it will be even more fun to watch their feeding responses once their numbers increase.

Just reading this journal makes me want Aphaenogaster. Great work with these beautiful ants!

[ArmansAnts]

If I’m looking at this correctly, those larger ones with the big lobes on the scapes should be A. treatae.

[Otter]

I agree with arman, this is definitely treatae. Flight also matches, exceeding hot day in july. They take off when the clouds pass over according to a few sources. I believe this is the first A. treatae colony I have seen that was founded from a single queen.

Edited by Otter, March 3 2022 - 7:10 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Plot twist!