4 replies to this topic

[Ethanyan2002]

Camponotus Modoc

https://imgur.com/a/uyXFDrQ

 

I caught this queen on May 21st and she laid her first batch of eggs the next day. I left them in the dark until June 16th, by then, some of the eggs have already hatched. After June 16th, I noticed that the development of the brood was pretty fast, the first pupa appeared on the 22nd. By July 3rd most of the first batch of larvae have become pupae. The last larva pupated within the next few days. The first nanitic eclosed on July 16th, 57 days after I caught the queen. After the first nanitic, I moved them into a formicarium. I didn't wait for more to eclose because the test tube I housed them in couldn't fit into the outworld attached to the formicarium. Thankfully, they weren’t too stressed out by this. The next worker came 2 days after the move, and by July 29th (13 days after the first) all of my first 6 nanitics have hatched out. I noticed that the first nanitic was quite a bit smaller than most, I'm guessing it developed faster because it was smaller. I can't figure out how to attach photos so I pasted a link to the photos. 

Edited by Ethanyan2002, August 7 2019 - 9:53 PM.

[Ethanyan2002]

Myrmica sp.

 

https://imgur.com/a/3a8uyYH

 

I caught a myrmica queen on May 6th while searching in a forested area. I wasn't sure at the time whether it was a queen or not because based on my research, myrmica didn't usually fly until August. I later learned that they send queens off to form satellite nests. I believe this was when I caught mine. After about a week, I found another myrmica queen and took the risk of putting them together even though I wasn't sure if they were of the same species. They looked very similar and I found them in the same area so I was 50% sure they were the same species. Luckily, the first queen seemed to accept her after biting at her neck for about five minutes. About a week later, I found yet another queen of the same genus, and I placed her in with the others. I didn't get to watch them interact because I had to leave, but after a weekend the first two queens seemed to have accepted her. I couldn't get a photo, but I found their first batch of eggs on May 27th. I left them alone and fed them some of the isopods I kept. They didn't seem to like the isopods very much, but I wasn't in a position where I could get any other sort of feeder. They had constant access to sugar water (I later switched to hummingbird nectar which they seemed to really like). Right now, three months after I caught the first queen, they have 2 larvae and a couple of eggs. Sorry I don't have many photos, I've heard that they're a sensitive species, so I try to keep them undisturbed as much as possible.

[Ethanyan2002]

Tetramorium Immigrans (I think)

 

https://imgur.com/a/ss2gDru

 

I caught the queen on on June 10th. When I checked on July 3rd, she had some pupae, and by July 10th, some of them had become pupae. Her first nanitics eclosed on July 21st (I fed them a little bit of hummingbird juice). I moved them into their formicarium on July 24th. They had about 7 workers. Now they have about 15 workers and a pile of larvae. They built some sort of wall in their chamber with the sand from their outworld. It used to be a full wall, but they destroyed it when they dragged a cricket leg in. I'm not sure what it could be for, I have not seen anything about this kind of behaviour.

[Ethanyan2002]

Camponotus Modoc

 

https://imgur.com/a/WGftNA1

 

I noticed that on of the workers died today. My theory is that it accidentally sprayed itself with formic acid. I noticed that it was stuck in a gap in the formicarium and once it got out it kept running around. The other workers and the queen seem fine, they have plenty of food. It could also be because of mold but I'm not sure because all the other ants seem fine. I also have a new pupa, it formed about a week ago. There is also a bunch more larvae but I noticed they have been developing slowly, I've been feeding them about two crickets a week so I think they have enough protein. Could it be because they know that they're not going to fully develop before going into diapause? There is still around two months though. 

[Ethanyan2002]

Myrmica sp.

 

https://imgur.com/a/xmHHb9d

 

My first worker just eclosed. I was so surprised when I saw it because I didn't even notice it pupate. It just randomly showed up today. Based on the colour, I think it eclosed either today or yesterday. There are a couple of larvae and some eggs. Their test tube is getting a little dirty, but it's not too bad yet. I'm thinking of moving them into a Antkit series 3 size 2 formicarium.