74 replies to this topic

[Somethinghmm]

These guys are granivores by the way. I would strongly advise giving them seeds if you haven't already.

 

I have a mature colony of these guys myself, I hope yours do well

Edited by Somethinghmm, November 11 2023 - 6:54 PM.

[dspdrew]

These guys are granivores by the way. I would strongly advise giving them seeds if you haven't already.

 

I have a mature colony of these guys myself, I hope yours do well

 

What seeds do you give your colony? I see all the husks around their nests, and they are very tiny stick like seeds. I'm just giving mine the smallest of my seed mix right now; amaranth, poppy seed, and grass seed.

[100lols]

Soooo jealous as girls are beautiful. The queens seem to be delicate. I’m very impressed!

[Somethinghmm]

 

These guys are granivores by the way. I would strongly advise giving them seeds if you haven't already.

 

I have a mature colony of these guys myself, I hope yours do well

 

What seeds do you give your colony? I see all the husks around their nests, and they are very tiny stick like seeds. I'm just giving mine the smallest of my seed mix right now; amaranth, poppy seed, and grass seed.

 

I give mine poppy, kentucky bluegrass, and chia seeds. They don't seem too fond of the grass seeds for whatever reason.

 

I'd also suggest keeping them in a humid nest, like something that can be directly watered. I keep mine in a 4x4 nest from cocdeshijie hooked up to a formisquarium from arthropodantics. They seem to avoid the 4x4 nest, aside from directly on top of the water tower. They love the formisquarium though, because I water it generously.

[dspdrew]

I actually have chia seeds in the smaller seed mix I'm using as well. I basically just sifted out the largest seeds from my regular seed mix.

 

Thanks for the tip about humidity. They do seem very fond of the sponge. It should be plenty humid in that test tube though, the entrance is very small. My small starter formicariums would have less humidity since they have a much larger entrance hole.

[dspdrew]

Update 11-23-2023

I just noticed the colony's first major yesterday.

 

[100lols]

I’m living vicariously through you! That major is going to be gorgeous when she hardens….

[dspdrew]

Update 2-5-2024

This colony is still doing great. They have up to around 400 workers now with lots of majors. I still have them in a test tube setup sitting in a foraging container, but might move them into a formicarium soon.

 

 

 

 

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

i like the striped gaster look of those majors.

[AntsCali098]

Impressive that you were able to found these. I tried with a few queens last year and they all died, and I've heard they are hard to get started. Those majors are so cute and beautiful!

[ReignofRage]

Where did you hear that they're hard to found? I've only had one died out of the dozens I've founded each year for the past three years.

[dspdrew]

Where did you hear that they're hard to found? I've only had one died out of the dozens I've founded each year for the past three years.

 

I've certainly had a hard time with them. I tried for years and never got past 15 or so workers. It's possible I just always got bad queens.

[JesseTheAntKid]

Holy hells drew, they look awesome! Try feeding them larger portions, like maybe even a whole cricket.

[dspdrew]

Holy hells drew, they look awesome! Try feeding them larger portions, like maybe even a whole cricket.

 

Most of it would just be wasted. I give full crickets to my Ph. vistana all the time.

[AntsCali098]

Where did you hear that they're hard to found? I've only had one died out of the dozens I've founded each year for the past three years.

Hm. I knew Drew has struggled with them, and he said they are hard to found. When I got my queens, they all died out as well. I guess there's a possibility I just got unlucky with bad queens.