74 replies to this topic

[dspdrew]

Test tube setups hold water in by way of pressure differences between the water chamber and the outside air pressure sealed off by the wet cotton ball. Air has to get in, raising the pressure inside the tube in order for water to get out. If air somehow gets in, the outside pressure can no longer hold the water in, and it leaks out until the pressure inside the tube drops below the pressure outside the tube once again, stopping the leak. I have never been able to figure out exactly what sometimes allows the air to continuously make its way in and allow the water to leak out, causing a flood.

[dspdrew]

Update 10-17-2014

 

It turns out a few of these are not fertile, so I now am down to only four growing colonies. I took the best colony and put it in a foraging container with a liquid feeder.

[Gregory2455]

Do you have any pictures?

[dspdrew]

Not yet. There really isn't anything spectacular to see.

[dspdrew]

Update 11-02-2014

 

All four of these queens slowly died off, until the last was found dead yesterday. I can't believe how hard this species has been to raise. Next year I'll probably collect a lot more than I did this year, and I might try some more natural setups for some of them as well.

[Gregory2455]

Maybe this species would do better starting off in Anhzor's agar tube setups.  A lot of these queens seem to turn up as duds, and I do not think the one you had last year that died from a fungus was a coincidence- one of the ones you gave me also died from the same, so that seems to be only this species.

[dspdrew]

I'm planning to make a sort of antfarm-style founding formicarium, sort of like the jars I put a few of my P. californicus queens in, and I think I might try putting a few of these in in them. The two P. californicus colonies I have in those jars are doing 10 times better than any of the other colonies. I think these guys might need the same.

[Mathiacus]

Drew, maybe the packing that seals the end is too tight? If the barometric pressure changes and the tube can't equalize the water may be forced through the cotton.
Uh, temperature and stuff too. I'm thinking relative vacuum in the part where the ants are.. not sucking from outside.. sucks water instead.. words fail my concept.

[dspdrew]

Not exactly sure what you're referring to, because very rarely is there a problem with flooding. Unless the cotton is wet, there is no way it could ever be packed tight enough to stop air from passing through.

[Mathiacus]

Ok. Just a brain fart. Made sense in my mind somehow. Scary place that.. 😀

[AntsAreUs]

I've been having a lot of test tube floods lately...

[Gregory2455]

Drew, my last one just died too, the same reason most of these die. I do not think a test tube is a proper way to raise this species, and I think their self-hygiene is an issue, as they do not seem to want to clean themselves until fungus starts growing on them and kills them.

[dspdrew]

Yeah, it's really strange. Maybe I'll figure out how to keep them alive next season.

[dspdrew]

Update 7-11-2015
 
While out in Goffs, California on 7-7-2015, a couple days after a good rain came through, I found one more of these queens. I'm sure I will find tons more later in the season. For now I just put this one in a test tube setup.
 

[dspdrew]

Update 1-15-2017

 

These all eventually died. The last one died about three weeks ago.

[Jackie]

Hope this year will succeed!  

[dspdrew]

Update 7-23-2017
 

Well, I found more of these this year. I actually saw them flying this time and grabbed tons of them off the ground. This happened in an area called Wild Crossing, California and happened in the evening on 7-9-2017. Hopefully they will do better this time around. I put most of them in test tubes, but do have a few of them in my newly designed founding formicariums. I have a few tubes with two or three queens together.

 

They are all doing great so far with big piles of eggs.

[dspdrew]

Update 8-9-2017
 

This new bunch of queens just got their first workers a few days ago.

[dspdrew]

Update 10-1-2017
 

Like every year, these haven't done very well. I had a couple colonies with majors last week, but they seem to be gone now. The largest colony has about 20 workers. It had a major last week, but that's gone now. Something killed off a lot of my ants. No idea what it was. All I know is it was probably something in the air because my termite colonies died too.

[Chicken_eater100]

persistence is key.