11 replies to this topic

[cpman]

Hi everyone!
I've decided to start a journal for my Camponotus cf. sayi queen, seeing as she has laid eggs.

4/7/2015:
So, my Camponotus cf. sayi queen that I caught on 4/4/2015 has two eggs. Unlike many other species in this genus, her eggs are a pearly white. I didn't want to disturb her, so here are some pictures from when I caught her:

Edited by cpman, June 16 2015 - 9:46 AM.

[dspdrew]

The easiest way to say "probably Camponotus sayi" is "Camponotus cf. sayi".

[cpman]

4/9/2015:

This queen is now up to 4 eggs! She drank a LOT of water, as her gaster is quite a bit larger now than it used to be...

Here is a newer picture of her:

Edited by cpman, April 9 2015 - 6:07 PM.

[cpman]

Update 4/12/2015:

 

This queen is up to 8 eggs now! No pictures at the moment, but her gaster is bigger now... I don't know weather it is due to eggs or water....

Edited by cpman, April 12 2015 - 8:17 AM.

[cpman]

Update 4/16/2015:

 

She has got a LOT of eggs now!

Here is a (admittedly low quality) picture from a few minutes ago:

 

She's surprisingly calm, even under the microscope lights.

[cpman]

Update 5/5/2015:
This queen has 3 tiny pupae now in addition to A bunch of eggs and larvae. They are only 3 mm long!
This is probably my favorite Camponotus around here as the workers are so strikingly colored and polymorphic. The shiny red is so cool to see.
Here she is:

[dspdrew]

Those are some small Camponotus. Interesting colors too.

[cpman]

They are quite small! I'm really surprised at how small the nanitics will be from the size of the pupae. The majors are around 7 mm if I remember right.

[cpman]

Update 5/26/2015:
She has 4 workers now. Seeing as I haven't fed them yet, today I whipped up a mix of a protein shake and table sugar to make a food with a carbohydrate to protein ratio of 3:1. I gave them extra sugar because all my current ants are Campontus and they seem to like more carbs.

Anyway, I pasteurized it in the microwave, and all the protein aggluginated, making it into a gel! So, I give some to this colony.
Within seconds 3 workers had recruited to it.
Here they are enjoying their first meal:


You can't see them, but she has laid another batch of eggs and has some small larvae!

Edited by cpman, May 26 2015 - 5:52 PM.

[Lamarr]

Very cool species you got there, cpman! How large is the queen? They seem like a smaller Camponotus species.

[cpman]

If I remember right the queen is about 11 or 12 mm. They are pretty small for Campontus. They are all over the oak trees here.

[cpman]

Update 6/16/2015:

 

When I came back from out of the country, they had 5 workers and no brood!

Unfortunately, two workers have died since, and they've refused both a termite and my ant food. I hope I can get them to eat. I'm probably going to pick up a fruit fly culture this week, so hopefully they take that.

Here is a picture: