245 replies to this topic

[Gregory2455]

Still waiting on mine. 

[dspdrew]

Don't worry too much, things move very quickly in my apartment ant-wise.

[dspdrew]

Update 10-27-2014
 

Both new queens eventually ate all their brood. One of the queens died a few days ago. The one remaining queen recently laid more eggs, but has eaten almost all of those again now.

[Gregory2455]

Neither of us are having luck with this species, at least you have your Myrmecocystus mimicus...

[dspdrew]

Yeah, one of her only workers found dead today...

[Gregory2455]

We need to interrogate jimbodw07. He seems to be the only one who has success with his, getting his to the point of getting workers and all.

[dspdrew]

Update 12-3-2014
 

The last queen died yesterday. I found her laying there dead in her test tube all colored red for some reason. Better luck next year hopefully.

[Gregory2455]

Colored red? Are you getting the pink bacteria I have?

[dspdrew]

I don't know what it was. She was just completely red.

[Gregory2455]

Just like ants of mine that die to that red/pink stuff...

[LAnt]

DUN Dun dun:o

[dspdrew]

Update 7-10-2015
 
I found twelve more of these queens on 7-7-2015, in Goffs, California, which is in the high Mojave Desert. I dug them up from their founding chambers two days after a big storm dropped over an inch of rain there.
 
The founding chambers were very easy to recognize, because they have the largest clods of dirt I've ever seen any queen dig up.
 

 
 
For now I just put all but two of them in test tubes.
 

 

 

 
 
As for the other two, one I put in a small ant farm box that I made with more space to fit these huge ants, and the other I put in my experimental test tube replacement formicarium prototype. Once I get more of the larger spaced ant farm boxes made, I will put more of these in them. I should have more in a few days.
 

 

 

 

[nurbs]

I just read the entire journal. Sucks about your first try. They look like sweet ants. Pun intended. I am sure this batch will make it.

Edited by nurbs, July 10 2015 - 9:37 PM.

[Miles]

This is a gorgeous species. I can't believe how beautiful my queen is, and I can see that is evident in yours, too.

[dspdrew]

Hey did you just get a small portion of your colony, or was it just a small, young colony?

[Miles]

Hey did you just get a small portion of your colony, or was it just a small, young colony?

Small, young colony. First or second year. We nearly got the entire colony - I would expect a few stragglers got left behind.

Edited by Miles, July 11 2015 - 7:05 AM.

[dspdrew]

Oh that's the best: a new queen that you know if pretty fit already. You're lucky.

[Miles]

Oh that's the best: a new queen that you know if pretty fit already. You're lucky.

I am very lucky! I also have a Myrmecocystus navajo queen who has raised a small colony - she might be even prettier than these.

[dspdrew]

Yeah some of those are pure yellow. They range though, just like these. I once had a M. mexicanus that was pretty much pure yellow too. Unfortunately it wasn't fertile.
 

[dspdrew]

Update 7-11-2015
 
The queen in the ant farm box has finished digging her founding chamber and has closed it off.

 

Here she is digging her founding chamber.

 

 

 

Here she is closing it off.