5 replies to this topic

[prettycode]

Got a small messor colony from someone in my area. About 25 workers in a tube, stocked with small grains. Have been keeping them in a shoebox in the dark for the last couple weeks until their formicarium came.

 

 

Hydrated the chamber and hooked it up to the test tube using some spare tubing and duct tape. Ants went crazy in the open test tube for a couple minutes before one discovered the formicarium. The queen and all the workers did a few laps around the formicarium then settled back in the test tube.

 

Put a dish towel over the setup for two days, to keep it dark. Checked on them today. They've scattered all their waste all over their new formicarium--includes cotton and seed husks. Ants are still stationed in test tube.

 

(The formicarium might be too humid--that's why they might not have moved in the two days of darkness. Put 6 ccs of water into the water tower an additional 6 cc on the sand, before attaching it to the test tube.)

 

While checking up on them, I turned on some lights in the room and they all went ape. Queen and workers running all over the place. Queen headed straight for opening for Inception Chamber nest. Workers immediately followed, carrying brood.

 

 

Here's a picture of the test tube now, with all the eggs and larva moved. You can see they haven't yet transported their seeds out of the test tube--they seemed to have rushed to get the youngest brood into the nest ASAP, leaving behind the pupae and a small group of workers to tend to them. A few workers have tried to moved the pupae but it almost looks like they're too heavy to move. The ants are struggling to get a good grip on them.

 

 

The queen is now in a small corner of the nest--the darkest spot I can see in the whole setup--aside from where the duct tape is.

 

I'm really struggling with the light issue. They seem super sensitive to light. Anytime more than a small lamp is on, they all freak out. I think I just need to leave them uncovered to get desensitized to the light. Queen might be less productive (maybe?), but I don't think the stress of me uncovering them after they've been in darkness for 24+ hours is healthy either. 

 

Behavior I'm interested in/will be looking for in the upcoming days:

• When will they move the pupae? Will they, or will they just keep them there until they eclose?
• When will they move the grain cache from the test tube, and to where exactly? Will they, even?
• When will they start cleaning up some of the cotton and seed husk debris? I imagine they'll establish a dump sooner or later.
• When will they find the Lightyear Feeder, from byFormica, filled with sugar water? They're oblivious to it, or not interested.
• Will they eat the carrot that I used to create a bridge from the test tube to the formicarium? It's drying out, but no risk of mold, I don't think.

Need to get a macro lens for my cell phone. Recommendations? Whatever's the top seller on Amazon?

Edited by prettycode, July 28 2015 - 7:30 PM.

[Ants4fun]

1. If they have established the inception chamber as their home, they should be moving along soon. It takes a while in the wild, and they usually move slowly, not all at once.

2. I can't answer that

3.can't really answer that. How can we know where exactly they will move their grain?

4. Again, I doubt any of us can answer that

5 once more, we can't answer that

6.can't answer this

7. They probably won't eat carrot.

8. Amazon is good for finding stuff like that

9 nope

10 I guess


I'm sorry, but you overestimate out question answering powers. Each ant colony is different, and do things in different ways.

Edited by Ants4fun, July 28 2015 - 7:50 PM.

[drtrmiller]

You may have better luck in a European forum, as most members here will not have experience with this genus.

 

What I can say is that ants that are stressed will not exhibit typical behaviors.  You should focus on providing an environment so they are the least stressed—if light is a factor, as you describe, then they may not do well in a nest that has an open view.

[prettycode]

1. If they have established the inception chamber as their home, they should be moving along soon. It takes a while in the wild, and they usually move slowly, not all at once.

2. I can't answer that

3.can't really answer that. How can we know where exactly they will move their grain?

4. Again, I doubt any of us can answer that

5 once more, we can't answer that

6.can't answer this

7. They probably won't eat carrot.

8. Amazon is good for finding stuff like that

9 nope

10 I guess


I'm sorry, but you overestimate out question answering powers. Each ant colony is different, and do things in different ways.

 

Oh, I wasn't asking those bullet points as questions for you guys to answer. Was more enumerating them for myself.  Thanks though!

Edited by prettycode, July 29 2015 - 9:53 AM.

[Ants4fun]

Oh, lol I was so confused.

[Jonathan21700]

I dumped my Messor colony in a container with the formicarium covered and first the queen moved and then the brood and workers. Everything happened in less than 10 minutes. Also a Lasius colony I was moving did not want to move even when I shined a light on them and then I decided to put them in the sun after about 1 minute they all moved out. They will probably not take the seeds until they are established in the new nest. My Messor aren't very interested in sugary food mostly seeds and insects.