21 replies to this topic

[Mdrogun]

Disclaimer:This is my first journal so it might be kind of bad

 

So this colony is kind of a weird one. I found her underneath a rock in my yard with 5 nanitics and without any brood. I managed to collect her and two nanitics. The colony kept trying to produce eggs and brood but they all seemed to die. When one of her nanitics died I knew if i didn't do something I would lose this colony. So I went out into my yard with a shovel and a test tube. I managed to collect about 20+ tetramorium pupae from a wild colony. When I gave them the pupae the nanitic was so happy. The first workers started to eclose just before the nanitic died. Ever since then the queen has kicked in to production and has produced so far about 20+ larvae of her own and many, many eggs. The picture does not accurately show the amount of brood or workers. I will be moving this colony to a Talus by THA very soon.

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Edited by Mdrogun, October 20 2015 - 2:57 PM.

[Mdrogun]

This is also a video of them time-lapse which gives a better idea of brood and workers.

 

 

However they did lose some workers from this probably about 5

After everything I estimate this colony is at 15-25 workers

Edited by Mdrogun, July 30 2015 - 12:00 PM.

[Jonathan21700]

This is also a video of them time-lapse which gives a better idea of brood and workers.

 

 

However they did lose some workers from this probably about 5

After everything I estimate this colony is at 15-25 workers

It looks like they are moving.

Edited by Jonathan21700, July 30 2015 - 12:30 PM.

[Mdrogun]

 

This is also a video of them time-lapse which gives a better idea of brood and workers.

 

 

However they did lose some workers from this probably about 5

After everything I estimate this colony is at 15-25 workers

It looks like they are moving.

 

Yeah they are

[Mdrogun]

I moved the colony into a Talus. I also did notice callow workers so I think the queen has workers that are her offspring. 

 

Edited by Mdrogun, July 31 2015 - 1:35 PM.

[Mdrogun]

I've been keeping the colony warmer and have been offering them more food. There has been an egg explosion inside the nest. Also it seems that the colony has gained about 10 workers

 

 

Edited by Mdrogun, August 4 2015 - 1:09 PM.

[Mdrogun]

This colony is doing really well. I estimate the colony has about 40-50 workers now. there is a lot of pupae in the nest and tons of brood. I expect a big population boost.

[Gregory2455]

They are going to outgrow the Talus really fast. 

[Mdrogun]

They are going to outgrow the Talus really fast. 

I have a piece of heaven that will be here in the next couple of days.http://tarheelants.c.../piece-of-haven

 

update: these guys are incredible eaters! they have already completely consumed the fly I gave them.

Edited by Mdrogun, August 12 2015 - 12:28 PM.

[Roachant]

Nice journal! I sorely need to update mine and I too notice they go through food so fast! I gave them a cricket and they consumed it completely in two days! And this is only with 20-25 workers. There is a lot of brood though, and two queens.

[Mdrogun]

I finally got them to start moving. The colony is extremely divided on whether or not to move. I see workers carrying brood in both directions.

 

Edit: they finally moved in.

Edited by Mdrogun, August 15 2015 - 12:16 PM.

[Lamarr]

Are you talking about Piece of Haven nest? If so I would like to see! Could you post a picture or video of it? Very cool Journal so far.

[Mdrogun]

Are you talking about Piece of Haven nest? If so I would like to see! Could you post a picture or video of it? Very cool Journal so far.

Not a whole lot has happend. The brood seems to be shrinking.

[Mdrogun]

i did a massive brood boost.

Here is before the brood boost:

This is after the brood boost:

[Mdrogun]

I recently over hydrated the nest. I ended up having to move them into a test tube because of how uncomfortable they were. I got a chance to accurately see how many ants there were and how much brood they have. I would estimate this colony is at least over 100 workers now and will probably end up with about 200 hundred after the rest of the brood from the brood boost ecloses. I also noticed a substantial amount of eggs, probably about 100. I was worried the queen would not adjust her egg laying rate to the amount of workers, but I guess she has. I will be posting pictures later.

 

 

 

 

 

I also found a dealate wandering around in my garage about 3 days ago. I gave her some pupae about 15. here is a vid:

Edited by Mdrogun, August 30 2015 - 1:55 PM.

[Mdrogun]

These guys have started to LOVE blue 100. Normally they ignored it. Also they seem to be eating a ton of protein. I've fed them 1 decent sized spider, 2 small spiders and a (adult) cricket in the last day. They seem really hungry for protein again today too.

Sorry I have such a [censored] camera. I'm going to try to either purchase a better one or figure something out.

Edited by dspdrew, October 31 2016 - 12:22 AM.
Removed profanity

[Mdrogun]

Tetramorium random vid:

 

Edited by Mdrogun, September 11 2015 - 8:38 PM.

[Mdrogun]

I happened to open up the formicarium today and I saw a ton of eggs there was at least 120. I also saw about 90 pupae and 100 large larvae. I also noticed that the worker count is probably 400. I need to get these guys another formicarium soon. The queen has a living mass of workers that protect her 24/7. In the picture the worker count may be a bit low. This is because I am feeding them and there is about 100-50 workers in the outworld. I think this colony is magically hiding brood too. I don't know how but there is always a ton of brood. My estimates could be totally off.

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Edited by Mdrogun, September 25 2015 - 6:40 AM.

[LC3]

Looks like the workers are making a curtain of themselves over the brood. Anti-cyber bullying I assume, they knew what you're doing with that camera.

Edited by LC3, September 24 2015 - 4:19 PM.

[Mdrogun]

Looks like the workers are making a curtain of themselves over the brood. Anti-cyber bullying I assume, they knew what your doing with that camera.

Yes, they are very protective of their brood. At least they took a stand against
Cyber-bullying .