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Dspdrew's Camponotus laevissimus Journal [173] (Discontinued 12-14-2021)

dspdrew journal camponotus laevigatus little thomas mountain san jacinto mountains california

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64 replies to this topic

#21 Offline dspdrew - Posted September 16 2015 - 6:20 PM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Update 9-16-2015
 
I'm really surprised how well these colonies are doing this year. Only one colony looks to have lost two workers. Right now the worker count for all four colonies is 15, 15, 18, and 21. The one with 18 workers has about 15 pupae, and a whole bunch of larvae and eggs as well, so this colony is going to be doubling in size very soon. Also one of the smaller colonies already has what looks like a small major on the way.



#22 Offline Thomas_Nguyen2456 - Posted September 17 2015 - 5:56 AM

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My school has huge colonies of those. 



#23 Offline dspdrew - Posted September 17 2015 - 7:26 AM

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  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Nice. What kind of a nest are they being kept in?



#24 Offline Tpro4 - Posted September 17 2015 - 1:22 PM

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his school is being "invaded" by those, they don't keep them
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Remember Dragon Warrior, anything is possible when you have inner peace. - Master Shifu

Current Queens:
1 Unknown Pogomyemex
1 Solenopsis Xyloni

#25 Offline dspdrew - Posted September 17 2015 - 1:23 PM

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  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

:lol: Ohhh.



#26 Offline Foogoo - Posted September 17 2015 - 1:41 PM

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My school has huge colonies of those. 

Mind me asking which school (feel free to not answer)? I find that interesting because I've never seen Camponotus in urban areas around here, only in the mountains.


Camponotus vicinus, Crematogaster 1, Crematogaster 2, Formica francoeuri, *, *, Myrmecocystus testaceus, Novomessor cockerelli, Pheidole hyatti, Pogonomyrmex californicus, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Solenopsis invicta


#27 Offline dspdrew - Posted September 17 2015 - 2:56 PM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

These would not be in urban areas in Southern California; it would have to be some place with climate similar to that of Angelus Oaks where I found these.



#28 Offline Foogoo - Posted September 19 2015 - 8:48 PM

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These would not be in urban areas in Southern California; it would have to be some place with climate similar to that of Angelus Oaks where I found these.

That's what I thought, which is why I find it curious if they are in fact running around a school in the Valley.


Camponotus vicinus, Crematogaster 1, Crematogaster 2, Formica francoeuri, *, *, Myrmecocystus testaceus, Novomessor cockerelli, Pheidole hyatti, Pogonomyrmex californicus, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Solenopsis invicta


#29 Offline dspdrew - Posted October 2 2015 - 9:45 PM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Update 10-2-2015
 
All four colonies are still healthy and continuing to grow. They're now up to 18, 20, 22, and 25 workers. :D


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#30 Offline dspdrew - Posted January 15 2016 - 9:57 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Update 1-15-2016
 
A couple of these colonies went down in size a bit. The smallest one is so small now, that I took it out of the foraging container, and put it in one of the small test tube containers.
 
All four colonies have been put into hibernation in my new "hibernation cabinet".
 
gallery_2_2335_227352.jpg



#31 Offline dspdrew - Posted April 27 2016 - 10:53 PM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Update 4-27-2016
 
I just took these out of hibernation. Most of them had quite a few workers die. The largest now has fourteen workers, and the other three only have eight, seven, and one. Only a couple of them have a few larvae. The rest have no brood at all.

 

I moved them all into fresh containers and gave them all some of my kevlar feeders full of Sunburst Ant Nectar. I moved the colony with eight workers into the old "wood box" that I used to have my Liometopum occidentale in. They immediately moved right into the little chamber I made for them in the wood. I'm keeping these in the area of my apartment where it's about 80 degrees instead of in the room where it's always over 90 degrees. I think a constant 90+ degrees would be too hot for this species.

 

All four colonies weren't interested at all in the crickets I gave them, but they did drink quite a bit of the Sunburst.



#32 Offline dspdrew - Posted May 10 2016 - 9:04 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Update 5-9-2016
 
All but the smallest colony each have about four new eggs now.
 
The colony in the "wood box" has been chewing away at it ever since I put them in there. They chewed out most of that top chamber themselves. The left side of it isn't completely visible because they left some wood in front. That's where the queen is hiding in these pictures. I notice they don't take any of the wood shreds outside the nest, and instead plaster it in other areas inside the nest, sealing them up. They put a bunch in the entrance, making the hole just big enough for the workers to fit through.
 
gallery_2_194_576343.jpg

 

gallery_2_194_148438.jpg
 
 
This is around the corner where they have been placing a lot of the wood.
 
gallery_2_194_181680.jpg


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#33 Offline Crystals - Posted May 10 2016 - 9:42 AM

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I found that any Camponotus I kept seem to dislike tiny gaps, and either chew them open or try to jam stuff into the gap or crack.


"Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astound the rest." -- Samuel Clemens

 

List of Handy Links   (pinned in the General section)

My Colonies


#34 Offline dspdrew - Posted May 16 2016 - 11:01 PM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Update 5-17-2016
 
I just found fifteen more of these queens in Angelus Oaks, CA, on 5-12-2016. A few of them have already laid some eggs. About seven or so had a few parasitic mites on their legs, so I had to remove them. I'm not sure if the mites were dead or alive, because it's almost impossible to tell with these type of mites, unless you see them crawl.

 

The older colonies now have even more eggs. Even the worker-less queen has a few now. The colony in the "dirt box" has the most, at around twenty.



#35 Offline Air - Posted July 9 2016 - 7:27 AM

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Update?

#36 Offline dspdrew - Posted August 9 2016 - 1:48 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA
Update 8-9-2016
 
Most of these colonies are not doing very well. The one that seems to be doing the best, is the one housed in rotted wood. I recently moved a bunch of the new colonies from test tubes into my small founding formicariums.
 
The colony in the rotted wood has really dug out quite a nest. I'm not even sure how many workers there are because most of them are hidden. With only 3/8 of an inch of space, they still manage to dig out chambers small enough to keep a thin layer of wood in the way. I dropped one small pill bug in here months ago, and now there's quite a few of them wandering around more towards the bottom near the dirt. This thing is so full of springtails, booklice, and mites, that it never molds, even with the bottom portion constantly damp. None of the other creatures living in this thing seem to bother the ants in the slightest.
 
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#37 Offline SirAnticus - Posted November 6 2016 - 9:54 PM

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Update, this species is pretty cool

#38 Offline dspdrew - Posted November 22 2016 - 12:38 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Update 11-20-2016

I only have three colonies/queens left. There's one queen with no workers, a colony with just one worker, and then there's the colony in the "wood box", which isn't doing too bad, with about thirteen or so workers.t one worker. I just put these all in hibernation.



#39 Offline T.C. - Posted November 22 2016 - 6:37 AM

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Are how you keeping that wood nest hydrated? And that wood, are those just boards you made that out of?


Edited by T.C., November 22 2016 - 6:37 AM.

“If I am killed for simply living, let death be kinder than man.” -Althea Davis

#40 Offline dspdrew - Posted November 22 2016 - 7:16 AM

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  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Yes it's hydrated. The wood panels were cut from a rotted log I found in the mountains.







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