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Nathant's Camponotus spp. (Myrmentoma, novaeboracensis, pennsylvancius) Journal (Updated 7/9/17)

camponotus camponotus journal pennsylvanicus novaeboracensis myrmentoma nearcticus

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#1 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 20 2017 - 8:50 AM

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5/20/17

On 5/18/2017, I caught 7 Camponotus spp. queens throughout the day and night during a small flight (Dracut, MA). The high was 94 degrees F. I have coded each specimen. To sum it up, I caught 3 C. pennsylvanicus, all wingless, 3 Camponotus (Myrmentoma) sp./spp., all wingless and 1 C. novaeboracensis, wingless.

On 5/19/17 in the morning, I found a winged C. novaeboracensis queen (queen 2) on the side of a building. I collected her.

I kept adding to the collection throughout 5/18, and put each queen in 125x16mm glass test tube setups, on a 15 watt repti heat cable from ZooMed (except for C. novaeboracensis queen 2, who is still in her plastic collection container and not on the cable). They are left out in the open, so the light in the room they are in gets turned on and off. It does not seem to bother them much.

By the morning of 5/19, C. pennsylvanicus queen 1 already had one egg. Later in the day, there were two. Today, I found C. pennsylvanicus queen 2 had layed one egg.

C. (Myrmentoma) sp. queen 3 appeared to have aquirred an injury to one or both of her antennae. She does not move much at all, and is always tilted to her side. I am afraid she will not make it.

Since these queens are always visible to me, any update I give is up to the exact date and time I post it. It will be interesting to see how these do in light, with it being constantly turned off and on a few times a day.

Also note that Camponotus are probably not done flying here, so more queens will be added within the next few weeks.

yVrYYuY.jpg

Camponotus (Myrmentoma) sp./spp.
First, let me say that the possiblities for each queen are Camponotus nearcticus or Camponotus caryae. With C. caryae only being collected a a few times in New England, each queen is likely C. nearcticus, but you never know for sure. I do not have the proper equipment to identify them at the moment. These queens are relatively calm.

I caught all three of these at night.

Queen 1
No eggs for her, but she seems settled and ready to start a colony!

N5Puifk.jpg

QsrjIlJ.jpg

Queen 2
as I was photographing this queen a few minutes ago, I saw an egg! It is dark-yellow colored, which is interesting. It also is crazy how much bigger and noticable the Camponotus eggs are versus my Prenolepis imparis' and Lasius'.

25VO0ml.jpg

BrhRh3F.jpg

Queen 3
This is the queen who seems to have an antenna injury, possibly caused when I was collecting her. She moves her legs without getting anywhere , and slumps to her side. As you can see, her antennae are at an awkward angle. She also has a very full gaster which I found interesting. Perhaps she was drinking some water from the cotton, becuase I do not remeber her like this when I caught her.

ra2uUbO.jpg

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Camponotus novaeboracensis
Queen 1 was caught at roughly 5:00 PM, 5/18. Queen 2 was caught at roughly 7:00 AM, 5/19. She was winged and on the side of a building. She is still in her collection container and not on the heat cable yet.

Queen 1
No eggs, but she seems settled.

ID Thread for her: http://www.formicult...917/#entry61632

GB2FOQl.jpg

V3B7EED.jpg

Queen 2
She hasn't laid any eggs and remains an alate. I will transfer her to a test tube later.

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Sz7ECI2.jpg

Camponotus pennsylvanicus

Queen 1
On 5/19 in the morning, only about 8 hours after I collected her, I noticed an egg when I woke up. Later that day, there was yet another. I love photographing the big species as it is easy to do so. Also easy to count the brood, or at least it seems so far. The eggs look a lot like larva, but of course eggs don't turn into larvae overnight.

QfGXS0Q.jpg

VrmeEcQ.jpg

jzWtGZM.jpg

Queen 2
Today, I noticed this queen had one egg.

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T2fZlQA.jpg

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Queen 3
This queen appears to have a gaster injury, on her first tergite to be exact. The line seperating tergite one and two is opened up, and the surface of tergite one where the petiole meets the gaster, has a dent in it. She seems to have trouble uncurling herself. She can uncurl to an extent, but still looks somewhat disabled. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if this queen will make it.

See the yellow line on her gaster? It doesn't look like much, but when I look closer it definitely does look like a wound. You also can see the dent in the second pic.

CB7EwJw.jpg

LkvfeL2.jpg

ZZCXOjw.jpg

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Like I said, the Camponotus flights probably are not over yet in Massachusetts. We seemingly haven't even hit the big main flight yet! Expect me to catch a max of 4 more queens, so a max of 12 Camponotus queens.


Edited by Nathant2131, July 9 2017 - 3:25 PM.

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#2 Offline MegaMyrmex - Posted May 20 2017 - 9:22 AM

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nice picture. Maybe queen 3 has some parasite of some sort?


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Proverbs 6:6-8 New International Version (NIV)

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
    consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
    and gathers its food at harvest.

 


#3 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 20 2017 - 10:00 AM

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nice picture. Maybe queen 3 has some parasite of some sort?


Maybe. I can't imagine how that gaster line wound happened.

#4 Offline VoidElecent - Posted May 20 2017 - 12:38 PM

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Nice finds. Those Myrementoma subgenus Camponotus queens are beautiful; I'm so jealous you caught them. Good luck with these ants, I know Camponotus can be fun to raise.

 

Keep us updated!



#5 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 20 2017 - 12:51 PM

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Nice finds. Those Myrementoma subgenus Camponotus queens are beautiful; I'm so jealous you caught them. Good luck with these ants, I know Camponotus can be fun to raise.

 

Keep us updated!

I was particularly excited about the Myrmentoma queens as well; They are one of the only largish species I especially enjoy watching.

 

Literally a few mins ago I found another Myrmentoma queen; Will add her to the fray :D



#6 Offline noebl1 - Posted May 20 2017 - 12:58 PM

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I kept Myrementoma for a bit last season before giving them to another member. Unlike C. pennsylvanicus, I didn't need to heat the Myrementoma, and they produced brood fairly quickly, and also eclosed in no time at all at room temps (upper-60s to 70s F).  They were pretty easy to get going compared to other species.



#7 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 20 2017 - 1:18 PM

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I kept Myrementoma for a bit last season before giving them to another member. Unlike C. pennsylvanicus, I didn't need to heat the Myrementoma, and they produced brood fairly quickly, and also eclosed in no time at all at room temps (upper-60s to 70s F).  They were pretty easy to get going compared to other species.

I'll keep heating the Myrmentoma, but move the cable to the edge of their tubes so they have more of a choice.


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#8 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 20 2017 - 1:21 PM

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5/20/17 (2)

 

I caught another Myrmentoma queen about an hour ago under some bark! I made her a glass test tube setupp and placed her on the heat cable. She's a little jerky right now since she was just taken. She has been named Myrmentoma queen 4.

 

Camponotus (Myrmentoma) sp./spp.

For all the Myrmentoma queens including the ne one, I moved the end of their tubes so the heat cable was under the cotton bung.

 

Queen 4

 

lcuZne5.jpg

 

ju7YmM1.jpg


Edited by Nathant2131, May 20 2017 - 1:21 PM.


#9 Offline noebl1 - Posted May 20 2017 - 1:27 PM

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I kept Myrementoma for a bit last season before giving them to another member. Unlike C. pennsylvanicus, I didn't need to heat the Myrementoma, and they produced brood fairly quickly, and also eclosed in no time at all at room temps (upper-60s to 70s F).  They were pretty easy to get going compared to other species.

I'll keep heating the Myrmentoma, but move the cable to the edge of their tubes so they have more of a choice.

 

 

No worries, wasn't a critique as more a observation at what I saw here.  

 

Also amazes me how fast Camponotus can start laying compared to other species.



#10 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 20 2017 - 1:34 PM

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I kept Myrementoma for a bit last season before giving them to another member. Unlike C. pennsylvanicus, I didn't need to heat the Myrementoma, and they produced brood fairly quickly, and also eclosed in no time at all at room temps (upper-60s to 70s F).  They were pretty easy to get going compared to other species.

I'll keep heating the Myrmentoma, but move the cable to the edge of their tubes so they have more of a choice.

 

 

No worries, wasn't a critique as more a observation at what I saw here.  

 

Also amazes me how fast Camponotus can start laying compared to other species.

 

They were extremely fast. I was shocked when I saw C. pennsylvanicus queen 1 had laid an egg within hours.

 

All the large species are extremely still, too. 



#11 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 20 2017 - 2:24 PM

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5/20/17 (3)

 

Camponotus (Myrmenoma) sp./spp.

 

Queen 2

I just witnessed this queen laying another egg! It stuck out from her gaster, and kept trying to pull it out for a few minutes until finally suceeding. This makes 2 eggs for this queen!


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#12 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 20 2017 - 5:46 PM

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5/20/17 (4)

 

Camponotus pennsylvanicus

 

Queen 1

This queen has appeared to have very suddenly drop dead! There is a peculiar looking white ring around her neck...



#13 Offline Evanthomas89 - Posted May 20 2017 - 7:08 PM

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5/20/17 (4)

 

Camponotus pennsylvanicus

 

Queen 1

This queen has appeared to have very suddenly drop dead! There is a peculiar looking white ring around her neck...

 

I'm sorry for your loss! I haven't started my own colony yet but I'm curious about what happens to the eggs if the queen dies, have you ever offered them to another queen? 


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#14 Offline Cindy - Posted May 20 2017 - 8:21 PM

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5/20/17 (4)

 

Camponotus pennsylvanicus

 

Queen 1

This queen has appeared to have very suddenly drop dead! There is a peculiar looking white ring around her neck...

This happened to one of my queens as well! Coincidentally, it happened when I turned on the heat cable and set it against the tube. The queen just shriveled up and died.


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#15 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 21 2017 - 3:11 AM

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5/20/17 (4)
 
Camponotus pennsylvanicus
 
Queen 1
This queen has appeared to have very suddenly drop dead! There is a peculiar looking white ring around her neck...

 
I'm sorry for your loss! I haven't started my own colony yet but I'm curious about what happens to the eggs if the queen dies, have you ever offered them to another queen?

No, I'll let the eggs be in hopes that the queens resserects. Even if it's dead, I'll keep the brood alone as I want my other queens to lay their eggs as naturally as possible.
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#16 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 21 2017 - 3:13 AM

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Edit


Edited by Nathant2131, May 21 2017 - 3:20 AM.


#17 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 21 2017 - 3:19 AM

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Edit


Edited by Nathant2131, May 21 2017 - 3:20 AM.


#18 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 21 2017 - 3:42 AM

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5/21/17

 

Camponotus novaeboracensis 

 

Queen 1

I woke up this morning to find that she laid 2 eggs! I don't know why, but I suppose she decided putting both eggs on the roof of the tube was a good idea, which is how I found them. While photograpphing her, she was carrying around one of the eggs.

 

lNISkQG.jpg

 

Camponotus pennsylvanicus

 

Queen 1

This queen remains dead-looking.

 

Queen 2

She now has 5 eggs. She is my most productive Camponotus queen at the moment!

 

Queen 3

This queen now appears dead. I'm not sure if it was becuase of the injury, or one of those infamous spontaneous queen-deaths.


Edited by Nathant2131, May 21 2017 - 4:01 AM.


#19 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 21 2017 - 7:00 AM

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Just a note: If I only update some of the queens, that means the other queens didn't do anything worthy enough to update them about.


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#20 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted May 21 2017 - 7:06 AM

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5/21/17 (2)

 

Camponotus (Myrmentoma) sp./spp.

 

Queen 2

I just witnessed this queen lay another egg a minute ago! She now has three. The eggs are still a strange yellow-orange.


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Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: camponotus, camponotus journal, pennsylvanicus, novaeboracensis, myrmentoma, nearcticus

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