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TennesseeAnt's Ant Journals


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#1 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted September 15 2017 - 4:24 PM

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I have decided to group all of my journals together into one, better late than never. As a quick overview I have: Formica pallidefulva(Abdo-lemons), Formica subsericea, and Crematogaster ashmeadi. Also as an update on my Formica subsericea, nearly all of the pupae have eclosed and the colony is way larger now. This queen has had a very successful first year, there are 15-18 nanintics and still more pupae!

DSC 0208
 


Edited by TennesseeAnts, June 19 2018 - 4:29 PM.

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I accidentally froze all my ants 


#2 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted September 16 2017 - 6:30 AM

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Update:

Caught two Large Crematogaster queens. I can't make heads or tails of what species they are, or the species of my young colony, because they all look the same, except for size. I'm sure that they are a different species than my young colony, so I'll keep them. I think I'll boost them both with brood of the colonies that live around here, even if they aren't the exact same species.


I accidentally froze all my ants 


#3 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted September 18 2017 - 6:31 AM

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Update:

While anting I found another Crematogaster cerasi queen in her founding chamber, this is now my third queen of this species I've caught this week and she has laid eggs in her test tube. The others seem to be waiting till after hibernation to lay eggs.


I accidentally froze all my ants 


#4 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted September 22 2017 - 1:39 PM

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I caught this little mantis nymph the other day and put it in the Abdo-lemons tank to be a tank mate :D

The Abdo-lemons themselves are becoming pretty inactive due to hibernation coming up, despite the fact that it is nowhere near cold. My F.subsericea are doing awesome as well, and also are my Crematogaster ashmeadi.

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#5 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted September 30 2017 - 7:18 AM

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These pics are a few days old, just posting to give an idea of how large the colonies are now
Still nothing from the Abdo-lemons, they have completely closed off their nest and never come up. Hibernation is really creeping up I guess. 
The Crematogaster workers are getting very large as each new generation ecloses, I'm beginning to think the queen might be a small one for her species, the workers are unproportionally large.
This pic does not show all the workers, at least ten are out of the pic.
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Edited by TennesseeAnts, April 6 2018 - 3:33 PM.

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I accidentally froze all my ants 


#6 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted October 2 2017 - 10:21 AM

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Update on Crematogaster colony

A lot of workers have eclosed since last update, and now there are a lot of the larger ones as opposed to the nanitics. The brood pile is still growing and they show no signs of slowing down for hibernation. I've hooked them up to a cute little outworld and took them out of the bucket they were sitting in. Connectimyrmex has kindly given me the name for this colony, they are now called the Valentine Soldiers.

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Edited by TennesseeAnts, April 6 2018 - 3:34 PM.

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#7 Offline Connectimyrmex - Posted October 2 2017 - 12:44 PM

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No problem! :D


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#8 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted October 7 2017 - 5:34 PM

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It turns out the Abdo-lemons wanted to forage one last time before hibernation. Yesterday they opened up their nest with a huge hole and ate two large crickets :D

DSC 0462

I accidentally froze all my ants 


#9 Offline Chicken_eater100 - Posted October 19 2017 - 5:12 PM

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Who the heck is abdo-lemons?

#10 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted October 19 2017 - 5:14 PM

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Who the heck is abdo-lemons?

That is the name of my yellow Formica colony. I named them that because their Abdomens look like lemons. Sorry if you don't like my humor, it was the first thing that came to my mind.


I accidentally froze all my ants 


#11 Offline Chicken_eater100 - Posted October 19 2017 - 5:16 PM

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Oh, I thought it was the snail. It pretty funny once you get the joke.

#12 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted October 19 2017 - 5:19 PM

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Oh, I thought it was the snail. It pretty funny once you get the joke.

Ya, that snail kinda photobombed :ugone2far:


I accidentally froze all my ants 


#13 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted January 28 2018 - 4:51 PM

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Update:

The Valentine Soldiers are now out of hibernation! I simply moved them into my house(which stays a constant 72-75 degrees), but once it is summer then they will be moved back into my garage for some summer heat. Left in hibernation are a colony of Camponotus cromaiodes, and of course the Abdo-Lemons. I'm going to be moving the Camponotus inside in a week or two, and I have not yet decided what to do with the Abdo-Lemons and their terrarium. I'll probably leave them in the garage until its summer. 

 

Just in case you've been following for a while, the Formica subsericea colony in the AntsCanada Hybrid Nest are no longer in my care. Also, the Camponotus cromaiodes colony is new, I got it 2 or so months ago, and never mentioned it, so I currently have three ant colonies.

 

On another note, the Abdo-Lemons terrarium is now completely different looking......again.

I had reason to have to basically dig around in there tank again and took the opportunity to refurbish a bit, and it looks pretty good if I do say :)


Edited by TennesseeAnts, April 6 2018 - 3:35 PM.

I accidentally froze all my ants 


#14 Offline MegaMyrmex - Posted January 29 2018 - 4:22 PM

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Pictures, man! Also how's the mantis? It's a female carolina mantis and am curious if she laid eggs...

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.

 


#15 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted January 29 2018 - 5:54 PM

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Pictures, man! Also how's the mantis? It's a female carolina mantis and am curious if she laid eggs...

The Mantis died after laying an egg case on a rock that I then put outside.

 
There are now about 25 workers, they are currently in a very basic setup, just a plain small bucket with an oil barrier.
DSC 0608
This is my new Camponotus colony
DSC 0601

Edited by TennesseeAnts, January 29 2018 - 5:56 PM.

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#16 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted January 30 2018 - 11:52 AM

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Well, they are back into hibernation... they weren't being active and didn't want anything to do with even there favorite foods. I want to play it safe and just keep them in the garage until it warms up naturally. I'll update again in probably March. That may be when it starts to warm up


I accidentally froze all my ants 


#17 Offline Connectimyrmex - Posted January 31 2018 - 4:54 PM

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I'm still so proud of my Valentine Soldiers nickname  :lol:


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Hawaiiant (Ben)

Keeper of
Miniature Labradoodle
Baby Wolf Spider
Mud Dauber wasp larvae
Ochetellus Glaber
Solenopsis Geminata
Brachymyrmex Obscurior
Cardiocondyla Emeryi
Tetramorium Bicarinatum
Plagiolepis Alluaudi
Anoplolepis Gracilipes
Technomyrmex Difficilis
Pheidole Megacephala
Aholehole fish
Cowrie snail
Sea Fan Worm
100+ sea squirts
Tree seedlings
Ghost Crab
Day Gecko
Small Fat Centipede
Endemic Lacewing larva
Vernal Pool shrimps

#18 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted February 17 2018 - 5:14 PM

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Update:

The ants are out of hibernation again. This time I am heating them with a heating lamp as they are in my house, which only stays at 73-75 degrees. I don't intend on ever keeping them in my garage again in the summer like I did last year. Today I bought three beautiful cube containers made out of crystal clear acrylic or Plexiglas(I'm not really sure). They are all different sizes. The largest one I will be turning into a little planted terrarium for my Centipedes. The other two I turned into outworlds for my Crematogaster and Carpenter ant colonies, and they look great.... just wait till I decorate them! The Crematogasters are currently in the process of moving into a hybrid nest of mine. 

I'll upload pics tomorrow, I just don't have time tonight.


Edited by TennesseeAnts, February 17 2018 - 5:16 PM.

I accidentally froze all my ants 


#19 Offline Jadeninja9 - Posted February 17 2018 - 7:18 PM

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Update:

The ants are out of hibernation again. This time I am heating them with a heating lamp as they are in my house, which only stays at 73-75 degrees. I don't intend on ever keeping them in my garage again in the summer like I did last year. Today I bought three beautiful cube containers made out of crystal clear acrylic or Plexiglas(I'm not really sure). They are all different sizes. The largest one I will be turning into a little planted terrarium for my Centipedes. The other two I turned into outworlds for my Crematogaster and Carpenter ant colonies, and they look great.... just wait till I decorate them! The Crematogasters are currently in the process of moving into a hybrid nest of mine. 

I'll upload pics tomorrow, I just don't have time tonight.

Are you sure you should be heating them right out of hibernation?



#20 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted February 18 2018 - 11:19 AM

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Update:

The ants are out of hibernation again. This time I am heating them with a heating lamp as they are in my house, which only stays at 73-75 degrees. I don't intend on ever keeping them in my garage again in the summer like I did last year. Today I bought three beautiful cube containers made out of crystal clear acrylic or Plexiglas(I'm not really sure). They are all different sizes. The largest one I will be turning into a little planted terrarium for my Centipedes. The other two I turned into outworlds for my Crematogaster and Carpenter ant colonies, and they look great.... just wait till I decorate them! The Crematogasters are currently in the process of moving into a hybrid nest of mine. 

I'll upload pics tomorrow, I just don't have time tonight.

Are you sure you should be heating them right out of hibernation?

 

I'm not heating them just yet, I'll wait till tomorrow to start adding heat. It would be okay if I started right off the bat anyways because the last couple of days they were hibernating it wasn't very cold, so they had already warmed out of hibernation slightly.


I accidentally froze all my ants 





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