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Aaron's Camponotus planatus Journal (Updated 8-6-18)

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#1 Offline Aaron567 - Posted December 28 2017 - 1:23 PM

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I have just decided to create a journal on my Camponotus planatus colony because I have grown to love this species so much and they are one of my most interesting Camponotus species in my opinion. I also have plenty of pictures of this queen and colony as they have grown.

 

July 20, 2017

 

I captured this queen when I was on vacation on the east coast of southern Florida. At first I did not know exactly what genus she was because she seemed so unusual for Camponotus. She was 8 millimeters and brown with a silver gaster. Very small when compared to a 14-millimeter C. floridanus queen. This species is not found where I live.

 

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July 23, 2017

 

July 23 is when I brought her home, along with my other queens that I caught on that vacation.

 

After waiting over a week, the planatus queen had still not laid any eggs while all the other queens I caught all had eggs. I was starting to get worried that she would never lay and end up dying.

 

 

 

August 10, 2017

 

She finally laid her first egg on this day.

 

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September 24, 2017

 

By this time, her first egg had turned into her first pupa and she had two eggs and one small larva.

 

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October 3, 2017

 

The first nanitic eclosed on October 3rd. That journey from egg to nanitic took a very long time, which I do not think is normal with this species. This queen just had a rough and slow start.

 

The nanitic was very small, of course. Just over 3 millimeters in length.

 

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November 2, 2017

 

This is when they started to really grow. Four larvae and six eggs in this picture. I think there was also a larger larva at this time that happens to not be in this picture.

 

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November 18, 2017

 

3 pupae and several eggs and larvae!

 

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November 30, 2017

 

Four workers now.

 

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December 16, 2017

 

Still 4 workers, but one pupa and some larvae and eggs.

 

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A good size comparison with my finger in this picture.

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December 27, 2017

 

This is basically where they are now. 5 workers and some larvae and eggs. The queen is continuously laying eggs which is good news.

 

UsiLNdr.jpg


Edited by Aaron567, August 6 2018 - 1:26 PM.

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#2 Offline TennesseeAnts - Posted December 28 2017 - 6:28 PM

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I'm glad you made this.:)

#3 Offline nurbs - Posted December 28 2017 - 10:31 PM

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Great shots! Very cool. Keep us updated. I like reading about other Camponotus that are not native to CA. She almost looks like Formica.


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#4 Offline MegaMyrmex - Posted December 29 2017 - 9:15 AM

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These are polygynous by the way and love the fuzzy hairs on them!

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.

 


#5 Offline T.C. - Posted December 29 2017 - 11:05 AM

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Great shots! Very cool. Keep us updated. I like reading about other Camponotus that are not native to CA. She almost looks like Formica.


That's what I thought. This species greatly resembles formica although it is not.
“If I am killed for simply living, let death be kinder than man.” -Althea Davis

#6 Offline VoidElecent - Posted December 29 2017 - 1:01 PM

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Hey, I love these little dudes. The workers' thoraxes are rather bulky. 


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#7 Offline MegaMyrmex - Posted December 29 2017 - 1:37 PM

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Hey, I love these little dudes. The workers' thoraxes are rather bulky.

Yeah they look more like polyrachis to me

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.

 


#8 Offline YsTheAnt - Posted December 29 2017 - 11:01 PM

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They are so small for camponotus! That's kinda cool though because that means faster development, and maybe even faster majors. Nice colony!

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#9 Offline Zmagz - Posted December 29 2017 - 11:07 PM

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coool colony



#10 Offline Mettcollsuss - Posted December 30 2017 - 6:18 AM

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Nice  :good2:


Edited by Mettcollsuss, December 30 2017 - 6:19 AM.


#11 Offline Aaron567 - Posted February 5 2018 - 7:49 PM

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February 5th, 2018

 

They were doing pretty well at the beginning, and now it seems they've come crashing down all of a sudden. A 6th worker tried to eclose but it had problems and ended up dying. Over the last week or so, the workers have just been dying for a completely unknown reason! Four out of the five workers died, leaving them with a single worker left. The brood pile consists of several larvae and maybe a couple eggs. I can only hope that this last worker stays alive until the brood can hatch into more workers. Not sure what happened but I hope they can bounce back.



#12 Offline Aaron567 - Posted March 9 2018 - 5:08 PM

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March 9, 2017

 

The "colony" has now been in this state for over a month. One worker, and some small larvae that aren't growing. They are refusing the protein I try to give them, so the larvae aren't growing at all because they are not getting any protein. The queen and worker both look to be well-fed because they have been drinking only sugar water. I tried crickets, mealworms, tiny moths, cricket legs, and AusAnts Protein Jelly. I have not tried fruit flies (I don't have any), but if they are refusing the tiny fly-sized moths, I doubt they would accept fruit flies either.

 

Larvae keep dying, too. They had two larger ones but they have both shriveled up and died. Now there are around 9 tiny larvae left. I just noticed that the queen has progressively gotten unusually sluggish the past couple of months. She used to be very quick and twitchy, and now she struggles to get back up when she is knocked over.

 

It would really suck to lose this colony, because they are such a tiny and unique species of Camponotus and are not even found in my area. If they lived here, I'd be actively going around trying to find colonies to collect brood from! But this might by the end. I'm trying everything I can to get the larvae growing again, but they're just dying one by one.

 

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Edited by Aaron567, June 20 2018 - 3:40 PM.

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#13 Offline Aaron567 - Posted March 16 2018 - 3:20 PM

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March 16, 2018

 

Just checked a few minutes ago to see that the queen is now very sluggish and can barely hold onto the glass. Her antennae are starting to curl and she doesn't walk. The worker has always acted normal. The larvae keep dying out, and now there are about six of them left. In an effort to try everything I can, I moved them into a new test tube setup just in case there's something wrong with humidity or mold in the other test tube that is killing them. It looks like the queen may be dead by tomorrow.

 

I truly think the queen has never been very normal, and she was always acted pretty weirdly. When I originally found her in July, she was just sitting on the side of a building in the middle of the day, not even trying to find somewhere to nest. She also had a skinny gaster. She took two weeks to lay her first egg, but did not even lay her second egg until at least 3 weeks later. It is really a mystery to me as to why four of the five workers spontaneously died at once, when the colony was actually looking good.

 

I'll make an update when the queen dies, I guess. If I do manage to find another planatus queen while travelling (they don't live here), I'll restart the journal.

 

What they look like right now:

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Edited by Aaron567, June 20 2018 - 3:41 PM.


#14 Offline Mettcollsuss - Posted March 16 2018 - 4:10 PM

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My C. nearcticus colony went through the same phase. They were at one worker, wouldn't accept food, and their small brood pile wasn't developing. After a few months, my queen started exhibiting the same ones you describe yours having. She died a few days later, though the worker was fine and lived another month or so. I hope your colony makes it. Good luck!



#15 Offline Aaron567 - Posted June 20 2018 - 4:33 PM

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As you could probably guess, the original colony's queen died following the previous post. But I simply can't live without a Camponotus planatus colony, so I got another one from super_oil because they live in his area. There are multi-queen colonies in his backyard that act as supercolonies in that workers and queens from different colonies are tolerant of each other. He collected a few colonies from multiple palm trees and was able to easily merge a couple of them.

 

I was going to get six queens and at least twenty workers but most queens and workers overheated in the mail (it was very hot when I got them). In this picture you can see three queens and around ten workers.

 

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After a few days, one queen and four workers had fully recovered and stayed alive. I wish at least two queens could've survived because I would love to have a multi-queen colony. If all six queens survived I most certainly would've combined all of them together.

 

They also lost all brood in the mail of course but here are the lucky five with their first new eggs (May 19:D

 

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And the queen. I'd say she's about 7 millimeters. Smaller than my first C. planatus queen if I remember correctly.

 

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June 17, 2018

 

The background makes it hard to see the brood. Their test tube sits inside an outworld with white sand.

 

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June 20, 2018

 

Now they have several pupae and will soon get their first worker in my care. They've been very accepting of food. 

 

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Such tiny babies.. this is why love them. 

 

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#16 Offline YsTheAnt - Posted June 20 2018 - 4:55 PM

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Awesome! These ants are the Polyrachis of North America...


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#17 Offline super_oil - Posted June 20 2018 - 5:00 PM

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That wad bad on my part, I will improve my packaging after my mistakes.


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#18 Offline Aaron567 - Posted August 6 2018 - 1:24 PM

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August 6, 2018

 

There are thirteen workers now. No deaths yet, even from the original four workers. The queens is regularly laying eggs and they are right on track. 

 

CyXntRN.jpg


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