1787 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole Colony A's brood pile near the heating cable - looks like 3 pupa will eclose by Sunday

At this rate they will be over 20 workers by the end of next week!

 

click to enlarge

Edited by CoolColJ, June 26 2018 - 11:37 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 28th June 2018
 
Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm queen - Pheidole Colony A
 

The brood mound continues on
I see 3 more pupa ready to eclose tonight and 2 more tommorrow!

Still plenty of larvae and eggs to keep it up as well

I'll do a worker count tommorrow

 

click to enlarge

Pheidole sp, all black 7mm queen - Pheidole Colony B
 

Another pupa to eclose tommorrow.

One pupa left, two large larve on this brood pile near the heat cable, and a few more back on the cotton

But tons of eggs and small larvae.

Queen has been staying near this brood pile and heat cable today

2x Phediole sp. red head/black body 8mm queen - Pheidole Colony C
 
Heat cable is like steroids for ants in winter... situation as of tonight, two nanitics have eclosed since 4 days ago, one more should tommorrow,
and I counted 5 larger larvae and over 40 brood. And they only had 10 odd 1.5 weeks ago


 
 
 

[CoolColJ]

Winter 29th June 2018

Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm queen - Pheidole Colony A

 

I counted 17 workers, so a gain of 8 workers since a week ago!

Much more workers hanging around the brood pile, near the heat cable, today

And a lot more traffic to and from the queen to this brood pile, ferrying brood back and forth.

 

I can see a difference in worker size now, the regulars are about 1mm longer and bulkier.

Still pretty small even then, at around 3mm tops

 

Considering the brood and worker increase they seem to be less interested in eating, and when they do, much less than before...

I did see a few workers sip on the raw honey for a bit a few days ago, but now they are starting to dump rubbish on the raw honey.

They have this messy area in the middle of the test tube - it's probably their toilet

 

I'll probably move this colony to the Inception Chamber when they get over 30 workers.

That's if I decide to keep them, that is... have to see how well the dual and triple queen setups do first.

 

 

 

Pheidole sp, light red head, dark red body, 6-7mm queens

Queen 1 - moved her to a fresh test tube setup, as her old one had a mold spot (likely from her poop...)

Easy, as she has no eggs yet, and she walked across to the new test tube when I opened her current one up.

Kept the the same double cotton chamber setup she had before.

 

Will do the same for the eggless Camponotus consobrinus queen, as her test tube is running lower in water.

And tomorrow I'll be picking up some white Aquarium filter sponge to use in place of cotton wool for the test tube dams, since they do not mold.

So her setup will be the first to use it.

 

All these eggless queens will not lay till spring which is a good 2+ months away.

So I have time to try things out.

And I will switch them all, just before then, to fresh test tubes and founding nests where applicable, as I have at least one nest incoming

 

 

----

 

Strongly considering letting the banished Pheidole queen go loose. She is not getting anywhere with her current 4-5 eggs, and she is not laying anymore, while still eating a lot, and also needing me to babysit her, unlike a freshly mated claustral queen

Edited by CoolColJ, June 29 2018 - 3:25 AM.

[CoolColJ]

I was snooping around the tennis court down the road tonight

Welp I didn't see anything apart from this lone consobrinus worker (medial?) under a lit area, pretty big at 11-12mm. It wasn't a waste of time, since I never knew I had consobrinus around here as I never see them!

Saw some nest entrance holes with dirt in the concrete cracks of the tennis court main building pavement

 

Maybe I can introduce this worker to my eggless queen later on

 

Edited by CoolColJ, June 30 2018 - 4:12 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Found these 13 Polyrhachis ammon under a rock, with 1 larvae.

I can't tell if there is a queen there, they all look so similar.

Boy they sure do love their raw honey, they have been sipping it for the last 40 mins straight! if there is no queen i will return them, and they would have had a nice honey meal for the trouble 

 

 

some videos here - low quality

https://www.instagra.../p/BkrTe51AwjD/

 

click to enlarge

 

 

Edited by CoolColJ, June 30 2018 - 9:13 PM.

[ponerinecat]

Don't think you have a queen. Queens are a bit more bulky and have a smaller head in comparison to its thorax.

[CoolColJ]

Don't think you have a queen. Queens are a bit more bulky and have a smaller head in comparison to its thorax.

 

 

I went back to look for a queen, no sign of one

 

I have them all in a test tube now, so it will make it easier to examine with 30x magnifying glass, but a queen should be obviously larger.

They are all pretty big though, each one is larger than my Polyrhachis rufifemur queen.

 

I turned over more rocks while there, and uncovered these large black camponotus with yellow legs. Majors with big heads and large queen like gasters, around 12-13mm.

Possibly a colour morph of C.nigriceps, as they look like C.lownei but way larger.

 

I exposed some large larave, possibly majors or alate larvae. I took some to give to my C.suffusus

Right now, the suffusus workers seem scared to approach the foil of larvae

Edited by CoolColJ, June 30 2018 - 11:07 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Here is the larvae I captured from the big black Camponotus ants I found under a rock today.
Some of these are around 1cm big
The smaller ones I fed to my various Pheidole colonies. Suffusus still scared of the large one I put near their entrance




Colony update - Winter 1st July 2018

Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen

7 nanitics, 8 large larvae
Decent amount of brood, I can see about 8 large larvae and more smaller ones, and they haven't been eating anything in weeks.
I also touched their outworld with the end of the heat cable a few days ago. And even through the outworld wall, dirt and nest walls, they can feel it and the whole colony migrated to that side of the nest

click to enlarge



Melophorus sp.- red black 6-7mm queen

1 minor worker, no brood. 
No changes


Melophorus sp.- black orange 7-8mm queen

No eggs. 5 workers
They seem to be getting more active, but no eggs

 
Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm
 
19 workers

+8 workers from last week!



 
Pheidole sp, all black  7mm
 
12 nanitics.

Up 2 from last week, and still laying a lot of eggs




2x Phediole sp. red head/black body 8mm
 
2 nanitics. Third one to eclose tomorrow
Queen are pumping out the eggs since they were put on the heating cable. Looks to be over 50 eggs now!
Hopefully they can stay together.
I was going to sell this colony, but we shall see....



 
Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm
 
No eggs, 2 nanitics
Second nanitic is still pale after 2 weeks since she eclosed, and crippled, always on her back, useless to the colony, yet she is still alive




Camponotus suffusus 18+mm
 
7 workers, and 10 larvae

No major change, but they are sitting directly on the heating cable.

Edited by CoolColJ, July 1 2018 - 5:29 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 1st July 2018 - Queen update


Banished Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm

eggs?
I can't seem to find them, so yeah she is just about to get released I think... I can see why she was banished from her colony...


Pheidole sp. red 7mm
 
7? eggs
I thought she ate half her eggs last week, but she just buried them into the cotton, something I have noticed the red Pheidole species around here tend to do.
They just like it really wet, vs the black Pheidole.
Put her on the heating cable this week, can't see much of a difference, but the eggs have turned into small larvae.
The eggs being on cotton does negate the heating cable a bit, but it still does raise the temperature of the test tube walls and interior a bit.

You can see the eggs at the top of the pic


 
Iridomyrmex sp. 7-8mm
 
Into week 13
She has been on the heating cable this week, still no pupa.
Over 3 months now which is crazy long for a smaller species!

https://i.imgur.com/OcflqBv.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/JUhrzf2.jpg

Not only does she have a dent on her gaster, she has a dent on her thorax as well



 
 
3x Phediole sp. red head/black body 8-9mm

On heating cable, and the queens keep hiding the brood with their bodies so I can't see, apart from a few larger larvae.
 

 
Camponotus consobrinus 16-17mm
 
No eggs

Pheidole sp, light red head, dark red body, 6-7mm
 
Queen 1 - no eggs
Queen 2 - no eggs
 
 
Pheidole antipodum? 14+mm
 
Queen 1- no eggs
Queen 2- no eggs


I moved the above 3 species into fresh test tube setups. The consobrinus and antipodum ones, now use the Aquarium filter sponge.
Seems to be working just as well as cotton wool balls, but they don't absorb water and so will never mold.
And it also won't get pulled back as the water empties since it does not form the same kind of vacuum.

The test tube that the Polyrhachis ammon colony I captured today are in, is also using the Aquarium filter sponge

One side benefit of the Aquarium filter sponge is that the ants don't tend to stand on it.

Edited by CoolColJ, July 1 2018 - 4:17 PM.

[CoolColJ]

I went back today and found two more P.ammon ants under that rock.
Are any of these a queen? No ocelli, so most likely not

click to enlarge


Interestingly enough, half of the area under the rock was an Aphaenogaster longiceps nest.
ammon and longiceps living side by side... and they found the big black Camponotus queen I accidently beheaded while trying to capture yesterday...

Edited by CoolColJ, July 1 2018 - 8:17 PM.

[CoolColJ]

So I saw a big hole next to a rock outcrop, on the side of a bush trail near my house.
That was kinda loose to the touch, so pulled it out, and bam bull ants came jumping out.
Black and orange ones, Myrmecia nigrocincta? haha they were stalking me down,
and when I dropped my capture vial they kept doing little jumps towards it as I tried to roll it away and then eventually reaching and stinging it

So they are not supposed to be big? I dunno, the larger ones looked close to 2cm.
Colony looked to be around 50 members.

excuse my crap windows phone pics and vids
https://www.instagra.../p/BktzIOwhIvq/

Well, come next season I know which area I need to camp for a possible queen
They have gamergates, so that is another option

And they are apparently slave making ants...

Edited by CoolColJ, July 1 2018 - 8:55 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 2nd July 2018

 

 

2x Phediole sp. red head/black body 8mm queen - Colony C

 

third nanitic eclosed today, and she is put on brood nursing duties.

The other two nanitics are starting to wander away from the queens and explore a little more, but haven't started to move to the foil of raw honey and almond to forage yet

They did drag the small Camponotus larvae I gave them last night and the queens have been nibbling on it, but I still see it there, looking intact

 

If the queens remain together after the next few workers, then there is a good chance the colony will remain dual queen for the long haul.

 

 

 

Iridomyrmex sp. 7-8mm

 

The queen finally recognised the presence of the heat cable last night.

She was wandering around the area, and finally moved some brood on it.

But it was like she couldn't decided wether she liked the heat or not and keep jostling them back and forwards

She moves rather quickly, much like the skittish and erractic black Iridomyrmex ants in my back yard

 

Today she finally moved 75% of the brood ontop of the heating cable and she herself would sit there as well at least for a few minutes before moving back.

Not sure why the other 25% of the brood remains near the water side though

 

edit - she move all the brood back again

Edited by CoolColJ, July 2 2018 - 1:58 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 3rd July 2018

 

Camponotus suffusus 18+mm queen - colony

 

So a few days ago I flipped a rock over at a bush trail near my house and uncovered a big black Camponotus nest, black with yellow legs, yellow gaster stripes on the 12-13mm majors, possibly a C.nigriceps colour morph.

Anyway they have some larvae and I took a few of the larger ones. Dumped most of them in front of my Camponotus suffusus nest entrance.

I sorted half expected the suffusus to eat them or raise them.

But being a small colony of 7 workers and 10 larvae, they ended up being scared of the larvae

 

Yesterday I dumped most of the larvae directly into the nest entrance and pushed them in a little, and still the workers would freak out whenever they came close, and a sentry was always posted nearby

I sort of half figured the colony scent of the larvae would eventually diminish.

 

Well over night the suffusus have moved all the brood into the nest proper!

Remains to be seen if they will actually raise them. Since the original larvae owners are also big black Camponotus, it's not too far of a stretch species wise

Will post a pic of their new big brood pile later today

 

Edited by CoolColJ, July 2 2018 - 2:08 PM.

[CoolColJ]

My suffusus queen and her new bed of larvae
So the more yellow looking larvae belong to the other black Camponotus, and they appear to be adopted by the suffusus
And it looks like one larvae spun into a cocoon overnight
 
click to enlarge

 
 
The yellow larvae more obvious here. There is also a heat cable running under the outworld where the nest sits inside, positioned under the brood
 

[CoolColJ]

On closer look with a magnifying glass, the Pheidole have been just sucking the juices out of the small Camponotus larvae I gave them.
So all I saw was the outer skin, which it appears to be intact when viewed with the naked eye


Winter 3rd July 2018
 
Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm queen - Pheidole Colony A
 
Two more workers eclosed, but I think some nanitics may have also died, so the worker numbers haven't changed much and it's hard to count em due to the dirty test tube.
Half of the workers are definitely larger.
Looks like another two more to eclose by tommorrow, and 3 light brown pupa in a few days time.


Pheidole sp, all black 7mm queen - Pheidole Colony B
 
Worker count up to 13 now
Damn, they already have a new batch of pupa, and all the eggs are now larva!


2x Phediole sp. red head/black body 8mm queen - Pheidole Colony C
 
Most of the brood has been moved to near the heating cable, and both queens have also moved near there.

The oldest of the 3 nanitics, I assume, started foraging today, heading over to my hand made wax paper/foil combo tray.
Nibbling on a small peice of raw almond, and then a long sip on the raw honey blob.
She fed one queen, and has now gone back to the honey for a second long stint
If she feeds the other queen, then it's all good.

But the striped gaster queen got fed first, which I have felt is the dominant one...


Iridomyrmex sp. 7-8mm queen

She is still skittish and constantly shuffling the brood between the water side and the heating cable.
Sometimes leaving half or less on one side.
And she also divides her time between the two locations

The 3 larvae near the heating cable appear to be developing a pupa like head, with dark circles (eyes?)
So after 3 months, we are finally getting there!

Edited by CoolColJ, July 3 2018 - 3:37 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Melophorus colony of a friend, the dream... same species as one of mine... sigh
His already has majors, even at this small colony size

[CoolColJ]

Pretty warm the next two days, for winter, so it might just trigger early flights from a few species that usually fly in spring

I'm going to take the 15 P.ammon workers to the bush trail tommorrow, and do another look for the queen.
If she doesn't show then I may release them then, while also looking for any flights.
Right now they are just chilling in the 20mm test tube set in an outworld.



Winter 4th July 2018
 
Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm queen - Pheidole Colony A
 
I counted 19 workers.
And I can see two almost black pupa ready to eclose tonight, and possibly one less dark one as well, if not, it should tommorrow.
After that there are 3 medium brown ones in line to eclose, and another two light brown ones.
So looking like at least 6 workers per week at this stage, and plenty of brood to sustain this in the short term

There is one large looking larvae, at the back with the queen, already as large as the largest worker, if it continues getting bigger, it could be the first major


Pheidole sp, all black 7mm queen - Pheidole Colony B
 
I counted 12 workers, so the second nanitic has passed away.
There are 4 pupa, and one has turned light brown.

This colony, different species, is not quite as prolific as the one above, but it is a few weeks younger.


2x Phediole sp. red head/black body 8mm queen - Pheidole Colony C
 
Still at 3 nanitics.
But the huge pile of over 40 eggs has hatched into small larvae near the heating cable side.
Along with one large larvae, one queen stays on this side.
The other queen on the water side, along with a few medium larvae and a worker.

Nice to see the queens splitting duties evenly, so it's looking good for the colony to remain under dual queenship.


Iridomyrmex sp. 7-8mm queen

She finally decided to camp out directly on top the heating cable with her brood for an extended period of time!




--


I measured the temp of the heating cable and it only increases temps by 7 degrees max over ambient temperature.
So it's quite mild.

Edited by CoolColJ, July 4 2018 - 3:06 AM.

[CoolColJ]

While I was flipping rocks this afternoon, this large slab revealed a complete termite nest. There were shallow dirt chambers underneath, fairly dry ones, and it was covered in termites.
Which started to slowly disperse into the tunnels.
After a bit of thinking, I decided to grab some, and maybe start a feeder colony. I do have two Pheidole antipodum queens which the wiki says prey on termites, so why not?

So did I grab enough of the right types to start a colony of them?
I think these are a drywood type as the soil underneath was not that damp nor was their nest in damp wood etc

Also after I was done, some large spidery looking Aphaenogaster longiceps came along and started to raid the termites and carry some off
These were much larger than the ones I've seen before!

click to enlarge

[CoolColJ]

So far I have them in a petri dish with some substrate from their original nest and shredded cardboard.
Might add a damp cotton to it.
I should go back tomorrow and grab more of the substrate their nest was made of. Hopefully the A.longiceps haven't wiped them out


---

A large number of them have gathered on the small damp cotton wool placed ontop of the shredded cardboard.
I see some do a violent head butt shake on the cotton wool

Edited by CoolColJ, July 4 2018 - 9:58 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Video - after this I wet the other cardboard and they dispersed since they can now access damp cardboard without being exposed to light I guess

These appear to be Nasutitermes fumigatus or N. dixoni

My guess is Nasutitermes fumigatus or N. dixoni. Which geographic location did you find them? As Cameron said, the soldiers shoot a sticky substance from their head which stick all over an ant. The worker termites are good food for ants. You need a king and queen to start a colony. You have some immature alates there, so they could become new kings or queens.

Edited by CoolColJ, July 5 2018 - 12:06 AM.