1787 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

Update -

well I setup the 20mm test tube as outlined above, put the queen in and had to push the entrance cotton all the way to the double chamber entrance, to stop her from turning back once she sensed the larvae pile

She kinda freaked out at first and jabbed at one larvae that was writhing around.

 

After 20 secs she calmed down, and it must have hit her, "all these babies for me?!"

She slowly moved into the chamber and tapped antenna on the larvae and is now getting comfy in her new home

But still looks bewildered

Remains to be seen if she will feed them etc

 

I will put in a foil/wax paper combo tray of raw honey

Put the test tube on the heating cable, aligning it on the outside of cotton double chamber entrance

Edited by CoolColJ, July 13 2018 - 8:59 PM.

[CoolColJ]

largest major vs a smaller major of the C.humilior colony. Yeah that red dirt is quite fine....

click to enlarge

 

Edited by CoolColJ, July 14 2018 - 12:37 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Queen humilior with her 31 adopted babies

I did see her feed one of the larvae just then, so good news!

 

Queen's chamber section had condensation due to the heat cable being placed too close earlier, but you get the idea

I hope the larvae at the top drops down or gets noticed...

 

click to enlarge

 

 

 

Winter 14th July 2018

Iridomyrmex sp. 7-8mm queen

 

Not sure when it happened, but 4 larave pupated, so 5 pupa total now.

But the first one still hasn't darkened yet, shees, taking ages!

 

Week 14 now, and last 3 weeks with heat cable.

Oh there is definitely less brood here than 30 now....but a few are not in the pic

 

 

 

Polyrhachis vermiculosa colony - queenless

 

I released the cute little critters...

 

I measured the humidity in their small container with a wet cotton ball, which they gathered around.

And at the opposite end it read 80%, so that's pretty effective and moist

Edited by CoolColJ, July 14 2018 - 12:28 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Got this cheap and simple nest. It holds about 4 full syringes of water at the bottom.
While the water doesn't touch the nest, it should hydrate via evaporation
 
The nest always feels cool and damp to the touch.
I don't think it's gypsum, as it feels powdery like clay.
I have a gypsum nest and it feels much harder.
 
Lid with mesh opening up top.
Chamber network covers all 4 sides
Looks like it will hold a lot of ants as a result.
 
I might put one of my Pheidole colonies in it eventually.
 

 
I might try putting some cotton in the water tank area

 
 
There was a bit of condensation buildup in this nest after adding water to the tank for a few days, but it's since cleared up.
The nest feels damp and cool to the touch, at the top surface.
 
Putting in my Ebay humidity meter, I get a a 90+% reading in the top outworld section vs 54% outside the nest in my room.
And probably higher in the chambers deep inside the nest
 
Even though the water does not touch the nest material, but the evaporation by itself seems sufficient.
Water tank also does not evaporate all that quickly, so a full tank should last weeks.

So the above nest had quite a lot of condensation inside when there is water in it.

I read that clay/gypsum etc has this issue when it's not fully cured.
So I slide the nest out, easy to do once you pull out all the port plugs, and let it sit, dry out and cure ontop a warm device over several weeks.

Put it back in, put water into the reservoir at the bottom, squirt water on it, and boom, it's perfect now, no condensation
It still reads over 90% humidity at the top, with such a simply hydration method, and it lasts months!

Probably put one of the Pheidole colonies inside it when they get larger or one of the Iridomyrmex

Edited by CoolColJ, July 14 2018 - 4:16 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Colony update - Winter 15th July 2018

Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen

7 nanitics, at least 10 larave
Steady and uneventful


Melophorus sp.- red black 6-7mm queen

1 minor worker, no brood. 


Melophorus sp.- black orange 7-8mm queen

No eggs. 5 workers

 
Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm
 
about 25 workers, 1 large major larvae, first one, maybe two

brood near heat cable - 1 to eclose tonight and two more over the week.

click to enlarge - workers have a rougher texture than I thought


mama Pheidole minds her major larvae while she gets a back scratch



 
Pheidole sp, all black  7mm
 
12 workers
I think a nanitic died, but two more workers to eclose tonight




2x Phediole sp. red head/black body 8mm
 
3 nanitics

No major changes in the short term, but decent amount of brood.
 
Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm
 
No eggs, 2 nanitics
No changes


Camponotus suffusus 18+mm - queenless
 
6 workers, over 10 larvae (some foreign) and 6 pupa

Well queen died this week, and a nanitic a day later.... Still going to see what happens at the end of all this....




Polyrhachis femorata - triple 11-12mm queen

 

Moved them to a Mini hearth nest.

They seem more of a nocturnal type ant, as they forage when the lights are out it seems.

Left two dead iridomyrmex queens in the outworld which they took down into the nest and munched, leaving a mess inside, and a gaster which you can see in the pic.

Also left some raw honey on the wax paper near the entrance, and they grabbed that and tried to stick it against the outworld sides along with the foil used to hold the dead queens... left a mess on the acrylic casing....

 

So they nest in the far corner, along with the brood, well away from the water tower. They don't seem to like moisture much - I suppose if you nest inside a branch and bark, then it's going to be fairly dry - also no queen deaths yet, so they are really polygynous with 3 queens in there.

 

If look for the ocelli on the heads you can see which ones are the queens

Two are on the far wall, one on top the larvae

 

Edited by CoolColJ, July 15 2018 - 3:11 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 15th July 2018 - Queen update


Banished Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm

11 or so small larvae - heat cable


Pheidole sp. red 7mm

12+ larvae - heat cable


Iridomyrmex sp. 7-8mm

Into week 15 - 5 pupa now, much less than the 30+ eggs she laid in week 4

click to enlarge



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

On heating cable, queens keep hiding the brood with their bodies, some large larvae, but can't tell if any pups are there.


Camponotus consobrinus 16-17mm

No eggs

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

Queen 1 - no eggs
double chamber setup
 
Queen 2 - no eggs
I have her in my double test tube modded setup, with a polystyrene foam chamber entrance

 
Pheidole antipodum? 14+mm

Queen 1- no eggs
Queen 2- no eggs
 
 
Lioponera ruficornis/larvata 5mm
 
Still have her in a petri dish with wet cotton on one side, and a wax paper with raw honey.
She wanders around a bit and thenr eturns to the wet cotton




Rhytidoponera species 6-7mm
 
Test tube, with the aquarium filter sponge dam, and a cotton wool double chamber setup
She has been at the cotton entrance, I thought she wanted an outworld, as these ants are semi claustral and have no social stomach
But I open it she goes back into the chamber...

close to her actual colour.


she pooped on the chamber entrance



Camponotus humilior

31 donated larvae - on heating cable

She has been rearranging them and feeding them, so everything is looking good
Except the condensation in the test tube...


 

Iridomyrmex queens - 8.5mm - multiple test tube setups with aquarium filter dam and cotton wool chamber wall/entrance
3x singles, dual, one quad queen - two singles in red test tube rack, the rest exposed to light

Another death in the dual queen setup, in the red test tube rack. natural, but it was a few days before I noticed, so the other queen had munched on the dead queen,
a few loose limbs, I had to clean up.
So now down to 3x single queens, 1x2 and 1x4.
The quad queens are doing great, still happy as a peach

Edited by CoolColJ, July 15 2018 - 12:16 AM.

[CoolColJ]

16th July 2018

 

Iridomyrmex sp. 7-8mm queen

 

Hmm I saw her eat one of the pupa today, so back to 4 pupa, but there are 8 large larvae and she laid another 14+ eggs....

Crazy girl is hungry after so long, 14 weeks, I guess

 

 

Camponotus humilior 9-10mm queen

 

Moved the heating cable directly ontop the condensation near the larvae, and it dries up, but on the opposite of the test tube condensation starts to build up...

Bah, so I moved the heating cable directly under the larvae.

 

Queen has been stacking up the 31 brood boosted larvae up into small pile, and she finally pulled the larvae that was up high on the test tube down

Hope cocoons come fast on the the large ones, which will reduce the workload on the queen.

 

In hindsight I should have left most of the larvae with the queenless humilior colony, and only when they turned cocoon do I take and give to the queen.....

Edited by CoolColJ, July 15 2018 - 9:28 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Iridomyrmex queens - 8.5mm - multiple test tube setups with aquarium filter dam and cotton wool chamber wall/entrance
3x singles, dual, one quad queen - two singles in red test tube rack, the rest exposed to light

 

Damn, the dual queen setup already has a few eggs, in winter!

And it's only been 4 days since being set up and they have been exposed to light since the start, and at all times

 

To be fair I have a heater in the room, which keeps the temps around 18-20 degrees most of the time

I saw then tugging on the aquarium filter wool, so I took a peek with the Ebay 30x magnifier, and woah I see at least 6 eggs!

Moved them on top the heat cable for now.

 

Now to see if any of the other setups have eggs...

 

 

edit -

 

Quad queen setup has 7 eggs! Mostly from one queen i think, as one is sitting closer and  minding it more than the others

Will also will move them to heating cable

 

edit 2 - No I was wrong, two other queens in the quad queen setup has a few eggs each near their gaster

About 15 total.

This setup is also exposed to light from the start

 

 

edit 3 -  Aggressive solo queen has 7 eggs, this one has been in the red transparent test tube rack, after the first day.

Pretty far from heater, unlike the other two above.

 

So the other two solo queens that have not laid, could be not as fertile

Edited by CoolColJ, July 16 2018 - 4:02 AM.

[CoolColJ]

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

 

Queen 1 - cluster of about 7 eggs
double chamber setup

Queen 2 - cluster of eggs, can't tell how many
I have her in my double test tube modded setup, with a polystyrene foam chamber entrance

 

After seeing the above queens with eggs, i had to check on these two red Pheidole I found under bricks in my yard, and voila, they finally have eggs!

So I think the heater finally caused them to lay, otherwise they would wait till spring

 

I was gonna to change the queen1's setup to an aquarium filter wool dam, doh too late!

Edited by CoolColJ, July 16 2018 - 4:07 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole antipodum? 14+mm queens

 

Queen 1- no eggs
Queen 2-  small cluster of eggs

 

Woah! One of the queen has laid eggs!

I said they didn't lay eggs yesterday in my queen update, but one did in fact do so when I pulled her test tube and had a close look!

That one turned around to check if the entrance cotton had not been breached due to the light exposure

 

The other one hasn't I don't think, but I should move her to my new founding nest I just got before it's too late

Edited by CoolColJ, July 16 2018 - 4:20 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter - 17th July 2018

Iridomyrmex queens - 8.5mm - multiple test tube setups with aquarium filter dam and cotton wool chamber wall/entrance
3x singles, dual, one triple queen - two singles in red test tube rack, the rest exposed to light
 
Well that didn't last long, one queen in the quad queen setup died overnight....

 

Put all the following setups on the heating cable now

Triple queens with eggs, about 15 at last count. Being exposed to light since the start hasn't stopped them laying, in winter no less

 

 

Dual queens with at least 10 eggs now, they are laying more, everytime I look. Also exposed to light

 

 

Solo aggressive queen with 8 eggs, not bad for 4 days work

Now also exposed to light

 

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole antipodum? 14+mm queens

 

Queen 1- 1 egg?
Queen 2-  5 eggs

 

So after 6 weeks, and in the middle of winter, they lay eggs 

I think queen 1 has laid 1 egg, I can sorta see one small blob in a photo of the water dam, but not 100% sure

 

Queen 2 has laid 5 eggs. And the mite on her head has moved.

It is now on her thorax towards the upper rear, looks like 3 of them, two different colours

 

click to enlarge

 

 

 

queen 2's eggs

 

 

Edited by CoolColJ, July 16 2018 - 9:31 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 17th July 2018
 
Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm queen - Pheidole Colony A
 
Two more workers getting ready to eclose tonight, and another tommorrow I think.
Has to be getting close to 30 workers
First major larvae is looking quite plump, and there appears to be a another one in line already.

This colony really likes to dump all their trash into the raw honey I serve to them on a wax/foil combo tray I amke.
While the two below do not, puzzling...


Pheidole sp, all black 7mm queen - Pheidole Colony B
 
Counted 15 workers
No more to eclose this week.

I think their first major larvae is in the works already. There is one larvae on the cotton that is quite plump, and larger than the rest.
been waiting for this, once I see this species's majors, I can decide if I want to keep them or not

I see a worker nibbling on the skin of Camponotus larvae I gave them a few weeks ago... while a Iridomyrmex queen gaster sits, covered in cotton wool fibers,
and the top half of a small wood roach sits idle.
I'm overfeeding them by the looks of it...


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

Been a bit of a lull, but the 4th worker should arrive by tommorrow.
One brown pupa, and four white ones in line.

One of the queens is so lazy, all she does is sit on the cotton. The other one does all the work.
Looking like one will get the flick when the workers vote...

Edited by CoolColJ, July 17 2018 - 2:06 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter - 18th July 2018

Iridomyrmex queens - 8.5mm - multiple test tube setups with aquarium filter dam and cotton wool chamber wall/entrance
3x singles, dual, one triple queen - two singles in red test tube rack, the rest exposed to light

Solo queen in the red test tube rack has laid eggs, so only one solo queen has not laid so far (also in test tube rack as of yesterday)

The dual queen setup that laid first is already hatched into small larvae! Talk about getting a move on

 

 

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole colony A - 9mm queen

 

Major larvae getting plumper, and another is brought up next to it.

There actually might be 6 total major larvae, the ones up the back

Just under 30 workers now

 

click to enlarge

 

[CoolColJ]

Lioponera ruficornis/larvata 5mm
 




Woop - she escaped the container I put her in... she was chilling inside the test tube with the litle cave inside the cotton..
the last time I saw her she was wandering around the container... now gone.. so she scaled the Fluon barrier and slipped through the lightly shut lid
Figures, she looks to have an escape artist body unlike the small Ponera that can't scale smooth surfaces....

if she does start a colony of these raiding ants, my other ants should be safe, hopefully

Edited by CoolColJ, July 18 2018 - 8:38 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Just tested it out, polysytrene take away tray/container make great raw honey serving dishes for test tubes or outworlds, when cut into the right shape.
If you size it right it has enough of gap underneath to edge a featherweight forcep under to pull it out in a test tube.
And won't leak or dampen like foil and wax paper will eventually, or flip over.
Also washable and resuable

Polystyrene foam cup might even be better, due to the slight curve, hugging test tubes better, and pooling the honey towards the middle

[CoolColJ]

Prepped that gypsum founding nest for one of my Pheidole antipodum/Carebara queen - the magnets are not attached to the glass, so it was easy to add the red film sheet on top the glass and then drop the magnets on.
Started with red dirt in the foraging area, but switched to white sand, it's still wet so darker in tone.
The bit of red dirt that leaked in between the nest and case is triggering me!

click to enlarge








She flipped on her back and couldn't get up in the foraging area, with the dry soft sand (I wet it now), her whole back was covered in sand.
I have brushed most of it off, but still some remain, which is triggering me



She is 15mm and bulky, and she manages to get around OK inside.
I also tested my 16-17mm Camponotus consobrinus queen inside, and she also did ok.
But I think 20mm would be the limit for a bulky queen.

[Major]

That's a big Pheidole you got there.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 20th July 2018

 

Lioponera ruficornis/larvata 5mm
 
Wow she returned to the container, while I was away - nice little trip she had

Let's see if she returns to the test tube

 

 

Camponotus humilior 9-10mm queen
with 30 brood boosted larvae

 

One of the larvae must have died, went all black and the queen dumped into the raw honey 3D printed dish/bowl thing at the front of the test tube, just behind the cotton double chamber entrance.

Nice to see this - much prefer she did this than stow it on the water aquarium filter wool dam.

 

This cotton double chamber thing is so nice for putting in and removing things like this without freaking out the queen.

 

I see another black'ish larvae, so it may have also died.

 

She has separated one large larvae from the rest, this one maybe cocooning soon

Edited by CoolColJ, July 19 2018 - 5:28 PM.