1787 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

Iridomyrmex pupureus colony1 has been sold!

Edited by CoolColJ, February 11 2019 - 1:59 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Summer 11th February 2019

 

 

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
5 nanitics, 5 cocoons, 2 large, 1 medium larvae, 6 eggs/small larvae

 

2 cocoons spun over night.

Took them out of the incubator and setup them outside on the heat cable.

Might put them back into the incubator later, until they have 8 workers

 

Test tube is super black moldy compared to the one below!

 

 

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17mm queen 2
20mm Test tube - heat cable
13 workers - 6 cocoons, 3 large, 10+ small larvae/egg

 

Wow another worker eclosed already.

Now that I have both suffusus queens outside on the heat cable side by side.... I can see this queen is way more bloated and longer than queen 1

17mm before workers, at least 20mm now

 

Will sell these girls when a few more workers eclose.

Due to their rarity could be worth a bit

Edited by CoolColJ, February 11 2019 - 2:48 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Summer 12th February 2019

Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen
Atom C nest inside circular outworld - tip of heat cable pressed against side of nest
60+ workers, 15+ cocoons, tons of brood

From what I can tell my strobe ants like roaches way more than crickets.
Two small roaches last week they dragged into the nest.
Ignored the cricket yesterday, and swarmed the roach today

click to enlarge

[CoolColJ]

Colobopsis macrocephala 9mm queen
16mm test tube - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
2 pupa and 4 small larvae

She has 2 pupa now.
I'm guessing they will eclose by the end of the week.

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 7
All setups have a styro foam double chamber entrance

in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
2) Dual queen - cardboard insert and aquarium filter wool water dam
1 nanitic - big stack of eggs, some donated brood from queen 5, a few pupa, some yellow
4) Queen with red dirt - moved the red dirt to block up the double chamber entrance
10+ nanitics, small clump of 15+ eggs, 5+ donated brood from queen 5 - mostly pupa
7) Queen - bare test tube, former partner of setup 2
2 nanitics - small clump of eggs, some donated brood from queen 5 and 6 with a few yellow pupa

Heat cable
1) Dual queen - red dirt - cleared all the red dirt and heaped up at the middle of the test tube
15+ nanitics - huge stack of brood
5) Queen - bare test tube
30 nanitics - big stack of brood

Dual queen Setup 1 doesn't have too many workers yet, but damn their brood pile is huge, lots of larvae, so when they all eclose the numbers should crack 100!

click

Edited by CoolColJ, February 12 2019 - 3:39 PM.

[Leo]

Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 7


Dual queen Setup 1 doesn't have too many workers yet, but damn their brood pile is huge, lots of larvae, so when they all eclose the numbers should crack 100!

click

WHAT THE HELL MY GOOD SIR

[CoolColJ]

Beautiful, largest Pheidole species in my backyard... I hope I can get some alates of these in a 1-2 months time....!
Minor workers look around 3+mm and majors 6-7mm

I have a few colonies here, but they didn't fly last year...

videos
https://photos.app.g...McH3v3GWDRCp8aA

Edited by CoolColJ, February 12 2019 - 6:36 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Summer 13th February 2019

Melophorus sp.- black orange 7-8mm queen
Acrylic founding nest - heatcable
5 workers - 1 cocoon, large larvae, brood?

 

Dammit lost a worker, she ran out when I opened the nest

 

 

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17mm queen 2
20mm Test tube - heat cable
13 workers - 8 cocoons, 2 large,  1 medium, 10+ small larvae/egg

 

2 more cocoons spun!

 

 

Myrmecia fulvipes, bull ant, 17-18mm queen
20mm test tube - in small outworld
1 worker -  1 cocoon shell, no eggs

 

Crazy girls kept that cocoon shell inside since the worker eclosed, and only threw it outside a few days ago. I forgot to remove it last night, and today they took it back inside....

 

Still no eggs yet, but Myrmecia lay eggs in waves and batches so whenever they feel like it I guess.....

 

 

[Rstheant]

Do you intend on keeping Leptomrymex, CoolColJ

[CoolColJ]

Do you intend on keeping Leptomrymex, CoolColJ

 

 

They are just about impossible to find queens of as they do not fly, so no wing scars, no thicker throax than workers and obviously no flights.

So hard to tell apart from workers. They have ocelli, thicker legs and larger gaster

 

I have seen workers around here of 2 species, but never able to locate their nest.

No idea when they have nuptials

 

one worker I found

[Rstheant]

Okay, it would be really interesting to document such a rare colony. But it is rare, so hard to acquire queen.
Plus they make repletes, well some that I know, so I guess they would qualify as honeypots.

[CoolColJ]

Okay, it would be really interesting to document such a rare colony. But it is rare, so hard to acquire queen.
Plus they make repletes, well some that I know, so I guess they would qualify as honeypots.

 

Apparently a queen of these are worth like $2000 due to their rarity

 

Jordan Dean of Ants Australia was given a colony and made a video

 

[CoolColJ]

Summer 14th February 2019

 

Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
1 worker - 1 naked pupa, 1 medium, 7 small larvae

 

ARghhh unbelievable they opened their only cocoon too early again!

The third one one so far, it will likely die like the others         

 

 

 

[Zeiss]

Summer 14th February 2019

 

Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
1 worker - 1 naked pupa, 1 medium, 7 small larvae

 

ARghhh unbelievable they opened their only cocoon too early again!

The third one one so far, it will likely die like the others       

When they open their cocoons too early, do the pupae "melt" into an opaque white paste?  I had opened a cocoon of Camponotus ca02 early to see if it was actually a large major (it was) and it eventually "melted."

[CoolColJ]

When they open their cocoons too early, do the pupae "melt" into an opaque white paste?  I had opened a cocoon of Camponotus ca02 early to see if it was actually a large major (it was) and it eventually "melted."

This one looks like a normal white pupa.
The previous one looked mangled and they eventually dumped it

[CoolColJ]

Welp they dumped the naked pupa

I wonder if the heat from the heat cable is killing the pupa....
Unlike my other ants these Polyrhachis avoid the heat cable

Edited by CoolColJ, February 13 2019 - 10:46 PM.

[Rstheant]

Feed the pupa to other ants. It makes good ant food.

[CoolColJ]

Summer 16th February 2019
 
 
Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
5 nanitics, 6 cocoons, 3 large, 6 eggs/small larvae
 
another cocoon spun
 
 
Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17mm queen 2
20mm Test tube - heat cable
13 workers - 9 cocoons, 2 large, 10+ small larvae/egg

another cocoon spun

fed both Camponotus colonies a small semi alive roach


Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen
Atom C nest inside circular outworld - tip of heat cable pressed against side of nest
60+ workers, 20+ cocoons, tons of brood

Counted at least 20 cocoons and 7 large larvae, not sure on eggs.
Looks like there is a good chance they will get to 100 workers before winter!

gave them a semi alive medium sized roach and they swarmed it and carried it inside the nest


click to enlarge

[CoolColJ]

Colony update - Summer 17th February 2019

Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen
Atom C nest inside circular outworld - tip of heat cable pressed against side of nest
60+ workers, 20+ cocoons, tons of brood


Melophorus sp.- black orange 7-8mm queen
Acrylic founding nest - heatcable
5 workers - 1 cocoon, brood?

brood output has slowed way down

Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
1 worker - 1 medium, 7 small larvae

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
5 nanitics, 6 cocoons, 3 large, 6 eggs/small larvae


Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17mm queen 2
20mm Test tube - heat cable
13 workers - 9 cocoons, 2 large, 10+ small larvae/egg

They have the remains of two small roaches with them on the brood pile.
Not sure why they are not dumping them to the front

Camponotus aeneopilosus aka golden tail sugar ant - 12mm queen
16mm test tube - styrofoam double chamber setup - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
1 drone - 15 larvae

lots of large larvae now, should be cocooning soon. Fingers crossed there are some workers in these...

Camponotus cf nigriceps 19mm queen
20mm test tube, in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
1 nanitic - 6 small larvae, 2 eggs

Only remains of half the baby roach are left, so the queen munched on it.
Looking good.

Myrmecia fulvipes, bull ant, 17-18mm queen
20mm test tube - in small outworld
1 worker

Still no eggs yet

Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 7
All setups have a styro foam double chamber entrance

in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
2) Dual queen - cardboard insert and aquarium filter wool water dam
4 nanitics - big stack of eggs, some donated brood from queen 5
4) Queen with red dirt
10+ nanitics, small clump of 15+ eggs, 5+ donated brood from queen 5
7) Queen - bare test tube, former partner of setup 2
4 nanitics - medium clump of brood, some donated brood from queen 5 and 6

Heat cable
1) Dual queen - red dirt - cleared all the red dirt and heaped up at the middle of the test tube
15+ nanitics - huge stack of brood
5) Queen - bare test tube
30+ nanitics - big stack of brood

Setup 2 has 4 nanitics now, up 3 from last week, via donated brood from queen 5
Their own eggs still ahven't hatched after all this time
WTF is going on?!
These 2 are the largest and prettiest of the lot, so I have high hopes for them!
Also those small mite looking things in their setup on the carsboard...they don' bother the ants, but maybe the eggs are...
Been thinking about how to move them out without the mite things following them out.
Probbaly easier when they didn't have any workers, as I could have just pulled the cardboard out with them and the eggs ontop, and feathweight forcep them across into a new test tube.

Queen 4 is also a larger and pretty queen with the dark orange bands on her gaster.
Still can't tell if her own eggs are developing yet, but she has a decent amount of workers now from donated brood.
She has some pupa, but they could be from the donated ones, so until I see a lot of larvae I won't know for sure.
This queen has by far the largest and roundest gaster of the lot. Either she has a lot of food/eggs in her or just down to genetics....

Queen 7 has another 2 more nanitics, for 4 total.
Her own brood is coming along now.
Might be selling this in a weeks time.

Setup 1 still not getting much workers, but their masisve pile of brood has some light yellow pupa, so things should change this week.

Queen 5 going well, but I'll eventually be selling her.

Edited by CoolColJ, February 17 2019 - 5:41 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Queen update - Summer 17th February 2019

Colobopsis macrocephala 9mm queen
16mm test tube - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
2 pupa and 1 medium larvae, 4 eggs

Pupa have dark eyes, but still white, 1 week so far and not eclosed yet.