1787 replies to this topic

[PacificNorthWestern]

You should get those! They look so cool!

[ponerinecat]

Friend has a small colony of desert species of trap jaws available for trade, which I am thinking about...

This species likes it dry so very easy to look after

 

colony is less than 6 months old and already this big

 

Odontomachus ruficeps I think

 

That's a fast growing colony

[CoolColJ]

You had colonies of them though. Right?

 

nope, never had any trap jaws.

 

I don't see them in Sydney.

These ones were from arid Alice Springs, in Central Australia, where my Pheidole antipodum also came from.

There is another tropical species from north Queensland, which is more like the typical trap jaws that like it humid.

Where Carebara affinis can also be found

 

Don't know of anyone here that has a colony of affinis, still on my wish list....

A friend has seen colonies of them at her parent's farm, and briefly had two queens and a few majors, but both died, so I at least have a foot in the door

 

Also I know of someone who found an alate in his pool in Gold Coast, but she died shortly after, so they are out there

 

Edited by CoolColJ, August 4 2019 - 9:38 PM.

[Kaelwizard]

Oh, I meant strobe ants. Sorry I didn’t be more specific.

[Leo]

 

You had colonies of them though. Right?

 

nope, never had any trap jaws.

 

I don't see them in Sydney.

These ones were from arid Alice Springs, in Central Australia, where my Pheidole antipodum also came from.

There is another tropical species from north Queensland, which is more like the typical trap jaws that like it humid.

Where Carebara affinis can also be found

 

Don't know of anyone here that has a colony of affinis, still on my wish list....

A friend has seen colonies of them at her parent's farm, and briefly had two queens and a few majors, but both died, so I at least have a foot in the door

 

Also I know of someone who found an alate in his pool in Gold Coast, but she died shortly after, so they are out there

 

 

Mine died =(

[CoolColJ]

Oh, I meant strobe ants. Sorry I didn’t be more specific.

 

yeah I have one colony right now, which is going great.

[Silq]

Love the high quality media. What camera are you using to record these videos and take photos with? 

[CoolColJ]

Love the high quality media. What camera are you using to record these videos and take photos with? 

 

 

Most recent stuff is with Panasonic G85 camera with Pana Leica 45mm macro lens, with or without extension rings.

Mostly photos but some videos as well.

A few with Pixel 2 XL Phone, mostly vids.

Earlier pics in this journal are with a Sony RX100 camera with a Raynox 250 clip on macro

[CoolColJ]

Winter 11th August 2019

Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen
Atom C nest inside circular outworld
100? workers, tons of brood

I think the worker count is down now, maybe below 100.
See lots of bodyparts in the rubbish pile outside so all the nanitics are finally dead.

The huge brood pile is entirely large larvae.
Growth has been halted due to the cold of winter, so they should all pupate/cocoon come spring.



Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
8 workers, 2 cocoons, 3 large larvae, 3 eggs

Another cocoon finally spun after all these months

Edited by CoolColJ, August 11 2019 - 5:09 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 12th August 2019

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
8 workers, 3 cocoons, 2 large, 1 small larvae, 2 eggs

Another cocoon spun.
And one of the eggs is now a small larvae

So all these cocoons are going to eclose within a week of each other

[CoolColJ]

Winter 15th August 2019

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
8 workers, 4 cocoons, 1 large, 1 small larvae, 2 eggs

4th cocoon spun, but I missed watching it do so by a few hours

[CoolColJ]

Only 2 weeks of winter left and it shows, starting to get some warm days here and there.
And the ants know it


Winter 16th August 2019

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
8 workers, 4 cocoons, 1 large, 1 small larvae, 4 eggs

Another 2 eggs laid

water is getting low, will likely move them into my spare Atom C nest in a 1 months time
but I think they can still use a test tube for a while longer, still quite low numbers

Edited by CoolColJ, August 16 2019 - 3:08 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Hmmm really weird -

I saw one of the suffsus workers trying to move 2 cocoons
Noticed that the cocoons appeared to be fused together and stuck against the glass right on top where the heat cable is.

I nudged the cocoons free from the glass and it turns out the two larvae within had spun only half a cocoon, like a tent against the glass and stuck to each other.
So the underside of the cocoons are fully open...
The ants dragged them back to the queen for some TLC.

Hopefully they make it..

Edited by CoolColJ, August 17 2019 - 5:02 AM.

[CoolColJ]

update -

They separated the two half open cocoons. One appears to have sealed itself back up.
The other was stripped naked but it's only partially pupated.
Either they will eat it or it will develop normally.



Winter 17th August 2019


Camponotus aeneopilosus aka golden tail sugar ant - 12mm queen
16mm test tube - styrofoam double chamber setup - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
10+ small to large larvae

Checked up on her and her brood still stuck in large larvae form, since the last 6 months
No action since her only cocoon eclosed into a male drone that died after a month...

If after spring and her brood still haven't cocooned I assume she just isn't fertile.


Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
1 worker - 1 medium, 6 small larvae

One of the larvae finally had a growth spurt after all these months.
Hopefully one will finally make it to a worker this time, instead of getting opened early like the last 5
And the queen was nibbling on the roach bits again, first time in a while.


Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 4
All setups 20mm test tube and a styro foam double chamber entrance

Heat cable
Queen 10 - former partner of Dual queen setup 2
100? workers and a few mini majors - some large larvae, large stack of brood

Queen 4 with red dirt
11 workers (3 mini majors) from donated brood, small clump of unhatched 4-5 month old 15+ eggs

Queen 5 - bare test tube - balled up tissue acting as a chamber in front of the styrofoam chamber entrance
200+? workers and a few mini majors - some large larvae, massive teaspoon sized brood pile

Super active ants even in winter.
Funny seeing the largest mini majors cleaning each other

Queen 10's colony is around 100 workers now, and has 1 larger mini major of around 6mm length.
Apart from the usual roach bit and raw honey, I also added a small chunk of raw brazil nut, and they seem to be chewing on it a bit.
But they could be using it as substrate to cover up the honey a bit...
Usually Pheidole like seeds and nuts, but these are a little different so we shall see.

Queen 5's colony is looking closer to 300 workers now at a guess.
No sign on any larger majors coming since the largest one died earlier than expected

Queen 4, still no development on her brood. Eggs remain unhatched after > 6months now
Still has the largest gaster of all the queens, from all the unused food stored in there.

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole antipodum queen 10's colony of 100, showing 5 different sizes - 2 minor and 3 mini major sizes.
The largest mini majors here is 5-6mm, there are two of these.
Still none of the largest 1cm sized super majors, which should be 3-4x the size of the minors
Only 1/5 of the brood shown here, mainly small pupa near the heat cable.

This species doesn't seem to use the majors as repletes like a lot of Pheidole species.
They also don't like raw nuts like regular Pheidole species...

click

Edited by CoolColJ, August 19 2019 - 3:44 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Reeeeee suffusus workers ate both the half exposed cocoons
That adds 2 more to the last few cocoons they have eaten....Welp I won't have to feed them this week...

So, at least one of the 2 cocoons left has visible eyes, so the colony will be getting back on track soon.

Edited by CoolColJ, August 19 2019 - 6:48 AM.

[ponerinecat]

You get a lot of consumed brood.

[CoolColJ]

You get a lot of consumed brood.

Just this particular colony seems so cannibalistic...The other suffusus colony i sold at 15 workers thrived, and is now over 30 workers and has a few majors with red heads.
Really suprised about the red head on the majors as none of the wild ones have a red head, of this sub-species, with red legs combo.
Nor in photos of this sub-species.
But the one I sold, was traded for in my State, whereas my current one is from a different location.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 21st August 2019

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
8 workers, 1 cocoon, 1 large, 1 small larvae, 4 eggs

yikes, down to 1 cocoon now....after 4 workers decided to munch on one of the two good cocoons left...

I wonder if it's because of the donated workers being slightly different from the queen's own laid eggs/brood...

[ponerinecat]

Winter 21st August 2019

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
8 workers, 1 cocoon, 1 large, 1 small larvae, 4 eggs

yikes, down to 1 cocoon now....after 4 workers decided to munch on one of the two good cocoons left...

I wonder if it's because of the donated workers being slightly different from the queen's own laid eggs/brood...

Perhaps raise the cocoons yourself?