36 replies to this topic

[kellakk]

1-15-2015

 

I collected a colony of Solenopsis sp. under a rock in some disturbed chaparral in Chino Hills, CA.  I got the queen, 4-5 majors, ~20 minors, and a pile of brood. Here's a blurry pic:

 

 

Edit: Found out it's a Pheidole sp.

Edited by kellakk, July 6 2015 - 1:29 PM.

[Gregory2455]

Oh wow, they do not look like Solenopsis xyloni... I do not even see the black you were talking about in the ID thread! Wait- now I do. Only some of the workers have black. This must be a young colony of Solenopsis amblychila that took over a Solenopsis xyloni colony! Those S.xyloni workers are the remnants of the old queen, which was killed by the social parasite queen. (Solenopsis amblychila.)

Very jealous. Nice catch.

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Cool Pheidole hyatti.

Edited by Gregory2455, February 5 2015 - 10:45 PM.

[dspdrew]

Now that would be interesting. Dr. Trager just kind of threw the idea out there that S. amblychila could possibly be parasitic based on the behavior I was describing. This makes me think even more that this could be true. Has this idea been mentioned anywhere else by any one else?

[kellakk]

Update on this colony.  They're Pheidole sp. possibly P. hyatti.  They've settled in pretty well and the queen is laying eggs like mad! I'm feeding them with dead fungus gnats and sugar water.

 

I also dropped 2 Myrmecophilus sp. in with them.  One of them has disappeared while the other is still around.  It seems to hang out in random spots in the nest without being attacked.

[Gregory2455]

I can see now how they are Phedile now that it was pointed out. Cool ants, but still not as cool as Solenopsis amblychila...

[kellakk]

I can see now how they are Phedile now that it was pointed out. Cool ants, but still not as cool as Solenopsis amblychila...

 

Yeah, hopefully I can find some sometime.

[dspdrew]

I can see now how they are Phedile now that it was pointed out. Cool ants, but still not as cool as Solenopsis amblychila...

I can catch S. amblychila by the hundreds with a black light in the summer.

[kellakk]

I need to get a black light.

[Gregory2455]

Do so then Drew, we can set up some kind of trade. 50 Solenopsis amblychila queens for a few Pheidole fallax-group sp. queens.

[dspdrew]

Sure thing. They'll probably all die though.

[kellakk]

2-5-2015

 

I checked on this colony, and most of the larvae are now pupae!  There's so many!

 

 

You can see the pile of eggs in the upper left part of the picture.

 

Also, I caught another colony the other day and couldn't get them all to go into a test tube.  I dumped the dirt into a pretzel container and they made a nest in the tiny layer of dirt at the bottom.  To get them to move, I put the container over a heater so the soil would dry out and they'd move into a test tube I left on top.  It seems to be working, but I can't do anything until I see the queen in the test tube!

 

Here's a worker on the side of the container.

 

 

Here's the test tube.  It's a little hard to take pictures of it since it's at the bottom of a container.

Edited by kellakk, February 5 2015 - 10:35 PM.

[kellakk]

2-25-15

 

No big change on these guys, they're devouring insects like crazy!  I think some of the pupae have eclosed, there's callow workers hanging around in the nest.   The first, smaller colony I collected loves Aqua 300 but the bigger one doesn't seem to touch it.  Here's some pictures of the bigger colony.

[dspdrew]

Yeah when the colonies are this big their feeding behavior is so much more normal and consistent. Mine are eating insect after insect too, pulling each one into their tube.

[Chromerust]

Catch me a colony of these if you get a easy chance buddy. Maybe I have something I can trade you.

Edited by dspdrew, February 25 2015 - 10:21 PM.
Fixed double post.

[Gregory2455]

Same! (except we already talked about it. ) Actually I kinda want to check it out myself...

[kellakk]

Strangely, the workers seem to be attracted to light.  Whenever I shine an LED light on the outworld, a crowd of workers rushes toward the light and sits under it.

[dspdrew]

That's pretty strange.

[Crystals]

Is the light warm?  They may be trying to warm up.

[kellakk]

No, it's an LED light so it gives off little to no heat.  They also have 24/7 exposure to a red heat lamp so they don't need heat.  I think that they do equate the light with heat, though, since I've only found them near the surface on the underside of rocks where it's the most warm.

[Crystals]

I have noticed that some species think that light = warmth.

Even with a heating cable I have some colonies who will send out workers to the sunlight foraging area to sunbask and warm up and then come back in.