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Arro's General Ant Journal


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#1 Offline Arroavantho - Posted June 3 2018 - 6:14 AM

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Hello y’all from South Carolina! My name is Arroavantho aka Arro and I’m a newfound ant enthusiast and medical student. Currently a resident of Columbia, SC but soon to be in Florence, SC, I’m writing this journal to chronicle all my current ants.

In general, my personal policies on my ant-keeping & on maintaining this journal:
1) I only collect and keep ants found in the state of South Carolina. If it’s on my list, I found it inside the state lines.
2) I am not presently keeping invasive ant species as I might be moving to a different state in the near future, so releasing the ants I find must be an option. There are two exceptions to this. One is Tetramorium immigrans because it is naturalized to the US and, to be frank, would be nicer to see on a sidewalk than invicta. Two is Brachyponera chinensis because no one has apparently done it as far as I’ve found, and I kind of want to be the first!
3) I also do not keep parasite species because I don't have time to find host brood for them.
4) Each time a newly collected ant queen survives a week in my care, I will create a special post for her introducing her! This will include the queen’s name, ID number, species, date of capture, and any notes so far.
5) Any time I might collect a queen that has already produced brood, I will post her without the 1 week waiting period.
6) Each week, usually Sunday, I will make a new post with a progress report on all my current queens and on new finds. I will try my best to keep up but as stated before I'm a med student, so I am also VERY BUSY. 
7) Should any of my fledgling colonies reach a size that I can move them into a formicarium, I will create a new, separate ant journal especially for them and link it to their old post in this thread! I will only do this if I intend on keeping the species. Species I elect to trade or release will not get a special thread.
8) I may elect to not check certain queens every week. Skittish queens like Crematogaster might be one example.
9) Upon death, release, or giving away of a colony, I will note it in the log and in this first post.
10) Queen ID numbers are an internal thing that I use to keep track of when I caught a queen. They all start with Q, and the first four numbers will be the year caught. The latter 3 will be the collection number. Gaps in the numbering system indicate that there were intervening caught queens that either died or I released.

Now that we got all that out of the way, let’s introduce the queens, shall we?

  • Q2017002: Cayce (Crematogaster cf. cerasi)
  • Q2018020: Bitsy (Brachymyrmex patagonicus)
  • Q2018022: Scarlett (Camponotus chromaiodes)
  • Q2018023: Hestia (Temnothorax texanus)
  • Q2018025: Lotte (Colobopsis cf. obliqua)
  • Q2018027: Roos (Colobopsis cf. obliqua)
  • Q2018028: Maud (Colobopsis cf. obliqua)
  • Q2018030: Billie (Nylanderia sp.)
  • Q2018034: Demeter (Pheidole cf. bicarinata)
  • Q2018038: Emily (Camponotus pennsylvanicus)
  • Q2018041: Carla (Nylanderia cf. parvula)
  • Q2018044: Babs (Nylanderia cf. parvula)
  • Q2018045: Lucille (Nylanderia cf. vividula)
  • Q2018049: Artemis (Pheidole cf. bicarinata)
  • Q2018055: Aphrodite (Pheidole cf. bicarinata)
  • Q2018056: Hera (Pheidola cf. bicarinata)
  • Q2018057: Winifred (Dorymyrmex bureni)
  • Q2018058: Adelaide(Dorymyrmex bureni)
  • Q2018059: Athena (Pheidole cf. metallescens)
  • Q2018062: Lieke (Colobopsis impressa)
  • Q2018063: Flora (Camponotus floridanus)
  • Q2018064: Hecate (Pheidole navigans)
  • Q2018065: Saar (Colobopsis cf. obliqua)
  • Q2018067: Jackie (Nylanderia cf. vividula)
  • Q2018068: Bonnie (Nylanderia cf. vividula)
  • Q2018069: Sunny (Nylanderia cf. vividula)
  • Q2018070: Gertrude (Dorymyrmex bureni)
  • Q2018071: Josephine (Dorymyrmex bureni)
  • Q2018072: Berry (Nylanderia parvula)
  • Q2018073: Cori (Temnothorax cf. curvispinosus)
  • Q2018074: Nancy (Lasius brevicornis)
  • Q2018075: Summermist (Solenopsis cf. pergandei)
  • Q2018076: Brioche (Brachymyrmex depilis)
  • Q2018077: Nike (Pheidole navigans)

(List edited 7/20/18)

 

As my log general log for today, 6/3/2018, I will simply report that as of Friday the following queens are in these situations. I am not messing with them right now, especially as in a week I will need to move them to a new city (still in South Carolina mind, so perfectly legal). When I get there, I’ll have a new thermostat so that my heating cable won’t fry my ants. I will be away next Sunday, so the update journal will be a little behind, but I’ll hope to post general introductions for those newly found queens before then. If any of them aren’t given a full Intro post, that means they died, so only the ones likely to actually lay end up in the journal. Saves me a lot of writing doing that.

 

Now, hang tight while I put in posts for each of my currently tubed ants!


Edited by Arroavantho, August 5 2018 - 5:26 AM.

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#2 Offline Arroavantho - Posted June 3 2018 - 6:22 AM

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Q2017001
Congaree 
Crematogaster cf. lineolata
10/7/17

Congaree is the second queen I ever caught. (The first was an invicta queen, but she didn’t lay and in retrospect I’m glad she didn’t.) She was found on Stage 4 of the Cayce Riverwalk in Cayce, SC., which runs alongside the Congaree Creek (her namesake). She is a black Crematogaster queen that has been a source of some frustration for me. Due to me over-checking and the heating cable I had being too hot, she hasn’t laid yet. As such, after I move to Florence in a week, I’m putting her in a “not to check often” place. So far, she has suffered two forced tube transfers (one mid-hibernation, one recently) but is somehow still trucking. And yes, I know there is a cotton swab in there, I thought she had one egg when I was forced to change her tube the second time, so I tried to pick it up with the swab. As far as I can tell it was either not an egg or it was lost or died, because it isn’t in there anymore. In any case, she is still alive, so she will be included.

HouaObO.jpg


Edited by Arroavantho, July 15 2018 - 11:29 AM.


#3 Offline Arroavantho - Posted June 3 2018 - 6:26 AM

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Q2017002
Cayce
Crematogaster cf. cerasi
10/7/17

 

Found shortly after Congaree a little further down the trail, Cayce has been more productive than Congaree. Unlike Congaree, who has failed to lay, Cayce has laid two batches, and now has eggs and I think even larvae. She did lay late for the same reasons Congaree hasn’t laid at all, but she is doing far better.

That said, Cayce has been far more dramatic than Congaree ever has. Mid-hibernation I checked on the three Crematogaster queens I had (the third died later in hibernation), and Cayce was laying on her back. I thought she was dead. But nope, she was just peachy, and I learned that was just how hibernating ants act. After hibernation, I decided to feed Congaree and Cayce some honey. Both drank, but I gave Cayce too much, and she got honey all over her gaster. I had to clean her with a cotton swab! She was not happy. And, as I mentioned earlier, Congaree and Cayce both failed to lay at first, and I at one point dejectedly decided to release them both. This was after their tubes had run dry, and I didn’t really want to transfer them to a new tube. Took them both outside, opened their tubes… and then noticed Cayce had larvae! That gave me hope for both and now Cayce is laying well!

A note too on Cayce: I plan on putting her in a “don’t check often” place along with Congaree when I move to Florence because Crematogaster are known to be skittish, though she seems more resilient than Congaree.

Also, in the pic below, you can kind of see her brood. Yay!

I0T8JMo.jpg


Edited by Arroavantho, June 7 2018 - 12:19 PM.


#4 Offline Arroavantho - Posted June 3 2018 - 6:29 AM

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Q2018002
Prima 
Camponotus nearcticus
5/9/18

 

Prima was my second find of the new ant season (after a now-dead Brachyponera queen). I found her much by accident, coming home I found her crawling up the banister for the apartment stairs. I didn’t think she was a queen at first, but I noticed the size of her mesosoma and managed to determine she had wing scars. I didn’t have tubes on me, so I got her to crawl on my phone and carried her inside on that. Her name is a reference to the term “Prima Donna”, meaning first lady, as it felt more like the first find of the year than the Brachyponera queen did.
Prima has been a bit of a difficult one to identify. When I first found her, her gaster was rather round, and I was told it was a very small Camponotus pennsylvanicus. The problem with that is that she’s small… only 1cm… which puts her more in line to be a Camponotus nearcticus queen than a pennsylvanicus queen. Sure enough looking closely at her gaster later, it has slimmed out into the classic elongated shape of a nearcticus queen. She has laid, as is visible in the not-the-best-quality-pic below.
 

XL9ka2a.jpg


Edited by Arroavantho, July 15 2018 - 11:29 AM.


#5 Offline Arroavantho - Posted June 3 2018 - 6:34 AM

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Q2018003
Minnie 
Nylanderia sp. Brachymyrmex patagonicus
5/19/18

 

Minnie was the first small-genus ant I found. She also, unlike the majority of small-genus queens I’ve collected, has survived and laid! Her name is obviously meant to sound like “Mini” due to her small size. Minnie really kicked off anting season for me more than Prima did (as most of the ants I’ve collected were after her) and as such she is a bit special.
uCcNCPw.jpg


Edited by Arroavantho, July 15 2018 - 11:29 AM.


#6 Offline Arroavantho - Posted June 3 2018 - 6:37 AM

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Q2018005
Delores

Forelius pruinosus
5/21/18

 

Delores is a Forelius queen that I found as a dealate. I didn’t recognize her as Forelius at first and instead assumed she was Dorymyrmex bureni. The species name conjures up images of old-fashioned life (mostly because of “bureni”, which reminds me of Martin van Buren). As such I named her Delores, a suitably old-fashioned name. Later on I learned this was actually Forelius pruinosus, but the name will stick. Delores has laid, though it is difficult to tell in the picture below as her head is in front of the eggs.
5cma6Vk.jpg


Edited by Arroavantho, July 15 2018 - 11:29 AM.


#7 Offline Arroavantho - Posted June 3 2018 - 6:40 AM

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Q2018017
Yuuko 

Brachyponera chinensis
5/26/18

 

Yuuko is the second Brachyponera queen I have tried to keep, collected from Sesquicentennial State Park. The first, Airi, died not long after I found Yuuko, and as such I’m trying to fix mistakes I made with her. Yuuko is a semi-claustral queen and as such I do have her in an outworld that I’ve packed soil in the bottom of for her to grip. She is very clumsy on smooth surfaces, and that I think was one of the big mistakes I made with Airi.

Yuuko’s name is Japanese, reflecting the fact that Brachyponera were introduced via a container ship from Japan. The specific name comes from the main character of the anime Nichijou. I probably could’ve named her after some awesome anime ninja warrior queen, but the comedic Nichijou came to mind and I like the name.

Note in the pic below, Yuuko’s tube is still without dirt. I have since added dirt to the bottom of the founding tube for her. Also sorry for poor quality, she was not being cooperative for pictures.

 

Edit 6/12/18: Yuuko died in her outworld.

ADeDDoW.jpg


Edited by Arroavantho, June 12 2018 - 6:59 AM.


#8 Offline Arroavantho - Posted June 3 2018 - 6:43 AM

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Q2018022
Scarlett
Camponotus chromaiodes
5/30/18

 

A few days ago, I came across this queen ripping up bark on the Cayce Riverwalk, same place I collected my two Crematogaster queens. I collected her and then realized she had brood, including pupae. I collected those as well, of course, and now have Scarlett tubed with them. She is easily excitable with light and I’ll be honest, I’m a bit shy about messing with her right now. A sudden move like that is stressful on a queen. So even though I haven’t had her for a week, I am including her.

Scarlett’s name is a reference to her red color. Although I don’t rank them with Camponotus castaneus or Formica pallidefulva, chromaiodes are gorgeous ants, and I hope I can get her to survive and get a colony going. 

LT51Wtr.jpg


Edited by Arroavantho, June 7 2018 - 12:40 PM.

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#9 Offline Dotdispenser - Posted June 3 2018 - 7:00 AM

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This is an awesome journal! Love how you’ve done it. Can’t wait to see these updates.
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Nurturer of:

• 1 Camponotus castaneus

• 1 Camponotus subbarbatus

• 1 Formica incerta

• 1 Formica subsericea

• 1 Crematogaster cf. ashmeadi

• 1 Crematogaster missouriensis


#10 Offline Arroavantho - Posted June 5 2018 - 7:47 AM

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Q2018020

Bitsy

Nylanderia cf. faisonensis Brachymyrmex patagonicus

5/29/2018

 

My second successful Nylanderia species here. Bitsy was collected from my apartment complex like every other Nylanderia I've caught. I caught her and after returning home I noticed she started pulling her wings off (down to just one still attached). So I've been optimistic about her, and now my optimism paid off pretty nicely as she turns out to have laid no less than 10 eggs!

 

SVwjp48.jpg


Edited by Arroavantho, July 1 2018 - 1:03 PM.


#11 Offline Arroavantho - Posted June 7 2018 - 6:48 AM

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Q2018023

Hestia

Pheidole sp. Temnothorax texanus

5/31/18

 

Hestia is the first Pheidole queen I've had found lasted more than 4 hours. She was found hiding under a transparent red lid on a fire extinguisher, where I fished her out with a paperclip. Her name Hestia comes from the Greek goddess of the hearth (that is, the fireplace) and home. I will likely continue the Greek theme for Pheidole species due to the fact the genus name reminds me of the Greek language. She is still an alate and still has not laid, so I'm not sure she's fertile, but she has made it a week which gives me hope. I likely will be putting her in the do-not-bother zone with the two Crematogaster queens since she hasn't laid yet & this may be due to me unveiling her several times to reach other queens.

 

Edit: I originally ID'd Hestia as a Pheidole species, as you can see me talking about above. She is actually Temnothorax texanus, and as such she is the first Temnothorax queen I've caught, not the first Pheidole. I still intend use Greek names as the Pheidole theme though, even if Hestia isn't Pheidole.

 

jLXBogp.jpg


Edited by Arroavantho, June 8 2018 - 9:23 PM.


#12 Offline T.C. - Posted June 7 2018 - 9:54 AM

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None of these images show for me?


" Whatever You Are, Be a Good One "


#13 Offline Ants_Texas - Posted June 7 2018 - 9:59 AM

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None of these images show for me?

Yeah, I don't see anything either. 



#14 Offline YsTheAnt - Posted June 7 2018 - 11:12 AM

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I can see the last image, but none above that one.

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#15 Offline Arroavantho - Posted June 7 2018 - 12:14 PM

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Weird. Thanks for letting me know, I'll see if I can fix them.



#16 Offline T.C. - Posted June 7 2018 - 12:15 PM

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Weird. Thanks for letting me know, I'll see if I can fix them.


Use imgur
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#17 Offline Arroavantho - Posted June 7 2018 - 12:44 PM

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I changed where the images were hosted. Hopefully they should work better now. If not let me know & I'll try something else!


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#18 Offline T.C. - Posted June 7 2018 - 12:49 PM

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They know work fine.

" Whatever You Are, Be a Good One "


#19 Offline AntsAreUs - Posted June 7 2018 - 1:29 PM

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I'm pretty familiar with Ponerinae in general. I'm not too sure if Brachyponera is the same but my Ponera and Hypoponera will not lay eggs if kept in a normal test tube and require some sort of substrate to dig in or at least very tiny chambers.



#20 Offline Canadian anter - Posted June 7 2018 - 3:45 PM

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Hestia doesn't really look like Pheidole


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