40 replies to this topic

[Vendayn]

No more battles happening anywhere. Looks like boundaries have been made where both ants meet, and both Pheidole megacephala and Argentine ants don't cross those boundaries. Its pretty much like last year where both ants stopped their massive battles once Summer was over. I don't even see any skirmishes anymore.

 

However the Pheidole megacephala still expanded a lot last rain storm. Tonight was first night I looked at them in a while that was late at night. But, area #6 now loops around and connects to area #3. 

 

And its not listed on the map as its a new area, but area #4 almost loops around to the colonies that expanded below that apartment building I marked out (the red box beneath where I marked #4). So they'll have that entire area controlled by them along the road/garages. Soon they will have one very large amount of territory that all connects up with each section (ignoring #1 and #5 areas). That'll give them a huge amount of ants they can reinforce with, as earlier in the year the colony was quite spread out so they were attacked from quite a lot of sides. And while the Pheidole megacephala still did good and won all battles, next year they'll be able to do even better.

 

And with this post being 1st on Page  and being the start of page 2. This post makes a rather fitting "break" from posting updates, this'll be last for a while. Next update will likely be next year at some point. I'll probably still check on them occasionally, but unless there is some massive huge change, this thread will be taking a long break

Edited by Vendayn, October 23 2018 - 11:50 PM.

[DaveJay]

Thanks for the story so far, it was very enjoyable. I look forward to the next installment.

[Vendayn]

Well, was going to wait till next year. But, I did say if there was a big event that I'd update again.

 

And its a big event.

 

its the green area across #6 that goes toward the pond and apartment's trump wall (its literally pretty much a trump wall along one side of the complex lol).

 

Not even night time, and its 100s of thousands of Argentine ants vs hordes of Pheidole megacephala. The Argentine ants literally can get  over a million more (no exaggeration, there are so many Argentine ants) reinforcements from the apartment's trump wall+pond areas.

 

However, Pheidole megacephala have secured footholds into their territory. From what I can see, they have two secured colonies and going into more the middle of the area. If the Ph. megacephala continue pushing forward and win the area, then this leads to next year that the Argentine ants stand no chance. This is a massive Argentine ant stronghold right inside the heart of their territory where they can get countless reinforcements. If the Argentine ants get pushed back and lose right in their massive stronghold, then I'm pretty sure Pheidole megacephala can push into the pond and keep winning without much effort. And its looking to be that way, despite hordes of Argentine ants moving in.

 

Another place Pheidole megacephala have won and pushed back the Argentine ants is battleground/front #4 where the Argentine ants are still fighting, but lost a lot of territory.

 

However the focus of the next updates will be the area across #6 as that is the biggest fight I've seen yet in any area. There are so many Pheidole ants, but also hordes of Argentine ants. This one conflict area will pave the way for the future of the Pheidole megacephala expansion and any future predictions. If Pheidole megacephala lose, they probably won't win the pond area either (at least not easily) as there are tons and tons of Argentine ants there. If Pheidole megacephala win and conquer the green area, then I don't see how they can lose any future conflict. This area the Argentine ants can reinforce by a massive amount, so if they lose then they just can't beat the Pheidole megacephala in this local area.

 

Also expect pictures Even if they are junk pictures, because I have to wait for night time with my flash on as most of the action happens at night. I have no idea if you'll even see ants but I'll upload it anyway even if not. I never actually used my phone at night with just a flash. But this is a massive enough event, with a massive battle going on that I want to try at least taking pictures of it.

Edited by Vendayn, November 6 2018 - 3:51 PM.

[DaveJay]

They must be making one last push to secure safe "overwintering" territory. Thanks for keeping us updated!

[Vendayn]

lots of pictures, sadly only one picture you can actually see the ants. So I'll put it first. But I did take pictures of the battle area.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

(past the fence is the pond and greenbelt kinda area. Tons of argentine ants can reinforce from across the road there, and that will give them a major advantage. As I noticed the Pheidole ants aren't really reinforcing as much from across where they came from)

 

 

 

[Vendayn]

Its hard to say who is winning. The war pretty much goes on 24/7.

 

On one side, the Argentine ants made quite a bit of progress and pushed forward quite a bit. However on the opposite side, the Pheidole ants made quite a bit of progress and pushed forward quite a bit.

 

If the Pheidole megacephala don't continue to reinforce (like the Argentine ants are), they'll probably lose. But, it is quite a war.

 

Expect another update tonight. The battle borders may change as night comes and it gets cold.

[Vendayn]

Looks like the Pheidole megacephala are winning, despite not getting many reinforcements from across the road. The Pheidole pushed back the Argentine ants a lot on one side. They are now going all the way past the parking space. That is also despite hordes of Argentine ants going to the battle front with large amounts of reinforcements.

 

The opposite side still looks to be a stalemate though. 

 

One interesting thing of tonights big santa ana gusts/wind, is the activity in most areas of the Pheidole megacephala colony went down quite a bit. They aren't active on the surface nearly as much, except in more wind protected areas. I wonder if the wind is also playing a part in the Argentine ant losing so much territory to the Pheidole.

Edited by Vendayn, November 8 2018 - 7:36 PM.

[Vendayn]

Well, despite Argentine ants having an advantage (in terms of how many reinforcements they can get by the pond and wall). They have lost a lot of territory and almost been pushed back to the end of the plant area on one side. Though, there is still a lot of territory to take in the plant area, going along the parking spaces.

 

Argentine ants are being killed in each battle front, surrounded by many Pheidole. It also does seem like the Argentine ants aren't sending nearly as many ants to the battle area, which probably means they pretty much lost. 

 

Honestly, I thought the Argentine ants would win. They could get so many reinforcements, but even with that they are losing. I guess Pheidole are dominant in this area, and most likely won't lose any battle. It'll be interesting to see if/when they cross the road (using the concrete drainage connecting both sides) and start trying to colonize the wall area. 

[Vendayn]

The Argentine ants are again sending 1000s of ants to the battle area. So, battle isn't over yet it appears. The Argentine ants seemed to be even pushing the Pheidole back a tiny bit. One area the Argentine ants pushed through the Pheidole battle front and got through their front line. I'll look later tonight to see how it officially looks. 

 

(roughly 1 hour up date)

 

I put a can of wet cat food on the border of both the Argentine ants and Pheidole megacephala. I split the cat food up into a few areas but all in same area and the borders. So, I'll see officially who is dominating.

 

However, it looks like the Pheidole megacephala are being heavily pushed back and have one area and another area is being heavily attacked by Argentine ants.

Edited by Vendayn, November 19 2018 - 2:23 PM.

[Vendayn]

Well, first day of the renewed battle gives a massive advantage to the Argentine ants. The Argentine ants have an endless supply of ants going to the battle area, and the Pheidole megacephala aren't crossing the road (from area #1) to reinforce like the Argentine ants are. The Argentine ants also took all the food baits I spread out. Also, the Pheidole have lost more than half their conquered area already and are being very easily beat. Its the first area I've seen them actually be losing, instead of just a stalemate. 

 

It'll be interesting to see if the Argentine ants are able to take the main Pheidole colony in the plant area. My prediction is the Pheidole have actually lost this area, unless they get reinforcements. There are so many dead Pheidole, and not very many dead Argentine ants. It looks like the Argentine ants have made a massive and very fast push to retake their area, and looks like it'll be the Argentines first victory.

 

On the other hand, in area #5 the Pheidole completely took and have all the trees to themselves. They just don't have the grassy area where they'd do best in, but all the dirt/bark area is theirs. And the whole top area between #6, #3 and #4 are controlled by Pheidole AND they've expanded quite a lot in those areas as well. They are expanding past the garages quite a bit. Area #5 is most interesting though, because they are getting closer and closer to the pool area. 

 

It'll be interesting if it rains on Wednesday. Because of it does, that could change the battle the Argentine ants are currently winning. If the Pheidole even survive that long that is. Every time it rains, the Pheidole expand a TON and is when they do their best at winning fights.

Edited by Vendayn, November 19 2018 - 8:33 PM.

[Vendayn]

Well, turns out today they did a 2nd round of spraying in the area the Pheidole ants are in. It was either August or September was the first round of pesticide (they sprayed the whole complex). Yesterday they sprayed on my side of the complex and now today is the 2nd half of the complex. Just general pesticide, not to target anything specific.

 

And...since the Pheidole are mostly subterranean, not many actually died in the area. However this changed the battleground a lot. While some Pheidole I saw dead in the open, most were alive. On the other hand, a lot of Argentine ants died and they are also no longer crossing the road either since the entire path across the road and around the pond were sprayed. There are only a few Argentine ants around in the battleground area. In return, the Pheidole have retaken most of what they had before and have a big advantage again.

Edited by Vendayn, November 20 2018 - 1:20 PM.

[Vendayn]

With the recent rains, the Pheidole megacephala have gotten a lot of reinforcements in the battle front across area #1. The Argentine ants are still not reinforcing, but we'll see what happens as last time they ended up finally trying to re-conquer the area. Then the Argentine ants got unlucky and got sprayed by maintenance lol.

 

In other news, one area is a large amount of Argentine ants and THEY are the ones being attacked instead of doing the attacking. Unlike the area across from #1, the Pheidole are much stronger here. The area is not drawn on the map. But its the top right side , OFF the map, where the Pheidole megacephala have massively expanded. The whole area isn't even drawn because when I made the map they weren't even close to it. They are a tiny bit limited in expansion here, but they can go past the garages and get access to the wall/green belt area.

 

And if they do get past the garages, then they can go all the way up/down the road as the concrete drainage goes all the way from one end of the complex to the opposite end without any breakage in the concrete drainage thing built into the road. And there are tons of plant areas and areas with access to the wall they can then expand to with access to massive parts of the complex. 

 

As for the map. I'm gonna get rid of it next year depending if we stay here or not. The map is too out of date and too hard to update new areas when they expand. I'm just gonna use google maps. But goes to show how fast the Pheidole expand even in Winter with access to hydration. The Pheidole are expanding a bit slower than in August, but not that much slower. Though the Pheidole's biggest Winter expansions only happen after it rains. Unlike Summer where they expand no matter the weather.

Edited by Vendayn, November 23 2018 - 1:34 PM.

[Vendayn]

So, most of the areas are the same. However, the top right area (not drawn on the map) is being dominated by Pheidole megacephala. The Argentine ant trails have been completely broken, and the Argentine ants are going in circles (which I've seen them go in circles before when another area the Argentine ants were in got dominated by Pheidole) in a panicked manner. The Pheidole in the upper right area have expanded very fast (in fact, faster than they expanded in other areas in the Summer) and have already dug quite extensive colonies with decent sized mounds. 

 

Guess Winter doesn't slow them down at all, and some areas they expand more than in the Summer.

[Vendayn]

Pheidole megacephala are mating today. I saw a bunch of males roaming around and a bunch of dropped rings on the dirt. Ph. megacephala tend to mate underground, which is what appears to have happened. Sometimes they fly, but most areas they just bud out like Argentine ants.

 

First time seen them having alates so late in the year, guess at this point they'll expand 24/7 then. Which is different than Argentine ants who never produce alates this late in the season.

[Vendayn]

This will be the last post of the season. I know I said that before, but officially I want to take a break from updates. The biggest thing that made me re-update before is how fast they keep expanding...IN WINTER...but they lost one area (the single only battle front they've lost but no surprise). I'm sure they'll keep expanding, but even if something major happens it'll have to wait till I revive the journal sometime in Spring. So with that...

 

As expected, the Pheidole megacephala pretty much lost that area near the pond. Today the Argentine ants moved in again and had taken almost the entire area. This is no surprise to me as the Argentine ants had such a massive advantage here. Still, the very first battle front that the Pheidole megacephala lost.

 

On the other side. The Pheidole are easily winning the battle front off the map, in the top right of the area. No contest, the Argentine ants are going to lose here as every day they lose more and more territory and get pushed back. Despite the Argentine ants putting up an effort, the Pheidole megacephala have such an advantage here its a guaranteed win for them. This is true for all the other areas as well (outside the pond area). 

 

It'll be interesting next year what the Pheidole will do. I probably won't be here though as my parents want to move out of state. The Pheidole prospects of taking the actual pond is slim. Taking the pool area will be easier (but not by that much, the Argentine ants have hordes as well here), but still be quite a war.

 

However, in the grand scheme of things...the Pheidole will likely be the dominant ant anywhere from 5 to 10 years from now. They might come to a standstill next year in key areas (pool/pond), but they'll have spread massively inside the actual complex which will give them, long-term, a massive advantage. But I think the pond/pool will be a barrier for another 1-2 years.

 

In just two years, they went from tiny scattered colonies that numbered 15 colonies max (many others killed by the apartments+me killing them), to easily over 100 colonies with a massive area they've expanded to. The other colonies that survived the apartments pest control+my soap attacks died off or got taken over by Argentine ants. I know two colonies that survived for a year got later taken by Argentine ants. One area obviously did extremely well, which is of course what the journal is about.

 

Still, in 10 years and maybe even only 5 (if things stay the way they are in terms of environment/habitat etc), they'll have no issue with controlling the pool/pond. In fact, by then with how fast they grow, they might take over the entire pond area by then. And I wouldn't be surprised if they had a massive chunk of the apartment complex by then as well. The wars they'll have in the river area will definitely be massive though, with the literally billions and billions of Argentine ants down there. But with how the Pheidole are so far winning every single fight and have lost only one area, and it was an area they didn't even expand to in their peak mating/activity season (but very late off-season for ants, was surprised they expanded there at all and expanding other areas)...the Pheidole are really the dominant ant here and will only become more so as time goes on. For them to take over so many areas in such a short time (2 years), winning so many battles against the Argentine ants, shows how dominant they are in this particular area.

Edited by Vendayn, December 9 2018 - 9:46 PM.

[Vendayn]

Just a bit of a random update, since its the start of a new year. Journal isn't becoming active again, but just wanted to post my Winter observations of both species.

 

Surprisingly the Pheidole megacephala have held their ground by the pond. In part, the Argentine ant numbers have dropped a lot like every Winter. But, what is interesting is that every time it rains the Argentine ants push the Pheidole back in this area. But the Pheidole still hold their ground and that was despite huge amounts of Argentine ants from the last update. As days/weeks go on between rain storms, the Pheidole take back the area and push the Argentine ants back. But as soon as it rains again, the battle is "reset" and the Argentine ants push back, and then slowly retreat and the Pheidole become dominate again. And then it repeats. Turns out though, Winter rain is very bad for Pheidole megacephala, as they do the best during dry Winter periods. Probably more the cold than anything else.

 

Overall, Argentine ants have made many small pushes throughout the Pheidole areas. Areas that were Pheidole dominate are now "dominated" by tiny amounts of Argentine ants. The number of Pheidole megacephala have dropped, about as much as the numbers of Argentine ants have dropped. But this gives the Argentine ants an advantage since they are already secure in most areas. Overall, its still relatively equal. But, in the vast majority of areas the Pheidole have dialed back a lot. The outer areas the Pheidole took over the Summer have been re-taken by Argentine ants (granted with tiny numbers). But, both sides see little fighting and any battles are very small. Even close to the pond area the battles are tiny compared to the huge wars over the Summer.

 

The biggest area of conflict gets sun the vast majority of the time and is more open. This is the area toward the "top right" of the map but outside what was drawn. There is a huge push of Pheidole taking a large area of the apartment block in this area, and they have been defeating the Argentine ants slowly since the last update. Every day the Pheidole get a few inches to a foot of territory as the conflict drags on. Just today they beat the Argentine ants all the way to the sidewalk and took part of the dirt area along the path, which used to be dominated by the Argentine ants there.

 

Interestingly, the top right area has seen 0% number loss for BOTH Pheidole and the Argentine ants. Where as most other areas Winter numbers for both species (Ph. megacephala and Argentine ants) the population has dropped by as much as 75%. Even along the river the number of Argentine ants are...like every year...decreased by up to 75%. A huge drop in numbers. There has been no pesticide sprayed or anything like that, just every year the Argentine ants drop in numbers by a vast amount in the Winter. And as I've seen this year, proves true for Pheidole megacephala as well. Though the top right area of the map isn't affected by any Winter population loss. However the Pheidole have the advantage here and its only a matter of time before they take the entire area for themselves. Which at that point they'll be a bit limited in expansion as the main road blocks expansion and the only way they can expand is past the garages. Granted at that point if the Pheidole make it past all the garages, they'll have free access to the entire outer area of the entire apartment complex. 

Edited by Vendayn, January 8 2019 - 2:23 PM.

[kalimant]

Interesting thread.

 

Have you confirmed what you're seeing is actually P. megacephala? The only time that species managed to get to that area, it was big news and they were actively removed. Harboring and protecting that invasive species there is doing potential harm to the state.

 

Saying that, I have an interest in the interactions between those two species and actually mapped their ongoing changes in distribution in Bermuda.

 

https://pheidolemega...f-pheidole.html

 

I used google maps to map it, you might want to use that too as it's easy to use, though obviously it might pinpoint your location.

[Vendayn]

Yeah, I got them IDed some years ago. They are Pheidole megacephala.

 

I told the apartment complex multiple times, and they never did anything or cared. So at one point 3 years ago and 4 years ago (2 years) I tried killing every colony I found with soapy water. But the apartments gave a stern warning to my parents that if I kept spreading chemicals of any kind they'd call the police. So at one point after that, I told them again and they said they'd take care of it. But never did. So I told them AGAIN, and then asked if I just hired pest control and they said if I did they'd be trespassing on private property owned by the apartments. And warned me and my parents to stop interfering with plants, wildlife, the dirt, grounds, anything on private property. They said they had their own personal pest control they use...and they never do anything. But they said I was "damaging" their property.

 

So after multiple warnings with police threats and "trespassing on private property" and my parents getting really pissed, I stopped doing anything to the Pheidole megacephala and decided to observe them instead.

Edited by Vendayn, January 31 2019 - 2:27 PM.

[Vendayn]

To put the people who own the complex into perspective...

 

I was moving bark (that was on top of the soil), not even digging...and they said I was damaging property and also threatened to call the police lol. For moving bark

Then there was the time someone complained I was outside their window (on the sidewalk? Dunno, still dunno what was up with that) and my parents got a warning. And all I was doing was catching Incisitermes minor lol.

 

But the apartment complex does advertise they are the most eco friendly apartments around. They say no chemicals used on any of their property, nothing that causes allergies (so dogs/cats aren't allowed outside except in designated areas) and everything is all naturally used. So that is probably why they hated me using "soap" since they said it was a chemical, and they do advertise no chemicals of any kind. And it wasn't natural soap. The sprays they use I guess are 100% natural...but don't seem very effective if they actually did anything with my complaints about the ants. And they are really strict on anyone damaging plants or disturbing the environment in anyway.

 

I think new management took over to enforce either rules that are always were there but not enforced, or came up with new rules. Cause I can't even leave the sidewalk to find termites or ants or anything since the river area is supposedly "protected". To be fair, there is a wooden fence post kinda thing all around all the sidewalks....but it was never an issue before. I hope my parents decide to move, cause can't do anything here. No more termites or ants as long as I live here.

Edited by Vendayn, January 31 2019 - 3:01 PM.

[gcsnelling]

All you have to do is contact either the county or the state agriculture people, once they confirm the Id there is nothing the Apt managment can to prevent control measures by the agencies.