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Mettcollsuss's Myrmica sp. Journal

journal myrmica european fire ant mettcollsuss antkeeping ant keeping ant-keeping semi-claustral

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#1 Offline Mettcollsuss - Posted September 27 2018 - 4:38 AM

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I caught a Myrmica sp. queen over the summer. She laid a clutch of about ten or so eggs very soon after capture. Despite frequent feedings, her brood developed slowly, as well as some being cannibalized. Now, roughly three months after capture, she has her first pupae, and it's a worker pupae, meaning she is fertile. I had had my doubts due to how slowly her brood developed. She now has one pupae, one large larvae, one small larvae, and one egg.

 

here are some bad quality pics

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#2 Offline Kaelwizard - Posted November 22 2018 - 8:45 AM

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Update? Hibernation?



#3 Offline TennesseeAnts - Posted November 22 2018 - 11:03 AM

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Mine took 3 months to get workers as well! Good to know I was not doing anything wrong!

#4 Offline Mettcollsuss - Posted November 27 2018 - 5:26 AM

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haha, oops. I forgot about this journal.

 

About a month ago, the first worker eclosed. I'm not sure if it's this species' coloration, or something's preventing it from gaining pigment, but it still has callow-like coloration.

 

Yesterday, the second worker eclosed. They are already just as active as the first. Despite being a month older, the two are basically identical in coloration.



#5 Offline Rstheant - Posted November 28 2018 - 4:25 PM

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Good luck!

#6 Offline Mettcollsuss - Posted December 20 2018 - 3:53 AM

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The newest worker just died  :(

 

But the queen and other worker are acting healthy.



#7 Offline Mettcollsuss - Posted January 28 2019 - 2:50 PM

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I moved them to a new test tube today because the old one was getting pretty dirty. While moving them I noticed a pupae in their tube, but it had been cannibalized. Oh well. The queen and her nanitic are still healthy. Hopefully they get more brood soon.



#8 Offline Mettcollsuss - Posted January 31 2019 - 11:08 AM

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I realized I've never posted pictures of the worker. Oops. Here you go.

 

For some reason, the worker is still really light in color.

 

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#9 Offline Mettcollsuss - Posted February 8 2019 - 6:10 AM

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They just laid a couple new eggs.
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#10 Offline Mettcollsuss - Posted February 23 2019 - 6:15 PM

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Several eggs now.



#11 Offline TennesseeAnts - Posted February 23 2019 - 8:29 PM

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I love Myrmica. I miss kinda miss my colony.


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Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: journal, myrmica, european fire ant, mettcollsuss, antkeeping, ant keeping, ant-keeping, semi-claustral

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