Seems to be working...

 

 

 

 

You can see the sawdust they threw out on the rock below

 

YES! this is awesome! i wish i had some of these around me!

 

Next time I go for a hike I can collect some for you. I mostly find them up mountain paths, well away from settlements and pollution. Not sure when my next hike will be though...

 

umm... i would love some, but i am pretty far away. but thanks anyway!

what a neat idea. I had a similar idea to use walnut shells, but this gall looks really nice!

This is so flippin' cool. I can just imagine how excited the ants are to dig into those.

This is so flippin' cool. I can just imagine how excited the ants are to dig into those.

Yes.  That is probably very stimulating for them.  I bet they'd love them!  I wish I could experiment with these!  Thanks for posting this skocko!  Very interesting.

https://www.youtube....h?v=lOgP5NzcTuA

Do you think any gall would work? I wonder if small pheidole would like them? 

Edited by EthanNgo678, December 9 2020 - 3:06 PM.

Steaming would probably introduce unwanted humidity.

https://www.youtube....h?v=lOgP5NzcTuA

 

Do you think any gall would work? I wonder if small pheidole would like them? 

I believe any gall with a hard shell and cork-like interior would work... Those spiky, fuzzy, soft ones probably not...but I've never seen them.

Local Pheidole pallidula don't use them (to my knowledge), but Pheidole californica do:  https://www.antwiki....ole_californica

I know for a fact that Crematogaster scutellaris, Colobopsis truncata and various Temnothorax species use the kind of gall that is local to me.

I would also bet that they would be great for any kind of semi-arid Camponotus, subject to size.

I guess there's a slight danger of parasites or disease left by the departed wasp. Maybe steaming them would reduce the chance of that.

Hm perhaps... The funny thing is, I have never seen a gall with an exit hole.... All galls I've seen people collecting as DIY ornaments, and all I have collected were whole. I only collected those that have fallen off to the ground.

It was believed until a couple decades ago that the gall is oak defence mechanism against the wasp. A callus, if you will.

We have a special semi-evergreen type of Dalmatian oak that is quite different from your regular oak. It is shrub-like and rarely grows taller than as high as you can reach with your arm. Even the leaves don't look oak like: https://hr.wikipedia...ki/Hrast_crnikaIt can grow tall but that takes a hundred years and fires in this arid region don't allow for that much.

So it's quite possible these galls are different than those from regular oaks. Possibly produce a lot of "failed" ones. I would bet it is due to harsh dissecting sun. If your mom did not have the savvy to induce the gall in the shade, under thick leaves, you're toast little wasp.
I believe these to be well dissected and sterilised by the heat/UV, at least around here.

We've had a temperature drop a couple of days ago, but the temperature has normalised now.

The colony was inactive for the two cold days, and has forgotten about its excavation venture.

They have excavated about half a thimble worth of material. Now they just stand guard at the entrance hole.

I restricted the size of their nest hole, preventing them moving the queen into the gall. I did that once I realised they had the intention. I never would have gotten the queen out without harming her. I want to split the gall in half to see the galleries. Perhaps their enthusiasm waned due to that.

Edited by skocko76, December 18 2020 - 3:14 AM.

We're had a temperature drop a couple of days ago, but the temperature has normalised now.

The colony was inactive for the two cold days, and has forgotten about its excavation venture.

They have excavated about half a thimble worth of material. Now they just stand guard at the entrance hole.

 

I restricted the size of their nest hole, preventing them moving the queen into the gall. I did that once I realised they had the intention. I never would have gotten the queen out without harming her. I want to split the gall in half to see the galleries. Perhaps their enthusiasm waned due to that.

well, at least you have shown they like them! 

 

We're had a temperature drop a couple of days ago, but the temperature has normalised now.

The colony was inactive for the two cold days, and has forgotten about its excavation venture.

They have excavated about half a thimble worth of material. Now they just stand guard at the entrance hole.

 

I restricted the size of their nest hole, preventing them moving the queen into the gall. I did that once I realised they had the intention. I never would have gotten the queen out without harming her. I want to split the gall in half to see the galleries. Perhaps their enthusiasm waned due to that.

well, at least you have shown they like them! 

 

Yeah, it's kind of weird... normally you can't make Crematogaster move nest no matter how hard you try. I pop in a gall, and they mobilise in a couple of days... They really do like it a lot.
I would guess C.truncata and Themnotorax would react the same (as they nest in them), probably other kind of Camponotus as well, while the colony is small. I wonder what other species would love them. I'll try with my C. laterallis next..I bet they would react the same as my C. scutellaris.

Well bummer... While I wasn't looking, they widened a hole in the rubber stopper I placed at the nest entrance, and moved the queen into the gall. I just caught them in the last stages of moving the larvae. That's how much they liked the gall! I have no idea how I'm gonna make them leave to split the gall in half... They outmanoeuvred me 

Ah, I wondered how you stopped the queen from moving in. Determined ants have nothing else to do except problem-solve

Actually at first glance I wondered if you had cut the gall in half and glued it to the wall, like one of those bird houses that attach to a window.

well, if the queen likes it, why not let them stay? it is the most natural formciarium they could have!

Yeah, I'll think of something yet.
Meanwhile, they continued digging. I am unsure if they are expanding the galleries, or they are just throwing out the pre-dug material they took back inside. I've seen them do it, taking dug out material back in.
I put the other, less preferred gall inside of C. laterallis outworld. There is only a single forager in their colony of 13, and she was very excited about the gall. She found the entrance immediately, and kept inspecting the gall for many hours. No excavation or other activity yet.

these things work so well! i need some of them! the ants just swarm to them! you should sell them for like 5 dollars for 2 or something! i need them!