Hello all! This is my first colony but I thought it would still be good to have journal. I have 12 dealates of what I believe are Brachymyrmex. I say believe because I have yet to figure out a lens/magnification solution to get clear enough close-ups to count the antennae segments and check for hair on their gasters. The first one I happened to find on my way home from work about a week ago. She's currently in a test tube with a little pile of eggs that she's tending. She sitting next to a wise box(think office desk server terminal) for warmth on my desk at work.

 

The others I caught after a large nuptial flight outside my apartment complex. They were going hard because I caught all of them within the same 10 feet of sidewalk haha. Here's a photo of a dead dealate that I had to steal from a fire ant worker for identification purposes. she's around 2 to 2.5mm if I were to eyeball it. I'll have to get a measure tape to be sure later. Sorry the photo isn't that great, white paper would have been a better choice for background I know.

Thanks for looking! Hopefully I don't totally fail!

 

Edit: Added the species name to genus.

Edited by MrmrGatlin, June 17 2016 - 7:53 AM.

Managed to use the lens from a dollar tree laser pointer to take some macro photos.

Looks like Brachymyrmex to me.

Haha, it was nice talking to you on the chat! Good luck with them!

Quick update. The total has decreased from the original 12 down to 7 alive, with 1 that seems infertile/a dud and 2 that are now with Ice(good luck btw!). The remaining queens all have a pile of eggs. Also after much fiddling and a healthy amount of swearing at my ghetto macro lens I've IDed the species as Brachymyrmex Patagonicus. I've also Picked up a Dorymyrmex Bureni queen that has laid eggs, as well as received 2 Solenopsis Invicta queens from Ice(Thanks again!).

The most exciting thing though is that I've discovered a colony of Odontomachus at FGCU Campus! Watching these like a hawk to try and catch a flight. 

For whatever reason I've had a low queen success rate with the Brachymyrmex species that proliferates here in FL, though the numbers at which you can find delates seems to make up for that.

A note on the Odontomachus - look for founding queens under stones, bricks, sticks, logs, and anywhere else you might find a mature colony. Basically anywhere warm and damp with lots of humus or leaf litter. They seem to release sexuals in small numbers during warm humid nights but I've only ever found founding queens or the occasional foraging one.

Edited by 123Lord Of Ants123, June 18 2016 - 9:48 AM.

My brachymyrmex colonies mostly have pupae at this point and I also managed to find a founding colony under a stone with 10 workers. As well as a pheidole Floridana colony with 50 workers and a ton of brood under the same stone. That was a few days ago and today I decided to go back and flip over some other stones in that area and found a founding Odontomachus queen! Just like Lord of Ants said, she was under a rock that was surrounded by leaf litter. She's currently in a modified version of the 3 dollar tower with just the first level and some soil from under the rock. I'm so excited for this colony and I'm trying super hard to make sure I can figure out the best setup for their health and growth.

Oh, I'm so happy for you! How are the colonies?

Good luck on the new colony

Thank you Ice and Kingjay! The All of the brachymyrmex have now had their first workers hatch over this last weekend so I didn't get photos of the fresh workers. It's also hard for me to get pics of the colonies since I have them here on my desk at work where cell phones are prohibited(HIPAA Laws). The Pheidole Floridanus queen also has hatched her first workers.

The odontomachus queen has become very comfy in her $3 tower type formicarium and actually built up a chamber for herself using the damp soil in her nest. Very interesting behavior. I'm also currently working on starting an isopod culture for this colony as this is what I've seen her accept so far and was the food source she used under her rock. 

Edited by MrmrGatlin, July 18 2016 - 8:36 AM.

Do you use a heat source or a heat pad for these ants .

Yeah, they currently sit under and on top of a WYSE box with is similar to a router and outputs heat similar to one or any other passively cooled electronics. They stay around 80 degrees but the temp drops off within an inch outside the box, which is why they are directly under and on top of the box(which is also where the air vents are for cooling).

Ok so update, All the Brachymyrmex colonies are doing fine and growing. That's the good news. Bad news is Earlier this week I had all of the first Pheidole Floridana colony die off and today my Odontomachus queen is missing. Not dead, I mean straight up missing. I feel like a coworker might be the culprit but in any case I am now no longer part of the Trap Jaw keepers club :'[ Also started working on casting grout nests. If it comes out well enough I'll make a tutorial on how. I'll be using them as a cost effective and efficient way to produce small nests to hold small queens like brachymyrmex and workers for the first 6 months to a year.

Can you put up images of the "$3 tower" setup? I'm still new to the hobby and I just caught 4 Brachymyrmex depilis queens and I'm trying to figure out the best ways to house them once they have a decent number of workers. The only formicarium I have currently is an ants Canada setup I got as a birthday gift but it seems way too big.