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Cheeto's Pheidole tysoni Journal (discontinued)


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#1 Offline CheetoLord02 - Posted July 22 2020 - 10:34 PM

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On the morning of July 7 I caught this P. tysoni queen at my blacklight. Apart from 2 P. dentata males, she was the only Pheidole to show up at the blacklight that morning. I was positive that she was infertile, as she was still winged and showed no signs of wanting to shed them. However, a glimmer of hope came as she laid her first eggs within only a few hours of being put in a test tube setup, the fastest of any queen caught during our trip.

I didn't get any pictures of her until around July 10, by which point she had amassed a pretty sizable egg pile.

 

At that point I still wasn't convinced that she was fertile, especially after getting 13 infertile P. dentata queens just two mornings later, although I was still trying to be optimistic.

Much to my surprise, after around a week I checked on her again, and she had a few sizable larvae! While this picture was from a few days ago, the status of her brood hasn't changed too much (apart from some of the smaller larvae growing a bit). I'm hoping to see pupae within a few days now, since some of the P. bicarinata queens I caught at the same time are starting to get pupae.
 

 

I've made the mistake of not starting a journal for cool species I've caught early into their development, so I'm not making that mistake again! I'll aim to update this when she get pupae or workers. I'm hoping that she ends up being successful, as she was the only P. tysoni queen to come to the blacklight in 3 days. Fingers crossed!

 


Edited by CheetoLord02, September 30 2020 - 12:38 AM.

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#2 Offline ANTdrew - Posted July 23 2020 - 2:27 AM

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Great to see another Pheidole journal! I’ll be following.
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#3 Offline Antkid12 - Posted July 23 2020 - 3:41 AM

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Nice, how big are Pheidole tysoni?


Ants I have: Tapinoma sessile(2 queen colony). RED MORPH Camponotus neacticus(now has pupae!), Tetramorium immigrans (x3), Aphaenogaster sp, Temnothorax sp, Brachymyrmex sp.   possibly infertile   :(,  Ponera pennsylvanica, and Pheidole morrisi!  :yahoo: 

 

Other insects: Polistes sp. Queen

                    

Ants I need: Pheidole sp., Trachymyrmex sp., Crematogaster cerasi , Dorymyrmex sp. Most wanted: Pheidole morrisii

 

                    

                   

 

 


#4 Offline CatsnAnts - Posted July 23 2020 - 4:44 AM

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Nice, how big are Pheidole tysoni?


The workers (excluding majors) are the size of Solenopsis molesta, or in other words, extremely tiny. The queen is about the same size as Pheidole bicarinata.


And I definitely thought all of my 5 queens were infertile too. None of them have shed their wings to this day and all seem to be fertile so far. Maybe it’s just this species in particular.

Spoiler

#5 Offline Antkid12 - Posted July 23 2020 - 11:20 AM

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Nice, how big are Pheidole tysoni?


The workers (excluding majors) are the size of Solenopsis molesta, or in other words, extremely tiny. The queen is about the same size as Pheidole bicarinata.


And I definitely thought all of my 5 queens were infertile too. None of them have shed their wings to this day and all seem to be fertile so far. Maybe it’s just this species in particular.

 

Ok, I have some colonies in my backyard.


Ants I have: Tapinoma sessile(2 queen colony). RED MORPH Camponotus neacticus(now has pupae!), Tetramorium immigrans (x3), Aphaenogaster sp, Temnothorax sp, Brachymyrmex sp.   possibly infertile   :(,  Ponera pennsylvanica, and Pheidole morrisi!  :yahoo: 

 

Other insects: Polistes sp. Queen

                    

Ants I need: Pheidole sp., Trachymyrmex sp., Crematogaster cerasi , Dorymyrmex sp. Most wanted: Pheidole morrisii

 

                    

                   

 

 


#6 Offline CheetoLord02 - Posted July 24 2020 - 10:24 PM

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Update 7/25:
After starting this journal, I decided it'd be a good idea to put this queen on heat. She seemed to like it, and just a few hours ago she got her first pupa! It's definitely a worker, which is exciting because it means she's definitely fertile! Hopefully it won't be too horribly long until workers, I can't wait to get these guys started!


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#7 Offline TechAnt - Posted July 24 2020 - 10:35 PM

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Great!
My Ants:
(x1) Campontous semitstaceus ~20 workers, 1 Queen
(x1) Camponotus vicinus ~10 workers, 1 Queen (all black variety)
(x1) Tetramorium immigrans ~100 workers, 1 Queen
(x1) Myrmercocystus mexicanus -1 Queen
(x2) Mymercocystus mimcus -1 Queen
(x1) Mymercocystus testaceus ~45 workers, 1 Queen

#8 Offline AntsDakota - Posted July 25 2020 - 6:41 AM

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Nice, how big are Pheidole tysoni?


The workers (excluding majors) are the size of Solenopsis molesta, or in other words, extremely tiny. The queen is about the same size as Pheidole bicarinata.


And I definitely thought all of my 5 queens were infertile too. None of them have shed their wings to this day and all seem to be fertile so far. Maybe it’s just this species in particular.

 

Ok, I have some colonies in my backyard.

 

There are lots of Pheidole species which match that description. It could be tysoni, but it's unlikely.


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"God made..... all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. (including ants) And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NIV version


#9 Offline CheetoLord02 - Posted July 25 2020 - 8:28 AM

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Well this journal is going to come to an anticlimactic end. Stupid queen died last night. Right after getting her first pupa. I have no idea what went wrong, but she's gone. Mostly it's disappointing because I know I'll most likely never get another one of these queens again. Sorry to bait everyone with the promise of a cool journal, I really would have thought this queen would be successful, but I guess not.


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#10 Offline Spazmops - Posted July 25 2020 - 8:35 AM

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Oh no! That’s a real shame, I was looking forward to reading about her progression. My condolences for your queen. RIP p. Tysoni, 2020-2020


Co-owner and founder of Mountain Myrmeculture and The Menagerie Discord Server

Ants I have:

1 Formica fusca group- 0 workers

1 Tetramorium immigrans colony-20 workers

1 Dorymyrmex insanus- 1 queen, used to have workers

 

1 large P. occidentalis colony- around 50 workers, plenty of brood

 

 


#11 Offline ANTdrew - Posted July 25 2020 - 8:45 AM

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Damn, man. These Myrmecines have a way of getting brood then kicking the bucket.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#12 Offline CatsnAnts - Posted July 25 2020 - 10:27 AM

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Aww, I was looking forward to this journal. Sorry to hear that :(
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Spoiler

#13 Offline TennesseeAnts - Posted July 25 2020 - 10:29 AM

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Aww, I was looking forward to this journal. Sorry to hear that :(

My Ph. tysoni duo has a pupa.


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#14 Offline CatsnAnts - Posted July 25 2020 - 10:40 AM

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Aww, I was looking forward to this journal. Sorry to hear that :(

My Ph. tysoni duo has a pupa.

My three colonies are getting close to the pupal stage - it’s not very warm where I’m keeping them. Make sure to take pictures!
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Spoiler

#15 Offline Antkid12 - Posted July 29 2020 - 4:35 PM

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Nice, how big are Pheidole tysoni?


The workers (excluding majors) are the size of Solenopsis molesta, or in other words, extremely tiny. The queen is about the same size as Pheidole bicarinata.


And I definitely thought all of my 5 queens were infertile too. None of them have shed their wings to this day and all seem to be fertile so far. Maybe it’s just this species in particular.

 

Ok, I have some colonies in my backyard.

 

There are lots of Pheidole species which match that description. It could be tysoni, but it's unlikely.

 

The Pheidole in my backyard are tysoni, they are bright orange and have minors that are the size of Solenopsis molesta.


Edited by Antkid12, July 29 2020 - 4:37 PM.

Ants I have: Tapinoma sessile(2 queen colony). RED MORPH Camponotus neacticus(now has pupae!), Tetramorium immigrans (x3), Aphaenogaster sp, Temnothorax sp, Brachymyrmex sp.   possibly infertile   :(,  Ponera pennsylvanica, and Pheidole morrisi!  :yahoo: 

 

Other insects: Polistes sp. Queen

                    

Ants I need: Pheidole sp., Trachymyrmex sp., Crematogaster cerasi , Dorymyrmex sp. Most wanted: Pheidole morrisii

 

                    

                   

 

 





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