8 replies to this topic

[NicholasP]

Hooray! I finally have Pogonomyrmex! Last year I captured 3 Pogonomyrmex Rugosus queens in total and sadly they all died. But, I have tried everything to get some Pogonomyrmex and I've finally been able to! I went to a mountain south of Tucson this week on Sunday and caught 1 Camponotus Festinatus colony! And the week before that I found another Campontous Festinatus colony. I then knew that I bit off more then I could chew and I had to get rid of one of my colonies. So I just today traded 1 of the Camponotus Festinatus colonies for a large Pogonmyrmex Occidentalis colony that were raised from queen by someone up North in AZ and then the person up North traded with the person that I traded with that is from Tucson. And so then I traded one of the Festinatus colonies I had for 1 of the Pogonomyrmex Occidentalis colonies. I know what I just said is confusing because trust me even for me what I just said is confusing. But the point is I now have a Pogonomyrmex Occidentalis colony! I'm very excited to see how they grow! In a few days I'll release a journal on the Camponotus Festinatus colony I kept!

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Edited by NicholasP, January 4 2022 - 6:57 PM.

[NicholasP]

Today I liked to startup my Pogonomyrmex Occidentalis journal but with a special guest! This journal will be about my adventures with my budding Pogonomyrmex Occidentalis colony and my humble little Pogonomyrmex Rugosus queen!

 

So, let's get to what happened to my old Pogonomyrmex Occidentalis colony. Everything was going well and I moved them to a new nest and then the troubles occured. The water tower in their nest had a small hole that was punctured in it during the process of building it but I didn't notice until my Pogonomyrmex went in there. Unfortuantley their old nest I wouldn't be able to use anymore for certain reasons. So I tried to keep them hydrated as well as I could. I went on a trip for a week and found most of the colony dead including the queen. This was pretty sad to me since it was my first Pogonomyrmex Occidentalis colony but little did I know that in a few months I would get a new Occidentalis colony. A few months later in a trade with a friend I managed to trade some Novomessor colony's with 1-2 nanitics for a Myrmecocystus Navajo queen and a Pogonomyrmex Occidentalis colony! They were doing great at first but then they took a small stumble in their growth because I thought that if they went without seeds for a week they'd be fine. I was very much wrong. They didn't want to touch the crickets I gave them. So then I decided I had to take matters into my own hands. I went to Ace Hardware to buy some sunflower seeds and deshelled some when I got home. I put a tiny piece in and they went "nuts" over them! They instantly picked one up and brought it over to the brood and the other 5 workers followed suit. So finally they began taking my crickets again, the larvae stopped dying and were developing quickly, and the queen laid an absurd amount of eggs for just 6 workers. In total the queen layed around 26 eggs!

 

Now, lets get to the Pogonomyrmex Rugosus queen! I caught her sometime in July or August this year after a gustnado or an actual very small tornado passed through my street. I caught by the end of August around 5. All had laid eggs but only one layed them and managed to keep them alive. The others ate theirs and died. This queen had a rough start. I don't know if it's just that my area is home to semi claustral Pogonomyrmex Rugosus but her eggs didn't develop until I gave her a cricket. To this day I'm still baffled as to why it seems like my Pogonomyrmex Rugosus in my area seem to be semi claustral when it is said through multiple ant keepers I've spoken to that Rugosus are fully claustral. But, That's besides the point. Today she has 2 big larvae that are close to pupation and 2 eggs. She's been a very nice ant queen to keep and is very calm even with vibrations.

 

These pictures are from the colonies today.

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Edited by NicholasP, January 4 2022 - 6:57 PM.

[NicholasP]

Tis been a long time since I posted here. So, I will update you guys on what's going on with these colonies!

 

The rugosus queen unfortunately was having problems with her larvae not developing and basically staying alive but a deflated version of alive. I'm not sure if this has ever happened to other Pogonomyrmex keepers but I knew I had to do something since over the next few days she was eating all her brood! My loving and caring occidentalis (I know for a fact that the occidentalis want me dead now) allowed me to take a pupa from them for "The Greater Cause" (They fought hard to stop me from taking their pupa) and I donated the pupa to my rugosus queen in hopes that she would care for it and raise it. Well, to my utter dismay she decided to eat it instead and I knew now I had an angry occidentalis colony and a hopeless rugosus queen in my hands. So, yet again I decided to go into the sweet and caring occidentalis' test tube and steal another pupa from them (this time they were boiling with anger and even the queen tried to stop me) and I took that pupa and once again gave it to the rugosus queen with some seeds so the darn rugosus queen doesn't eat the poor pupa again. Fast forward a week I saw the most amazing and most terrifying sight in my life. Occidentalis rage beyond belief with them having only 1 pupa but at least several larvae and over a dozen eggs. But! I saw that the rugosus queen was lovingly caring for her new worker. I watched them for a few minutes seeing how the worker would move around the eggs the queen had and the queen would clean the worker. It was a very heartwarming experience...

 

Over the next 2 weeks the queen laid over a dozen eggs and had 3 larvae. Unfortunately, there test tube went dry so I moved them into a petri nest where it would be easier to hydrate... and... I literally dropped on the floor 3/4 of the queen's eggs.   Worst part was it was white carpet so there's no chance of finding her eggs ever again. luckily though, her larvae made it. The occidentalis colony has been struggling a little bit with worker deaths since I stole their pupae but are quickly recovering having their first full size worker (or at least bigger than the others!).

 

So, that's the story of my (Pog)onomyrmex and their feud! Later today I will put up pictures of them!

[NicholasP]

Hello again Formiculturians! I've finally moved to Michigan and have an update on my P. occidentalis! They're doing great! I'm so glad they survived the trip as the temperatures outside dropped down into the 30s in certain places. I'm a little busy for a few days as I'm exploring my area and mapping out any ant species and animals, I find around me, but I wanted to leave this update to not leave you guys in the dark on these ants! Here's a brood update. They have 5 pupae, one of which is much bigger than the others. They have 12 larvae of all sizes and they have around 6-7 eggs. Worker count right now is 7 workers. I can't wait to see how fast these ants will get to a suitable size for alates and I hope to bring you guys along with me on this wild adventure of my (Pog)onomyrmex occidentalis!

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Edited by NicholasP, April 8 2022 - 7:45 PM.

[NicholasP]

I just wanted to quickly add that the pictures are blurrier than what they actually are. I'm hoping this is just on my side. If it isn't though and you can see it too let me know please!

[NicholasP]

So. The occidentalis aren't doing great. They're being moved to an experimental founding nest since they're too big for their current test tube now too. Hope that they make it.

[Locness]

Damn that's a lot of ups and downs. Was the week without seeds an experiment to see if they'd take crickets instead? What are you feeding them now and what temp do you have them at? I don't own occidentalis, but I have californicus and the queen has not stopped producing with just dandelion seeds and consistent heat.

[NicholasP]

Damn that's a lot of ups and downs. Was the week without seeds an experiment to see if they'd take crickets instead? What are you feeding them now and what temp do you have them at? I don't own occidentalis, but I have californicus and the queen has not stopped producing with just dandelion seeds and consistent heat.

They had dieoffs when I moved. The cold from times we were loading stuff up in the trailer was enough to kill some workers trying to keep the queen warm. From there it's been a roller coaster of ups and downs. I'm now spamming them with heat and I'm also using red runner roaches since crickets aren't something I breed. They love the red runners.

[NicholasP]

I'm sorry Ya'll. I just found the queen dead today. I'm really sad that they died since I tried so hard to get them to grow but they just wouldn't. I've never had success with Pogonomyrmex for some reason. But I can always get a new colony. I have more funds than ever before. And I've got more nests than ever before lol. I'm overflowing with them. I'll update on this if I find a Pogonomyrmex occidentalis seller with them in stock. Until then, auf wiedersehen!