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Nathant's Myrmica cf. rubra Journal (Updated 6/10/17) (Discontinued)


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#1 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted June 4 2017 - 2:44 PM

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6/4/17

On 6/4/17, I found a wandering Myrmica cf. rubra queen on the Plum Island beach, MA. It was in between the beach sand and a vegetated area. No wonder that I found the queen here, as the invasive M. rubra have spread dramatically on the coast of New England.

ID thread: http://www.formicult...317/#entry62978

As she switched collection containers a couple times, I finally moved her to a semi-claustral setup earlier today. Here is her glass 16 x 125 mm test tube setup:

MXwTL5Z.jpg

As you can see, there is a piece of straw under the cotton bung, so she can exit the tube to forage yet also feel nice and cozy in her test tube:

zFCoIHe.jpg

Aom7T3v.jpg

I then coated an outworld with some Byformica Fluon:

Outworld: https://www.amazon.c...ss food storage

83UbnLt.jpg

I placed the tube in the outworld, and on the heating cable the outworld went:

Heating cable: https://www.amazon.c...epti heat cable

Wbnb3Of.jpg

I placed a plastic petri dish down with a few drops of Sunburst Ant Nectar:

LGZdPI8.jpg

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At the moment, the queen is doing well. She is sure liking the wet cotton, sticking herself right on it. She is in the light for the most part, but nothing bright. The next update will be if she lays eggs or starts going on a little antyboo expedition in her outworld. I am planning on giving her a small mealworm ont he petri dish. I am not sure however, if they will forage if they don't have larvae, or need a sugar source at this founding stage.


Edited by Nathant2131, June 10 2017 - 4:50 AM.

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#2 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted June 4 2017 - 3:05 PM

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What do you guys think I should do to spice up the outworld? Looks kinda sad and miserable right now.



#3 Offline Goldsystem - Posted June 4 2017 - 6:52 PM

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You could add a sanded base

#4 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted June 4 2017 - 6:57 PM

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You could add a sanded base

That's what I was thinking of.



#5 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted June 6 2017 - 4:00 PM

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6/6/17

 

On 6/5, 2:46 PM, I peeked into the outworld and saw that she was outside her tube! She re-entered her tube shortly after however, at about 2:47 PM.

 

Later that day, I checked the outworld again at 7:33 PM to find her out of her tube once again. I was able to catch a good portion of her trip. At 7:43, she climbed on the edge of the petri dish and (I believe) started drinking some sunburst. She stopped at 7:47, and went into her tube at 7:50. Her pace when exploring is nice and easy; Explore a bit, settle down and stop for a while, repeat. 

 

At roughly 10:05 PM that same day, I also found her in the outworld, but didn't bother to look any longer.

 

Today (6/6) I have found her in the outworld a few times already. I may feed her a small mealworm soon. She does not appear to have eggs yet.



#6 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted June 7 2017 - 2:56 AM

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6/7/17

Well... I look in the outworld this morning (6/7) and she is not there. She must have found a weakness in the fluon barrier, and managed to find a crack in the loose-fitting lid.

Hopeful me opened up the lid a crack hoping she'll find her way back. I looked for a bit in my room but nothing.

So, I'll catch you, if you don't come back! Even if you're in my bed... :cold:

Edited by Nathant2131, June 7 2017 - 2:59 AM.


#7 Offline noebl1 - Posted June 7 2017 - 4:54 AM

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argh sorry to hear that :(



#8 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted June 10 2017 - 4:49 AM

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6/10/17

 

I still haven't found her. This journal  ended as soon as it started.  :/  :lol:



#9 Offline AntsOnTheCoast - Posted June 16 2017 - 1:11 AM

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Really unfortunate :[

 

Did you give her enough privacy? Maybe she got stressed. Anyways, she could be happily staying in her new home with an army of her daughters to look after her :]


66pZAa4.png


#10 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted June 16 2017 - 2:05 AM

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Really unfortunate :[

Did you give her enough privacy? Maybe she got stressed. Anyways, she could be happily staying in her new home with an army of her daughters to look after her :]


Something was off with this queen and she was constantly in the outworld, so maybe she couldn't adjust to her new home before escaping.




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