665 replies to this topic

[FeedTheAnts]

 

I hate to admit this, but your colony is probably larger than mine now. The Valentines have had a massive die off in the last week, combined with escapes. They're still huge, but probably not more than 3000 strong now. The worst part is that when they escaped then some rouge workers killed my Formica subsericea colony by entering through the crack in their mini hearth (Cremas could fit through, but not Formica). 

Oh wow... That sucks....

 

Ya... I'm waiting on pins and needles for my Nucleus to come. They need a new nest and outworld. I suspect that the Hybrid Nest is stagnated or something, and that could be the cause of so many deaths.

[ANTdrew]

Damn, that really sucks. #CrematogasterKeeperProblems

[Boog]

Nice new outworld space for your colony adds some new observation experiences I find! As our colonies grow I think adding several similar outworlds with connected nests looks cool and will give the ants some needed surface area.

[ANTdrew]

Update 6-25-2020

 

Big update here, so I'll cut straight to the chase: Sigyn has her first male alate! I was observing the ants in the foraging area of their Nucleus last night when I suddenly saw the male milling about their feeding dish! I'm blown away to see them reach this point after starting from a single queen. I'm intrigued to see a male show up so early in the season since their flights don't happen for another two months at least. I wonder if this is a one off, or if I'll see more?

 

 

 

One annoying habit they started this week was hanging out in the tubing connecting the Nucleus with their desert outpost. Really girls? You have a $150 Nucleus, but you prefer vinyl tubing? Whatever... I'm calling this Myrmy's Law, the fact that ants will always do the opposite of what you want them to do.

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Edited by ANTdrew, March 2 2021 - 9:30 AM.

[AntsDakota]

I'm calling this Myrmy's Law, the fact that ants will always do the opposite of what you want them to do.

I have a feeling this is going to become popular in the ant keeping community. I for one am going to use it, starting now.

[Canadant]

And what a handsome gentleman at that!

'Now get out!' Lol. I kid.

Congrats!

[ANTdrew]

Update 7-2-2020

 

 Good news and bad news in this update. I'll start with the positive: my brother's Crematogaster cf ashmeadi queen just got her first two nanitics. I'll head over to his apartment today to pick them up. It'll be fun to see how this species differs from cerasi - if they are indeed a different species.

 I also saw a male alate up in their desert outpost outworld. I'm not sure if it's the same male or another one, but pretty cool to see, none the less. The bad news is that I also saw a worker get past the horizontal band of Fluon to reach the overhanging rim for the first time. I guess it was kind of naïve, but I was hoping that they wouldn't even be able to make it to the rim, but at least it is stopping them for now. #CrematogasterKeeperProblems

 

Photo time:

 

Beetle juice, beetle juice, beetle juice! Feasting on beetles from my black lighting sessions:

 

Thirsty much?

 

Here is my backyard colony gathering sugary exudates from unopened Campsis radicans flower buds:

 

 

 

 

[Jaredshedr]

What type of sugar do you use in their feeder?

[ANTdrew]

What type of sugar do you use in their feeder?

I use byFormica Sunburst nectar exclusively with these girls.

[NickAnter]

Interesting with the Myrmy's Law, as most of my ants are actually fairly cooperative,especially the Lasius. Except for Pheidole of course. But those are just stubborn in general.

 

Excellent job on rearing them to alates, always an excellent milestone!

[ANTdrew]

Update 7-9-2020

 

Not too much has changed for Sigyn recently, but I tried two new foods for her in the past week. First, after watching a wild colony avidly eating bird droppings a few weeks back, I decided to see how this colony would react. Last Sunday I came across a nice juicy one, so I scooped it up on some foil and put it in her outworld. They definitely seemed interested, but I don't know if they need urea as much as Camponotus do.

 

 

The second feeding experiment was Nurbs' bloodworm soup. I thawed some frozen bloodworms and mixed them with some drops of water in her feeding dish. They were definitely interested, but I had to abort the experiment when several workers got stuck in the soupy mess. I may try again with a much smaller amount, but I don't see this being a staple any time soon.

 

Here is a picture of the male alate again. As far as I know, there is only one at this point, but he must wander around quite a bit. I would, too, if I had 2,500 half sisters, I guess.

 

 

[Kaelwizard]

Do they feed the urea to the larvae or do only the workers eat it?

Also, do you still have your Tetramorium colony?

Edited by Kaelwizard, July 9 2020 - 11:06 AM.

[ANTdrew]

I’m not sure, to be honest.
I sold all my Tetramorium, but I have new queens coming on line any day now.

[Kaelwizard]

I’m not sure, to be honest.
I sold all my Tetramorium, but I have new queens coming on line any day now.

What do you mean “coming on line”? So I take it you sold your very large colony?

Edited by Kaelwizard, July 9 2020 - 11:39 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Sorry, I just mean getting their first workers.

[TennesseeAnts]

Sorry, I just mean getting their first workers.

You sold your Tetramorium mega colony?

[ANTdrew]

Uhh, I’d rather not get into that...

[TennesseeAnts]

Uhh, I’d rather not get into that...

Ahhhh. Okay then.

[ANTdrew]

Update 7-24-2020

 

No escapes for a while, but two serious problems have arisen for Sigyn and her Divas. The biggest issue is a huge grain mite infestation that I've posted about in other threads on here. I still have no clue how they got in there as I freeze all their feeders beforehand, but their whole outworld is crawling with mites now. They've spilled out onto my ant shelves and gotten in to other set ups, like my Formica argentea's dirt box as well.

In desperation, I ordered 12,500 Hypoaspis miles predatory mites from a seller on Amazon called NaturesGoodGuys for $19. If they work, it will be money well spent. I put several tablespoons of the mite-laden substrate in a plastic box I had and put this in their outworld. I'll keep this substrate moist for a few weeks, so they can proliferate and hopefully eliminate the grain mites. If they eliminate my prize colony as well, that won't be the first thing that's gone totally to hell in my life the past few months.

 

The second crisis may be related to the mites somehow because they have conquered the Fluon barrier in the desert outpost. I wonder if millions of dusty mites covering the Fluon is good way to ruin it? By the grace of God, the lid on there is containing them, but feeding them without escapes is going to be a real pain in the a** until I can clean and reapply Fluon. I won't be able to do that with my wife and kids around since it will be a real fiasco.

 

Keeping a massive Crematogaster cerasi colony is very, very difficult.

 

[Antkid12]

Wow, I hope the Hypoaspis mite kill all the grain mites.