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NickAnter's Pheidole navigans Journal

Started By NickAnter , Dec 28 2018 8:11 PM

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112 replies to this topic

#81 Offline NickAnter - Posted December 5 2020 - 6:13 PM

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They have a second major pupae, and a ginormous brood pile. They have dug quite far into the cotton, so I am a bit worried. I do have a second colony though, for just that occasion. The second colony is smaller, as I feed them less. Once I download all the files from my phone to my computer, I will be able to take pictures again. The major pupa is orange, so it should be eclosing very soon. They have 40 or more workers. Its very hard to tell with their chamber in the cotton, as I can barely see in there.


  • M_Ants likes this

Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#82 Offline NickAnter - Posted December 9 2020 - 6:30 PM

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Second major has eclosed:

They should double in population soon, all in all doing well. This is my third largest colony, with them having over 40 workers. They have incredible worker recruitment, and are very efficient at dragging large prey items, carrying a subterranean termite up into the test tube within 20 mins. Pretty impressive considering the termite weighs well over 30 times as much as a worker.
  • TennesseeAnts likes this

Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#83 Offline TennesseeAnts - Posted December 9 2020 - 7:50 PM

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Wow! They look healthy so far!


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#84 Offline NickAnter - Posted December 9 2020 - 7:53 PM

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Yes, they are! I hope I can raise them to maturity this time. Hopefully 3rd year will be the charm!


  • TennesseeAnts and ANTdrew like this

Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#85 Offline NickAnter - Posted January 24 2021 - 10:04 AM

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This colony is doing very well. They have at least 60 workers, with many more on the way. They also have 3 majors, with two more on the way. For a relatively small colony, and with such small workers, I did not expect such active ants. Workers are always foraging, and a very good at worker recruitment. They are also incredibly strong, with a single worker managing to drag a subterranean termite many times it's size through a honey droplet. Also, the majors are not too shy, for whenever there is a large prey item such as the aforementioned termite, one will always come out of the nest. Due to the fact that I am still unable to locate my macro lens, no pictures will be posted for now.


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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#86 Offline ANTdrew - Posted January 24 2021 - 10:26 AM

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Haha, probably time to order a new macro lens.
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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.

#87 Offline NickAnter - Posted January 24 2021 - 10:44 AM

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Not giving up yet. :D


Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#88 Offline Kaelwizard - Posted January 24 2021 - 3:32 PM

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Not giving up yet. :D

How do you lose a macro lens? And if you do you'd think it would be easy to find. What do you think happened to it lol? 


#89 Offline NickAnter - Posted January 24 2021 - 3:59 PM

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I found it, it was hanging on my lamp(its a clip on lens for a phone). I put it there, so I in theory couldn't lose it, since I turn the lamp on and off every day. Unless you forget the lens is on it!!!!

 

 

Here are some pictures:

20210124 154819
20210124 154844
20210124 154851

 


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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#90 Offline NickAnter - Posted January 24 2021 - 4:00 PM

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They are not very good, due to the fact that the tube is dirty, and I can't get good lighting, due to the position of the tube in the outworld.


Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#91 Offline ANTdrew - Posted January 24 2021 - 4:21 PM

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I think they’re pretty good.
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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.

#92 Offline Kaelwizard - Posted January 25 2021 - 4:07 AM

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Yeah those are good. I was thinking you meant a macro lens for an actual camera not a clip on for a phone, which I guess would be a lot smaller.


#93 Offline NickAnter - Posted February 8 2021 - 1:44 PM

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This colony is doing incredibly well! They have a massive brood pile with around a hundred pupae alone, with more brood of other stages. They have at least 6 majors as well. Since they have burrowed into the cotton as previously mentioned, and the majors are cowards, it's a bit hard to tell. The colony size is probably around 100 workers, and they never turn down food of any kind. They still have quite a lot of room to grow in their 20mm test tube, and since they seem happy in there, I will not bother with moving them into a formicarium. All in all, I'm very happy with this colony. Never would have thought these would be such fun ants, with their small size, and normally timid nature.


Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#94 Offline NickAnter - Posted February 17 2021 - 2:04 PM

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Here is a video of decent quality, showing them eating a termite.  I have pictures of later, when the swarm of workers got huge, they will be uploaded later.

 


  • TennesseeAnts and UtahAnts like this

Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#95 Offline NickAnter - Posted February 17 2021 - 2:37 PM

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20210217 132927

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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#96 Offline NickAnter - Posted February 17 2021 - 2:38 PM

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that's well over 60 ants in that image, and the overall population is about double that, so my new estimated count is around 120 workers!


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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#97 Offline NickAnter - Posted February 23 2021 - 2:34 PM

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Have about 10 majors now, and at least 150 workers, with a large pile of brood, that never seems to grow smaller or bigger, the queen seems to lay at an exact rate now. Their test tube is beginning to run out of water, and I'm not sure if I want to move them into a formicarium or not when it does.  Thankfully, by my guesses, I've still got over a month to decide. Any thoughts?


  • TennesseeAnts likes this

Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#98 Offline ANTdrew - Posted February 23 2021 - 2:56 PM

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Is the brood warm enough for peak development?
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#99 Offline NickAnter - Posted February 23 2021 - 2:58 PM

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They actually move the brood away from the heating cable, so I would assume so. The brood develops just fine, I just find it interesting how the queen lays at a rate that there is always the same amount of brood in development.


Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#100 Offline NickAnter - Posted March 22 2021 - 4:14 PM

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20210322 155200
20210322 155307
20210322 155245
20210322 155224

 

Today they had their biggest feeding response yet! 100 workers were sent out to greet the mealworm pieces within 5 minutes. They also sent out 8 majors, most of which scattered(Cowards!) when I went to take pictures.

 

In terms of overall population, they have easily breached 200 workers, and still have the same size brood pile. It really is pretty funny in my opinion. Also, they have completely mangled the wet cotton plug, and have dug a small network of tunnels into it. Hopefully Ill come up with a solution soon.


  • TennesseeAnts, ANTdrew and M_Ants like this

Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

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