95 replies to this topic

[Polyacanthus]

It's been a while since I updated on all the Formica colonies. Right now I have 3 cf. pallidefulva and 1 cf. subsericea colonies from last year in mini hearths. All are around 40 workers with tons of pupae. I connected the test tubes of two of the cf. pallidefulva colonies to the mini hearths so they could move in at their own pace. Despite their test tubes being completely dry they refused to move for months so they finally got dumped in! They don't seem to be worse for wear though.

Here is part of the cf. subsericea colony that was down to only a few workers after being moved to the mini hearth shortly after diapause but has rebounded nicely. Out of frame there are another handful of workers tending larvae over the water tower.

Edited by Polyacanthus, August 11 2021 - 5:53 PM.

[Polyacanthus]

Here is my best tetramorium colony drinking some sugar water. Earlier in the summer I caught a bunch of them and having learned they found colonies together I thought I'd test putting multiple in a tube. Four in this tube, three in another, a couple pairs and a singleton.

This tube that contained the four queens has the most workers and brood by far, and as expected (although not expected so soon), only one queen remains alive.

Edited by Polyacanthus, August 22 2021 - 7:26 PM.

[Polyacanthus]

The Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony that I moved to the mini hearth last year came through diapause with 10 workers and a bunch of larvae. Looks like they will have a good start this year.



I caught way too many of them last spring, but I sold almost all of them through GAN over the winter.

[Polyacanthus]

The crematogaster are ramping up for a productive second season. Anyone know what species these would be? Are cerasi most common in the upper Midwest?

[ANTdrew]

You’d need a microscope to say for sure, but it’s highly likely they are cerasi.

[Polyacanthus]

Just recently I learned that Prenolepis imparis often don't lay eggs their second year and die off. But good news here, looks like we have a bunch of eggs.



This colony has probably 30 workers and two queens. They are in a bifurcated mini hearth which is a little difficult to get a good picture of.

[Polyacanthus]

I have a few Formica pallidefulva colonies in mini hearths. (I don't have to say "cf" anymore since I've confirmed they are pallidefulva.) The other two are doing well but this one has the most impressive pile of pupae going. They got a good start right out of diapause. I just ordered some more mini hearths to add on chambers as they require. I think they have about 80 workers and are about to double here pretty quick.

[Polyacanthus]

Yesterday I was enjoying the unseasonably warm weather on the patio when a tiny winged insect on the concrete caught my eye. I picked it up on my finger and sure enough it looked like a queen ant! I was able to grab a container from the house and collect her. A couple more landed on me soon after, but took off again before I could collect them. This surprised me because I was unaware of anything flying between the P. imparis and the Camponotus which will be after the next rain I think. On the ID thread, Myrmica and Stenamma have been suggested. I've never had either of these before and am not familiar with them at all but after reading up a little bit I'm leaning toward Stenamma. I'll try to get a closer look once she settles down a bit.

[Polyacanthus]

Yesterday as I got back to the office after lunch and stepped out of my car I saw a Camponotus novaeboracensis run past me on the pavement! Pennsylvanicus is common in my neighborhood where I usually catch my queens but I haven't had a novae before and have wanted one, so I was excited to see it. The only container I could think of was in my hand so I dumped out my cherry coke and scooped her up. A coworker sitting in their car totally saw me too. 😆

It was an unseasonably warm day, and it has been unseasonably dry lately too, so I was pretty surprised to see her. I'm 90% sure the Camponotus have not yet flown in my neighborhood about 40mi away. I think they will as soon as it rains. But there was a crew there installing irrigation piping in the ground so hopefully she wasn't displaced from an existing nest.

[Polyacanthus]

I'm not sure what's going on with these Camponotus pennsylvanicus. They came out of diapause with 10 workers and a bunch of larvae. I believe there were about a dozen pupae at one point but all I see is the discarded empty cocoons and no new workers. Still at 10. I don't know if they're killing them or just eating them, or what. Maybe they were unhealthy? Once in a while a worker goes out and forages, but they're never interested in any protein I give them. She keeps laying eggs and they keep developing so at least that's good, just not sure what's going on.



Also, my new phone takes really crummy closeup pictures, unfortunately 🙁

[Polyacanthus]

Great news on the Camponotus pennsylvanicus. Today they had two new workers. A few were out foraging and showed interest in a chunk of cricket. I wonder if the larvae that hung out through diapause weren't viable for some reason and now they're into brood that was started fresh since diapause? Anyway hopefully they are back on track!

Edit 5/26: They have 14 workers and are very interested in food again.

Edited by Polyacanthus, May 26 2022 - 6:50 PM.

[Polyacanthus]

This is a view of my oldest colony, Formica pallidefulva, queen caught about two years ago. Probably 100 workers so far and really taking off this year. There are a few cocoons in there but the vast majority are naked.

Edited by Polyacanthus, May 26 2022 - 6:57 PM.

[Polyacanthus]

My Lasius neoniger and brevicornis/nearcticus have their first workers. Collected these on my back patio last September. Believe it or not they are my first Lasius!

[Polyacanthus]

I was just thinking about all the species I have collected in my yard in the past few years. Aside from oddballs I stumbled across elsewhere like the parking lot at work, everything I've had was from my yard. I don't even live out in the country or anything, just a regular suburban house and yard. They're all pretty common species, but the diversity is interesting. I just think it's cool how many are around once you start observing.

These are all the species I've collected in my yard:

Camponotus nearcticus
Camponotus novaeboracensis
Camponotus pennsylvanicus
Crematogaster cerasi
Formica pallidefulva
Formica pergandei
Formica subsericea
Lasius brevicornis
Lasius claviger
Lasius nearcticus
Lasius neoniger
Prenolepis imparis
Solenopsis molesta
Stenamma sp
Tapinoma sessile
Temnothorax sp
Tetramorium imigrans

[Polyacanthus]

Update on the Formica pallidefulva colonies. I had three of about equal size that I had expanded each into two mini hearths stuck together. I didn't need three colonies of the same species getting out of hand so I sold two of them to a teacher who has them in his classroom.

This spring as they were ramping up production I added two more mini hearth chambers to the colony I kept. I got them with magnetic side foraging areas so that I could just use the chambers themselves as add-ons. I think this mimics their natural nest scheme somewhat.

I have them stacked and only have water in the lower chambers, as it should be drier near the surface. They have a choice of conditions, and interestingly one of the chambers with no water tower is still the most popular for the queen and young brood, while the pupae are piled up in a lower chamber with a water tower.

Once they got started on brood production this spring I noticed they were producing some extra large pupae. They turned out to be alates- all male. I think there will be probably 50 of them. I think the colony population is around 300 at this point? It's hard to say.

Here is a video of them tonight. Best I could do with my phone. They like to congregate on the roof of the chambers which is hard to get on camera.

[Polyacanthus]

The drones are rambunctious in the mornings. By afternoon they settle down and go back inside. It doesn't appear that they've killed any of the drones yet, and there are more yet to eclose.