1106 replies to this topic

[TennesseeAnts]

I guess that's only two colonies, but nice video nonetheless.

Three, actually.

[TennesseeAnts]

Update: 12/22/20

 

Prenolepis imparis

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Today I went out into the woods near my house, with the intentions of bringing back a small colony of P. imparis. That's exactly what I did! This new colony has a single queen, 2-3 repletes and 20 or so workers. By the looks of them, this is a second year colony.
 

 

[madbiologist]

Jeez, how far did you have to dig for that??

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[TennesseeAnts]

Jeez, how far did you have to dig for that??

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9-10 inches?

[TennesseeAnts]

I got a new microscope recently, and here are some pics of some ants! My favorite pics so far are the Strumigenys and Formica pics.

Observations · iNaturalist
 

[TennesseeAnts]

Cuz it was 70 degrees today. And it's Tennessee.

Well, right on schedule, Crematogaster ashmeadi started flying last week. I saw a few alates on New Years Day, but not since. Hopefully they keep it up for a while again this season, as I'm itching to get more Crematogaster.

[ANTdrew]

Nice, Dude. I just pulled three Crematogaster queens out of hibernation to start colonies today.

[TennesseeAnts]

Nice, Dude. I just pulled three Crematogaster queens out of hibernation to start colonies today.

I wish you luck! Which species are they?

[ANTdrew]

I’m basically 99% sure they are C. cerasi. I collected them at the same site I always do, but one I found later at a different location.

[TennesseeAnts]

Can you get clear pics of the profile, head and dorsum?

[ANTdrew]

Can you get clear pics of the profile, head and dorsum?

They would just be crappy iPhone 5 photos.

[TennesseeAnts]

Update: 1/5/20

 

Formica pallidefulva

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The queen now has a total of 7 workers, and she seems to have stopped producing brood for the time being. I will be putting them in hibernation for a few weeks starting tomorrow, and I'll take them out sometime in February. If any of you want pics of them, just let me know and I get get some!

 

Formica integra

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Well, unfortunately the second queen and all the workers died in hibernation. The first queen is still alive, though, so I can try to get them back up and running this spring.

 

Camponotus chromaiodes 

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Freya and her workers are still in hibernation, but they should be out by the middle of January. No workers have died thus far, which is always a good sign. They have overwintered about 500 microlarvae, so they should really explode this year!

[TennesseeAnts]

Strumigenys rostrata vid thru the microscope:

[Kaelwizard]

How do you record thru a microscope? Just by putting the camera up to it?

[TennesseeAnts]

How do you record thru a microscope? Just by putting the camera up to it?

Great question, which you answered perfectly on your own!

[Kaelwizard]

 

How do you record thru a microscope? Just by putting the camera up to it?

Great question, which you answered perfectly on your own!

 

I thought I saw that somewhere but it sounded so simple that I wasn't sure. 

[TennesseeAnts]

 

 

How do you record thru a microscope? Just by putting the camera up to it?

Great question, which you answered perfectly on your own!

 

I thought I saw that somewhere but it sounded so simple that I wasn't sure. 

 

I did do some post-production editing, but otherwise that video is how it looked when I took it, lol.

[TennesseeAnts]

Update: 1/11/20

 

Pheidole dentata

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I have been suspecting this for a while now (since late November-ish), but it looks like their queen has died. I wasn't sure though, and didn't want to give false hope to anyone (meaning me), so I haven't updated on them. I am now positive the queen is dead now, which doesn't surprise me much, considering I collected this already mature colony from my yard, and Ph. dentata queens only like like 7-10 years, so she was likely to die this year to begin with. Anyways, they're slowly declining in population, and now only fill up half the test tube that was connected to the Mini Hearth, and have only about 200 workers, most of which are majors, and about 50 larvae and pupae. I would estimate they reached somewhere around 1k workers before the queen died, though, so I'm not mad!

 

Lasius neoniger (duo colony)

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Both queens are alive, with around 15-20 workers now, and lots of brood. They've just laid a batch of about 50 new eggs, on top of the already existing brood (a few pupae, 10 or so growing larvae), which is always great to see. I will be taking some of their brood (next generation, though) to give to my 4-queen group of Lasius claviger, so I don't have to bother with digging up fresh larvae and pupae from wild colonies next month.

 

 

 

Crematogaster lineolata

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Some of you may remember this, but... A few months ago, on a great, 76 degree October afternoon I collected a large colony of Crematogaster lineolata. After I had collected them, I put them away in my incubator to keep dark for a bit. Well, I kinda forgot about them and they lost 5/6ths of their workforce due to dehydration (whoops). They still have about 150-200 workers and a fair amount of brood, which the queen keeps adding to. I'd suspect this queen was from the 2019 flights based on colony size at collection, so she'll be able to re-produce her former workforce within the next few months, like my last colony did when I nearly killed them in that terrible nest I moved them into. 

 

 

 

 

Myrmica cf. incompleta

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They've just been chugging along these past few weeks, and now have 7 or so growing larvae, with one or two nearly ready to pupate, and a new batch of 10 or so eggs. So far they've still got 8 workers, though. Their feeding routine is protein 4 times a week, and sugar every day. They're with my other heat-loving ants, at 84-85 degrees. 

 

 

[TennesseeAnts]

"Camponotus chromaiodes and Camponotus pennsylvanicus (eastern US) are nearly identical, differing only in color, with the anterior edge of the gaster being dark reddish brown in Camponotus chromaiodes. The two species co-occur in Douglasville, Pennsylvania and their ranges overlap, which suggests they are valid species. Specimens in which the mesosoma is red and the head and gaster black, without the reddish brown colored anterior section of the gaster are considered to be C. pennsylvanicus."  

 

Well, I was not aware of this. I knew they were nearly identical, but not so much as to say that the dark-form "C. chromaiodes" are actually C. pennsylvanicus... Well, looks like Freya and her colony is actually C. pennsylvanicus if that's the case. 

 

Source: Camponotus chromaiodes - AntWiki

[madbiologist]

Contrary to what that paper states, dark form Camponotus chromaiodes does exist.

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