1116 replies to this topic

[TennesseeAnts]

Various Camponotus sp. queens from this Spring's flights:

 

 

 

 

 

In total, I collected between 170 and 200 Camponotus queens from 4/9 to 4/17 and have sold 130-150 so far. I'm going to update my shop thread with the new listings once I collect 30-40 more from founding cells tomorrow. I've got one bulk order to fulfill before I add anything to my personal shop. 

Edited by TennesseeAnts, April 30 2023 - 5:54 PM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Alright, so basically the badius never did anything, and the workers all died. Currently trying to re-found the queen.

The Trachymyrmex, though...



The Solenopsis xyloni colony is probably in the ballpark of 10,000 workers now, and I can no longer afford to feed them insects. They are on a diet of mice and frogs now.

Edited by TennesseeAnts, August 1 2023 - 10:03 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Hey! You’re back!

[Jonathan5608]

Alright, so basically the badius never did anything, and the workers all died. Currently trying to re-found the queen.

The Trachymyrmex, though...

20230801_125442.jpg

The Solenopsis xyloni colony is probably in the ballpark of 10,000 workers now, and I can no longer afford to feed them insects. They are on a diet of mice and frogs now.

have u seen any trachy flights recently

Edited by Jonathan5608, August 1 2023 - 1:09 PM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Alright, so basically the badius never did anything, and the workers all died. Currently trying to re-found the queen.

The Trachymyrmex, though...

20230801_125442.jpg

The Solenopsis xyloni colony is probably in the ballpark of 10,000 workers now, and I can no longer afford to feed them insects. They are on a diet of mice and frogs now.

have u seen any trachy flights recently

Not this year. It's been a weird year for flights.

Alright, so basically the badius never did anything, and the workers all died. Currently trying to re-found the queen.

The Trachymyrmex, though...

20230801_125442.jpg

The Solenopsis xyloni colony is probably in the ballpark of 10,000 workers now, and I can no longer afford to feed them insects. They are on a diet of mice and frogs now.

have u seen any trachy flights recently

[DRpepper]

Update your journal please

[TennesseeAnts]

Everything except the Trachymyrmex and Pheidole morrisii is dead. I just brought the Trachymyrmex out of hibernation and their gardens are growing. They've got to be around 300 workers strong, which is incredible since they started with 30 or so in the spring.

[TennesseeAnts]

The Trachymyrmex colony is still chugging along. Probably in the 5-600 worker range now. Unfortunately they've already reduced their fungus to pellets for hibernation, so hopefully they can hold out a couple more weeks until I can actually properly hibernate them.

I have a new baby S. xyloni colony, which was neglected for a few months but are back on track now. They've got maybe 20-ish workers and a decent brood pile. I'm excited to see how they do this winter.

I also have a new Pheidole morrisii colony on the way, courtesy of Stateside Ants. I'll post some pictures of them once they arrive.

[TennesseeAnts]

[RushmoreAnts]

Great to see you again!

[ANTdrew]

Welcome back!

[TennesseeAnts]

Alright, well we've had a strange development concerning the Trachymyrmex colony. They've seemingly started building their garden again, which is very odd for this time of year. I noticed some workers carrying bits of old flowers and leaves from the outworld into the nest chamber yesterday, so out of curiosity I gave them a whole rose. They've used about a quarter of it so far, and they've grown their pellets into 4 dime-sized gardens. I guess we'll see if they actually skip diapause this year 😂

[ANTdrew]

Record high temps have confused many organisms.

[TennesseeAnts]

Record high temps have confused many organisms.

I won't complain! This extra nice weather we're getting in the mid south has prolonged our growing season just a little bit and has allowed my prickly pears to fully ripen 😂

[TennesseeAnts]

Update:

I've killed everything again. Whoops! So, I've restarted with a couple of baby Camponotus colonies. I'm hoping since these are relatively low maintenance species, I can keep up with them through the insanity of life recently. My plan is to move this C. castaneus into a THA Fallen Fortress in a few weeks once this batch of brood matures into adult workers. That should give them plenty of room to grow a bit without me having to worry much about it. I have high hopes for this colony, so I'm praying I don't forget to water these ones...

Edited by TennesseeAnts, November 14 2025 - 9:19 PM.

[ANTdrew]

You’re back!

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

Update:

I've killed everything again. Whoops! So, I've restarted with a couple of baby Camponotus colonies. I'm hoping since these are relatively low maintenance species, I can keep up with them through the insanity of life recently. My plan is to move this C. castaneus into a THA Fallen Fortress in a few weeks once this batch of brood matures into adult workers. That should give them plenty of room to grow a bit without me having to worry much about it. I have high hopes for this colony, so I'm praying I don't forget to water these ones...

 

I really like how you say "I've killed everything again. Whoops!" 

 

It's a very funny way of saying i've killed  my ants again in a way that makes it seem that it happens often!                  Waaaait..... Don't tell me you kill your ants often 

 

 

(Also is it just me or does the PVA sponge look kinda dry.....)