84 replies to this topic

[DJoseph98]

Update 8/14/2020

 

So, my favorite and oldest colony has died. My Myrmica colony has finally died.

 

Camponotus nearcticus

           Written 8/12/2020: This colony is awesome! I watched as the workers of this colony overcame their timidity and hunted live fruit flies in their outworld! They also seemed to have developed an odd system: one worker forages and move substrate around in the outworld, while the other two are acting as repletes (very distended gasters with honey water) and caretakers never leaving the nest. This colony also has two more pupae, small larvae and batch of eggs and their queen is very physogastric. Very excited for this colony, since it will hopefully be my first successful Camponotus colony.

Edit 8/14/2020: They have a larger batch of eggs, two large larvae, and still two pupae. Their queens gaster is even larger now, while every worker has a gaster full of liquid. I offered them my new byFormica nectar yesterday and I they drank even more.

 

Crematogaster cf. cerasi

            This colony hasn’t changed much, but their brood pile has doubled in size. They have a ridiculous number of eggs, which didn’t pop up until I set a ton of fruit flies loose in their outworld (I have an exploding population of them). I think they are responding to the food present. I also discovered that this colony really enjoys peanut butter! Otherwise, no news.

 

Crematogaster sp.

            Yesterday I found a medium nuptial flight of Crematogaster. After ignoring four queens, I finally cracked and grabbed one. I placed her in a 20x150mm test tube and fed her honey in the capture vial prior. This will be my back up queen in case my current colony doesn’t survive diapause like last year.

 

Formica cf. pallidefulva

            I checked a few days ago on this queen, and I think I have been disturbing her too much. She had one pupa but much fewer smaller brood. I will leave her in peace and give an update next time.

 

Formica subsericea

            This colony has not been doing well. They haven’t produced any brood at all yet, and they only recently took some honey water I offered them yesterday. They moved out of their test tube and into their vinyl tubing across three inches, so I moved the entire colony into a new 20x150 test tube. It seemed they needed more space, so I thought this would be a good thing until my Mini Hearths get here. They did not seem interested in hunting any live fruit flies when they had the chance, which was disappointing.

Written 8/12/2020: My single Formica subsericea queen had one large larva last I checked. I think I will attempt to combine her with my established colony now. I wanted to wait until I received my Mini Hearth, but she may have her first worker before then and that may complicate things. I know from experience that workers are receptive to new queens, so maybe this will go well. If there is any trouble, I will immediately stop the process and try and rescue what I can.

Edit 8/14/2020: I attempted to combine the two groups by refrigerating the queen for a minute and a worker that was fed a drop of honey water until it was distended. This did not go well. The queen was extremely aggressive with this worker, and I was barely able to save the poor worker. I will not try this again. The worker did not behave aggressively at all to this queen, and my previous experience with this species is that queens were receptive; however, I did find this queen in a very different circumstance than the others. I am not sure if this just disturbed her to a point that will cause failure in her founding. Who knows how things will pan out?

 

Lasius cf. americanus

            The two-queen founding group still only has a very large batch of eggs with several smaller larvae. They don’t seem to like heat as much, so I leave them away from my heating cable. I hope this doesn’t become complicated when nanitics arrive, but they are doing far better than my single queens.

            Both single-queen groups have only a few eggs, so I don’t think they are going to do very well.

 

Myrmica sp.

Over the course of three days, workers walked out of the tube to die, then the queen finally did so, leaving only one worker behind and a lot of brood. Finally, two days ago, the last worker came out to die. There were five pupae, three large larvae, three small larvae, and a small batch of fresh eggs. I think this was a colony failure in response to an absence of fresh live fruit flies for the last couple days or possibly that the three queens I combined did not belong to the same species, leading to a loss of the true fertile queen. It could have also been some other unexplained failure. There was no mold or fungus in their tube or when I observed the deceased workers and queen in test tubes. No other obvious causes that I can determine, but there’s no wishing things back. RIP.

 

Solenopsis molesta

            My two-queen test tube is doing very well. They only have a small bundle of brood, but it is diverse with several pupae or almost-pupae; however, it is hard to get an accurate count since their brood is all white and VERY small. I gave them some eggs that were left from my Myrmica which they devoured.

            My nine-queen group is still alive, but that is all I know. Their cotton plug to the reservoir became dry and they tunneled into it to reach the water. I can’t see any brood, and I can’t see most of the queens. I have no clue at all if their brood will even survive getting tangled in the cotton fibers.

 

Tetramorium immigrans

            Both colonies of Tetramorium immigrans are doing well, though not as well as my Crematogaster colony in terms of worker count or brood. They are always ready to eat whatever I give them and are by far the most efficient live fruit fly hunters (which is surprising considering they can’t climb very well). I am still watching for which one is the stronger colony to be given a Mini Hearth, but for now it is a tie. I may develop a quantitative method of deciding, with overall feel of the colony, to help decide, but I will do say only when the formicaria arrive.

 

My plans once my order is received from Tar Heel Ants (and yes, I ordered the summer package)

THA Mini Hearth XL Type III: Formica subsericea colony

THA Mini Hearth Type III #1: Camponotus nearcticus colony

THA Mini Hearth Type III #2: Crematogaster cf cerasi colony

THA Mini Hearth Type III #3: Formica cf pallidefulva founding queen and brood

THA Mini Hearth Type III #4: Tetramorium immigrans strongest colony

 

[Antkid12]

Nice. Pics?

[DJoseph98]

Nice. Pics?

I'll probably post some way later tonight or midday tomorrow

Edited by DJoseph98, August 14 2020 - 4:15 PM.

[DJoseph98]

Photos

 

Camponotus nearcticus

 

 

Crematogaster cerasi colony

 

 

Crematogaster queen founding

 

 

Formica cf pallidefulva

 

 

Formica subsericea founding queen

 

 

Formica subsericea colony

 

 

Lasius cf americanus Single Queen #1

 

 

Lasius cf americanus Single Queen #2

 

 

Lasius cf americanus Two-Queen

 

 

Solenopsis molesta Nine-Queen Catastrophe

 

 

Solenopsis molesta Two-Queen Group

 

 

Tetramorium immigrans Colony #1

 

 

Tetramorium immigrans Colony #2

 

[DJoseph98]

My Tar Heel Ants Mini Hearth Formicaria have arrived!

 

 

THA Mini Hearth XL Type III: Formica subsericea colony

THA Mini Hearth Type III #1: Camponotus nearcticus colony

THA Mini Hearth Type III #2: Crematogaster cf cerasi colony

THA Mini Hearth Type III #3: Formica cf pallidefulva founding queen and brood

THA Mini Hearth Type III #4: Lasius cf americanus Two-Queen Group (once they have some nanitics)

 

I decided that my Lasius cf americanus Dual-Queen founding group is doing very well so they would be better for the formicaria than my Tetramorium immigrans. Just have to rinse out the formicaria and I'll begin the moving process for the colonies with workers!

[DJoseph98]

Update 8/28/2020

 

Hey everyone, sorry about the long time between updates – it’s getting to be that time of the year where school, work, and having a life all start colliding and competing even more than usual.

So, just a quick update on the context of all of this, I changed my mind on which founding colonies got a mini hearth. Currently in mini hearths are my Formica subsericea (XL), my Crematogaster cf. cerasi, my Tetramorium immigrans colony (second one actually had an issue with moving into a new test tube and died of dehydration), and finally my Camponotus nearcticus. My Formica cf. pallidefulva will not be receiving a mini hearth this year because they are having a very slow start and won’t be able to utilize it as well as my T. immigrans. The last mini hearth will go to my dual queen Lasius cf. americanus once they have about fifteen workers.

 

Camponotus nearcticus

This colony now has five workers, and they seem to be doing better in my Mini Hearth. I used the dump method when they had three workers, and they seemed to be a little uncomfortable with the larger space in the chamber, but it seems that they have grown more comfortable with it. They don’t have any more pupae, but they have a few larger larvae and possibly smaller brood that I can’t see that well just yet.

 

Crematogaster cf. cerasi

This colony has at least twenty workers. They are extremely hungry all the time and there are always at least three workers patrolling the outworld portion of their mini hearth. They seem to really enjoy some thawed crickets that I serve them (gut loaded with apples and fish flakes and thawed with a quick dip in microwaved water). They have a large brood pile and their queen is doing well from what I can tell.

 

Formica cf. pallidefulva

This queen has her first worker! I just saw this yesterday; however, she could have eclosed a few days before this. There are two more large larvae currently, so I am still unsure if I should provide access to a small outworld or continue honey / small insect diet in their tube.

 

Formica cf. subsericea

Changed it to “cf” because I am trying to be more consistent about reporting an identification’s certainty. This colony I have is not really doing well. They mostly just sit on the opposite end from where the heat cable is and sit about the reservoir. No brood that I can tell and the fruit flies I left for them to hunt haven’t diminished.

 

Lasius cf. americanus

So, I am currently waiting on my two-queen group to finally have some workers. They have a ton of brood, at least ten pupae, half as many larvae, and several eggs. I think it should be just a few more days until they have nanitics.

The other two single queen groups only larvae still (with some eggs) though I did not expect them to survive this long. I think I will continue to keep them and try using them as host colonies for parasitic queens.

 

Pheidole cf. bicarinata

Just caught this queen last Saturday (8/22/2020), in the same place (Eastern Kentucky) as the Pheidole spp. queens I caught last summer. After the result with those queens, I won’t make any assumptions about species since I can only do so as an amateur. Monogynous founding, 16x150mm tube, with a little sand. Sand because I pushed the cotton water plug too far, so I needed something to keep her from drowning on the excess.

 

Solenopsis molesta

The two-queen group has some colored pupae right now with some other brood, so it won’t be long before they have nanitics. Nothing else to report.

The est. nine-queen group (estimated because they may be eating each other a little and I can’t tell), is still tunneled in the cotton and seem to be okay. I have no idea how they are functioning, so I guess I won’t know when there will be nanitics until they are running around.

 

Tetramorium immigrans

This colony is doing very well in their mini hearth. Currently, I’d estimate around thirty workers, with plenty more pupae for a 150% increase in the next week. They immediately gather almost every worker to pull food into their little tunnel. It is kind of funny, because every worker will climb on top of a whole cricket, but only a tiny worker is actually pulling it (and successfully). It is always impressive when you see an ant’s strength like this, watching such a small body move something so much larger with so much force. My Crematogaster don’t show this kind of strength and my Camponotus don’t bother moving large meals. Maybe these arboreal ants don’t have the strength that my terrestrial Tetramorium can exhibit on the outworld’s textured flour? They don’t have an especially huge brood pile but I think some workers are holding more larvae or eggs on the wall of their formicarium where I can’t see them as clearly (at least every time I check they are still there).

 

With my finding a Pheidole queen, I have finally hit every genus I want to keep. I would still like to find a Camponotus novaeboracencis queen, but I think I have enough on my hands as it is. Hope everyone is staying healthy and staying sane! As sane as an ant keeper can be at least!

Btw, sorry if I missed anything!

Edited by DJoseph98, August 28 2020 - 6:06 PM.

[DJoseph98]

Just checked on the Lasius cf americanus dual-queen group... First nanitic has arrived, but one of the queens is dead, curled legs, somewhat desiccated. Very odd, but I suppose since the other queen seems perfectly healthy so no problems with me. I also provided my Formica cf. pallidefulva with a small outworld. 

[DJoseph98]

Update 9/5/2020

I made the decision to release my unproductive queen ants. This includes my two Lasius cf. americanus monogynous founding queens and the Crematogaster spp. My Solenopsis molesta nine queen group still hasn’t succeeded, and the two-queen group had all their workers disappear. Since I can’t let this species free near an apartment complex where they could potentially start an infestation, I will have to freeze them. My Pheidole cf. bicarinata queen died as well, covered in white mold. I don’t know what the exact cause was, but I guess that just the dice.

 

Camponotus nearcticus

This colony is doing well, their worker number has gone up to seven! I have once again run out of fruit flies, so I have been attempting to feed them thawed crickets. They only take pieces small enough for one to carry, so they must be cut up. Currently, they have four more pupae and several varying larvae. They have had a greater interest in gathering protein. Their newest workers are significantly stronger looking than the original nanitics, with more obvious coloring difference between gaster, head, and thorax. They are definitely not majors, but I think this a good sign of colony development. I expect maybe fifteen more workers at least before diapause.

Crematogaster cf. cerasi

This colony has at least thirty workers now, with head and thorax being the same coloring and gaster being darkest. I can’t give an exact name to coloring and I don’t think I can catch it with my camera, but it is definitely there on the larger workers. They have become much faster about moving protein items, though I am unsure if this is a response to their need or to the number of available workers. The brood pile is extremely large, with the mass of workers being equal to the mass of brood (approximated visually of course). The picture posted is extremely misleading as to the number and brood size due to camera and lighting limitations, along with a lot of workers storming the outworld in response to the disturbance.

Formica cf. pallidefulva

This founding group has one worker, one pupa, and several small larvae/eggs. The current pupa doesn’t have a cocoon, but I am pretty sure they removed it from one previously. I am deliberately limiting the number of times I check on this colony to once or week or even less. They have an outworld with byFormica liquid, water, and protein available anytime. I have not seen them foraging, but I can’t sit and watch all day.

Formica cf. subsericea

The colony doesn’t have any brood that I can see at all STILL. They did take a piece of cricket, but without brood I don’t know how significant this is. I don’t know what to do for this colony. It might be that the THA Mini Hearth XL is too large for them to be comfortable, so I think I will move them into a test tube once more, and if that doesn’t work after a couple months, I’m sure there will be nothing else to do.

The single queen hasn’t laid a single egg. I have not disturbed her for quite some time, so I do not know what this queen may need, if there is anything I can do. I think I will feed her some honey in case she is just drained of energy.

Lasius cf. americanus

I moved my colony into the THA Mini Hearth, and it only took them a single night to get used to it (though the queen herself needed some encouragement using a cotton ball and a funnel). They established themselves right on top of the reservoir, but the queen is hiding in thee little alcove for the port. I couldn't get a good photo at all since they all start bolting once I let light in, so I didn't bother posting a pic.

 

Tetramorium immigrans

This colony has become very big, very fast. They seem to match my Crematogaster stride for stride, except they show a greater affinity for any food that is placed inside they outworld. They cleared a smear of peanut butter within an hour. Sometimes I accidently flood chambers with water when checking on the ants I have, but the Tetramorium are the only ones who do not freak out to the point of moving brood into the outworld. They just get excited and make a few arrangements to brood allocation, but overall don’t panic. They are the only colony I have that utilize the back wall and some of the ceiling for brood.

 

Currently, I am trying to brainstorm methods for diapause. I have access to two areas for the winter to facilitate the necessary temperatures. The first, would be a closet that reaches as low as 40F (~4.5 C), but can reach up to 65F (~18.3C) when the door is left open for a couple hours. The second matches outdoor conditions (an outdoor storage), has no temperature control, and can reach below freezing in winter; however, when I previously used this space last winter, none of the test tubes froze. The highest temperature it reaches is generally slightly colder than outside temperatures but has insulation so that spikes or drops in temperature are delayed. My colonies were able to survive this area last year, but there is no telling what this winter will be like.

If I overwinter my ants in this colder but less regulated area while they are in their mini hearths, I will have to provide them with something to block their entrances at their discretion. I considered adding a very low concentration salt solution to reduce changes of freezing and improve humidity in cold temperatures, but after doing the calculations I can’t use a safe concentration for the ants and achieve the desired benefits. 

[Kaelwizard]

The Formica probably are just getting ready for hibernation and the single queen probably won’t lay until next year.

[DJoseph98]

The Formica probably are just getting ready for hibernation and the single queen probably won’t lay until next year.

I honestly had not even considered this given that this species is still foraging a lot outside. I removed them from heat, and will get them accustomed to the cooler weather which is kind of starting to move into my area.

[DJoseph98]

Update 9/14/2020

 

Nothing much has changed since the last update. Tested crushed birdseed on my Tetramorium and Crematogaster, provided every colony with some sphagnum moss to plug up entrances to regulate humidity, and have been regularly switching between canned grasshopper, defrosted mealworms, and very young fresh killed mealworms.  

 

Camponotus nearcticus

This colony has ten workers now! I know I said before that I didn't think they had a major yet, but I am not sure anymore. Three sizes of workers, the first being nanitic, the next looking like normal workers, and the last being somewhat larger than the rest with a slightly larger head than the queen, though it still doesn't seem bulky. Current brood includes four or five pupae and some medium sized larvae. This colony doesn't really take protein from the outworld, so I tend to drop very small pieces of grasshoppper or small crushed mealworms into their nest through the entrance. They don't seem to freak out anymore over this and actually seem more pleased when this occurs now. It has resulted in the significant increase in brood and workers, so I will continue this practice until they seem ready for diapause. They don't leave much of anything behind, maybe a small piece of exoskeleton from the grasshopper pieces. 

 

Crematogaster cf. cerasi

This colony has become increasing active in their outworld. It has been becoming steadily more difficult to avoid those little escapees when feeding them or cleaning debris. I tried feeding them some crushed birdseed, which they have not responded too. They are very active on protein, and have a large number of brood. Every worker has a large gaster which I assume is a sign that they are successfully building up food stores for winter. There have been at least two nanitic fatalities (assumed to be natural causes) and two larger worker casualties (accidentally kills from escapes). They have been using the moss to plug up the entrance a bit and above the water resevoir.

 

Formica cf. pallidefulva

This colony ate their only pupae! I don't know why, but it disappeared. They do have four small larvae. I provided some honey which the queen and single worker gorged themselves on as well as a small piece of grasshopper for some protein. No clue if this colony will succeed or not. I probably just freak out my Formica species too much.

 

Formica cf. subsericea

Taking @Kaelwizard 's advice on their need to go into diapause, I am currently leaving these groups off of heat. I am trying to encourage the single queen and the colony to keep consuming honey as much as possible to ensure a successful diapause so they can come back stronger by Spring.

 

Lasius cf. americanus

I don't remember if I mentioned this before, but I am certain by coloring it is either Lasius americanus or Lasius neoniger. I won't bother with identifying further than this. They currently have eight workers with as many pupae, and also have some other brood though I can't count it fast enough before they truly start to freak out. I drop small pieces of protein for them same as for the Camponotus colony, and they seem to like the byFormica liquid, however workers are so small I can barely see their gasters to tell if they are gorging or tasting.

 

Tetramorium immigrans

This colony has a ridiculous amount of brood! There is by far at least double the number of brood as there are workers, and that is truly saying something. About half is larvae, a third is pupae, and the rest is unidentifiable (probably small larvae and a few eggs). The pile is a centimetre across and spans from the back of the mini hearth nearly to the front glass. They really seem to love the crushed birdseed and I see high worker recruitment for almost any protein added. 

 

Thanks, and stay safe everyone!

[Kaelwizard]

Nearcticus majors don’t look like other Camponotus majors. They look more just like slightly bulkier and fatter workers.

[ANTdrew]

Crematogaster don’t accept any non-animal proteins, seeds included.

[DJoseph98]

Crematogaster don’t accept any non-animal proteins, seeds included.

I guess I assumed that such a fast growing species wouldn't be that picky. Now I'm stuck with a 3 pound bag (the smallest I could get) of bird seed to feed a single colony XD

[DJoseph98]

Photos to go along with last update

 

Camponotus nearcticus -> Most of the workers and pupae were in the back hiding in the shadows.

 

 

 

 

 

Crematogaster cf. cerasi

 

 

 

Lasius cf. americanus -> Queen, young brood, and a few workers hiding in the space for a port.

 

 

 

Tetramorium immigrans -> They have ALOT of larvae on the wall that is difficult to see.

 

 

[Kaelwizard]

Those don't look anything like any nearcticus I have ever seen.

[DJoseph98]

Those don't look anything like any nearcticus I have ever seen.

Honestly I agree with you, but it was my best guess given my region and the queen characteristics. The first couple workers are extremely dark compared to the newer ones like that major; that's discounting the newly eclosed and callow workers, of course. Any ideas on another possible species? I don't have the resources or the time to confirm my identifications, so it is always a headache

[Kaelwizard]

Is C. americanus out of the question? That is the only thing in antmaps for Kentucky that looks remotely similar.

 

Edit: You have a ton of amazing ants there, like Trachymyrmex. Have you ever found them?

Edited by Kaelwizard, September 16 2020 - 6:25 AM.

[DJoseph98]

Is C. americanus out of the question? That is the only thing in antmaps for Kentucky that looks remotely similar.

 

Edit: You have a ton of amazing ants there, like Trachymyrmex. Have you ever found them?

 

I thought C. americanus was generally larger and bulkier with queens that had much more obvious coloring. It could be, but this queen doesn't have a very robust build as Camponotus go in my opinion and was small enough to have space in a 13mm diameter test tube. I don't think I ever measured the queen, but she appears to be about 12 mm in length possible 15 mm  (hard to tell now that she is in the mini hearth). It is probably important to note that the lighting is an extremely strong, bright-white grow bulb that I shine on their outworlds on a timer, so their coloring may be a bit darker than as it appears in the photos.

 

Thanks! I haven't seen any Trachymyrmex. It may be because they are a relatively small species, they're most active when I am usually indoors, or just not in the areas I frequent. I will keep an eye out, but I am not certain about their distribution in this state.

 

Kentucky is pretty diverse in terms of wildlife because the eastern half of Kentucky (low elevation Appalachian mountain range, temperate rain forest, tri-state area, VERY different weather patterns) is so different from the western and central portions (hilly, but relatively flat and open, some forests, less variable weather, etc.).

[Kaelwizard]

I’m honestly surprised how little diversity there is here in Michigan when it comes to ants