24 replies to this topic

[NickAnter]

I only caught one of these queens next to a parasitic Formica trail, trying to dig under a rock. She is a little skinny, so when we get home, I will give her some honey. I never witnessed a nuptial flight, so IDK if this is a straggler, or an early bird. Hopefully the latter. As wih all the queens I catch here, I hope she survives hibernation.

Edited by NickAnter, September 17 2021 - 3:37 PM.

[NickAnter]

I caught another one this morning. It appears as though they fly very early in the morning, as I only found one, and she was a dealate.

[ponerinecat]

I caught another one this morning. It appears as though they fly very early in the morning, as I only found one, and she was a dealate.

I've only ever seen formica flying in the morning.

[NickAnter]

Oh, okay. I know very little about Formica nuptial flights. The first queen I had found, I ignorantly presumed that she flew with the Lasius. Well, good to know for next year.

[NickAnter]

One queen died. Other one is looking fine.

[NickAnter]

Both dead. Discontinued.

[NickAnter]

Hopefully I will find more of these soon. I will be heading to the sierras on the 9th of August, so, with any luck, I will be able to find more queens of this species!

[ANTdrew]

They’re fun ants. I hope you find some.

[NickAnter]

Thanks!

 

I got to see some huge nests in the wild, so I know they get huge colonies too, and they are super active too, from what I observed. I would also like the formica there which nest on the prarie like cow pastures. Like giant lasius mounds, the kind you see pictures of from the UK.

[AntsDakota]

I got to see some huge nests in the wild, so I know they get huge colonies too

How huge?

[ANTdrew]

My colony seems to have plateaued at around 40 workers. I really hope the queen will lay another batch of eggs, but maybe she’s done for the season? They keep taking protein, so I don’t know what’s going on with them, honestly.

[AntsDakota]

My colony seems to have plateaued at around 40 workers. I really hope the queen will lay another batch of eggs, but maybe she’s done for the season? They keep taking protein, so I don’t know what’s going on with them, honestly.

Formica are weird too, in my experience.

[NickAnter]

 

I got to see some huge nests in the wild, so I know they get huge colonies too

How huge?

 

The biggest one that I saw had like 15 nest entrances, all at least 10 inches apart. Thousands of workers.

[NickAnter]

Attempt #2!
I found a queen of what I think is the same species, but only gauranteed to be in the fusca group. She was rather thin, so I fed her some of my sugar-honey-water mixture that every ant seems to love. She happily drank it. Hopefully she will not succumb to the dreaded yellow mold as the other queens did. They must have flown quite recently, I saw a sadly dead queen under a rock, but it was not thin, so can't have been under that rock for a while. Hopefully I can find some more soon!

[NickAnter]

There is a photo of her, didn't want to use a very bright light since she is rather skittish.

[NickAnter]

Well I have great news for this journal!

A: The first queen has 2 eggs!

B: I caught a queen of a bicolored species! Sadly I squished the pupae she had under the rock, but I have fed her some sugar water, so she is nice and plump again.

C: I have caught 3 more queens of the original sp.! One has a pretty severely damaged gaster, so it may not survive. The other two I found under separate rocks this morning. I put them together in a tube, and they were a tad agressive, so I put them in the fridge for a bit, and now they are cooperating well!

[ANTdrew]

Awesome! I found a queen on the 9th as well. Are you finding these in the Sierras?

[NickAnter]

Nice ANTdrew! Yes, I have found all these in the same place in the Sierras.

[NickAnter]

We have eggs!!

 

*Last week, the first queen laid eggs, and a couple days ago she got a tiny larva, and then proceeded to eat everything.

 

The pair of queens has 4 eggs, and I suspect they will lay more. One looks like it is starting to hatch already. They go from egg to larva extremely quickly it would seem.

 

The bicolored queen, which I am now thinking is aerata, has 3 eggs. I am hoping that she manages to succeed, I have wanted francoeuri for some time, and this species is somewhat similar, if more bicolored. Anyway, that is about all for now!

Edited by NickAnter, August 21 2021 - 11:27 AM.

[NickAnter]

We have 2 pupae with the duo group! We also have large larvae with the cf. aerata. The damaged gaster queen died, and the single, OG queen has no brood and appears to be doing poorly. Pictures are pretty much impossible, since they get pretty freaked out with any bright lights. The aerata is by far worse than the cf. argentea.