387 replies to this topic

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The Myrmica cf. americana queen laid another egg! And the M. punctiventris brood is growing like crazy.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The Myrmica cf. americana queen now has 3 eggs.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

That Myrmica queen laid another egg! She is laying one a day with no signs of stopping! Thanks so much Pumpkin_Loves_Ants! In other news, I gave the M. punctiventris a new test tube yesterday, and they moved in. I think the new one has much better moisture, as they aren't clumped around the cotton but rather spread out comfortably.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

My Tetramorium always seem like they're plotting to escape, but they don't have any kind of master plan or anything, they're just worried about dead bodies being near their colony. 

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Myrmica punctiventris yesterday, soon after moving into the new tube.

 

Myrmica punctiventris today.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

That picture looks great as my icon, especially since it's too small for anyone to be able to tell it was taken on a regular iPhone camera c. 2016.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The colony has 39 workers and 4 queens. One worker was in the outworld when I took this picture. The sum of all the pupae and large larvae is about 20, and there are a bunch of tiny eggs/larvae too.

Edited by Antennal_Scrobe, October 23 2019 - 2:25 PM.

[ANTdrew]

I like that picture a lot.

[NickAnter]

I am so jealous of your Myrmica. I hope I find more next year.

[TennesseeAnts]

Your Myrmica looks more like M. incompleta. (Based on where the bend in the antennae is)

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Your Myrmica looks more like M. incompleta. (Based on where the bend in the antennae is)

No, I have looked at them under a microscope and they are unmistakably M. punctiventris. They are heavily rugose and have very long, curved propodeal spines, neither of which would signify incompleta. This species has a bend in the antenna too, you just can't always see it. This photo from AntWiki is a good example: https://www.antwiki....28_dorsal_1.jpg.

[TennesseeAnts]

Ah. Must just be the photos.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The Myrmica cf. americana queen laid another egg today.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

My Aeacus nest came today, and it is very nice, possibly the best formicarium I have seen so far. I hooked it up to the Myrmica setup, and while they explored it, they have not moved in yet, and probably won't until after they're done with that cricket I gave them. One of the Myrmica workers died yesterday, probably of old age.

Edited by Antennal_Scrobe, October 25 2019 - 2:46 PM.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

I am so jealous of your Myrmica. I hope I find more next year.

Which species do you find?

[Mdrogun]

Always amazed by how many Myrmica spp. you guys get up in Wisconsin. I don't know if my area is just locally lacking in Myrmica but I am very, very lucky to find even the more common species.

[NickAnter]

I am so jealous of your Myrmica. I hope I find more next year.

Which species do you find?

I think I found tahoensis in the Eastern Sierras. Gonna try even harder next year we go.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Always amazed by how many Myrmica spp. you guys get up in Wisconsin. I don't know if my area is just locally lacking in Myrmica but I am very, very lucky to find even the more common species.

Myrmica are actually uncommon where I live as well; I need to explore a forest or nature area to find them. In northern Wisconsin where there are no Tetramorium they are everywhere, even living in the sidewalk!

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Speaking of northern Wisconsin, I need to go back there next summer to find Myrmica, now that I like them and know about them. I especially want some of those tiny red cf. fracticornis queens I saw foraging.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

A while ago I released the Lasius aphidicola; the queen was infertile and her brood never got past the tiny larva stage, despite there being heaps of it. Today however I caught two queens of the same species under rocks! I don't think they need hosts until the spring. I also gave my Temnothorax longispinosus colony to Pumpkin_Loves_Ants; go check out his videos of them in his "Lasius Enjoying Honey" thread.