153 replies to this topic

[OhNoNotAgain]

EDIT: Acromyrmex versicolor (California native leafcutter (fungus-growing) ant) added on page 5.

Camponotus fragilis ("fraggles"):

After I got my V. pergandei, the southern California seller mentioned how much fun C. fragilis "fraggles" (his term) are. They are also:

• non-stinging (?) or at least supposed to be not very dangerous to keep
• non-hibernating
• large
• with majors
• not too picky about food
• reasonably diurnal

Though I was concerned they would be nocturnal, especially given their very pale yellowish color and all the online descriptions saying they are nocturnal, I was assured they are active during the day (and they are).

MORE NOTES:
I've decided to update this first entry with more notes, sort of summarizing my experiences with my fraggles.

• Fraggles are fast, jittery, nervous, big, and beautiful ants; people really seem to like their light color.
• Fraggles can be picky eaters, but if some learn about a new food, others will learn, too.
• My fraggles ate their brood in their "winter" season, when they were at room temp. Heating made them stop doing that.
• They have a reputation for being more prolific than other Western US Camponotus.
• Once established they still don't like light, but are semi tolerant of it. In a Fortress with no red filter covering they are sticking close to the darkest corners.
• And now I've just learned they cannonball around their outworld SO fast they can hurl themselves right over Fluon or other climbing discouragements. Basically they can "fly" up by sheer momentum. Eek.

FOOD SO FAR (ymmv):

• cut up mealworms
• live fruit flies (though they at first thought they were enemy ants, and threw them out as trash - read the journal)
• cooked lamb, shrimp
• cut up flies
• cut up fly larvae and pupae
• dry bloodworms (not soup)
• other stuff I'm forgetting

----


I believe the queen was captured in 2019 in southern California.

2019.9.28 Fraggles arrive in test tube. About 9 nanitics, queen (pretty small queen, compared to C. sansabeanus, esp. given nanitics are almost the same size as C. sansabeanus), and I think what must have been a small amount of brood.
Installed them into a plastic box with Velcro on the box wall so the test tube doesn't roll around.

This is around when I found a loose worker hiding in an old test tube on the table. I thought it was C. sansabeanus and put her in with the sansabeanus (yeah they do superficially look pretty similar). She was nervous, got near the queen and other workers, and freaked out big time and ran screaming out of there. I figured out she was fragilis and put her into the fragilis outworld, but I think she got stuck in some adhesive and died soon after.

2019.10.1 I get concerned the queen looks like her gaster has some tears/rips in it. I post here on Formiculture.com about it with pics. She still has the markings but months later is doing okay. NOTE: Many of the offspring have the EXACT SAME "rip" markings.



2019.10.3 I noticed the ants do a weird jerky, spasmic movement, especially when startled or the light comes on. No other colony does this.

2019.10.20ish Found a mite in the fragilis tube while feeding mealworm and killed it with tweezers. Freak out for a bit. Hasn't happened since.

Around this time I also got tired of waiting for my heating cable and I ordered a seedling warming mat and thermostat.

2019.10.28 I transferred the fraggles from test tube to a Tarheels mini-hearth (with one of the nestmates set up with water in it). They moved very voluntarily. I hooked up the test tube to tubing that led to the mini-hearth. The fraggles are fast and curious and soon the workers decided to move. The queen eventually lumbered after the rest of them to her new home. There seems to be not a ton of brood - or at least, at the time of transfer it must have been smaller in size.

However, their numbers start exploding in the mini-hearth with seedling heating mat and thermostat set to about 90 degrees F (roughly 32.2 C). I just put the mini-hearth on top of the seedling mat. The mini-hearth is actually not directly in contact because I put some felt pads on the bottom so it doesn't scratch up wood surfaces.

NOTE (copied from V. pergandei journal): I did finally also get the heating cable, very delayed. I found it awkward and frustrating. Since it can't come within a couple inches of itself and the Amazon reviews are full of warnings about spontaneous combustion, plus it would be harder to hold a thermostat to it, I decided the seedling heating mat was indeed a better option for my situation where I have limited real estate. The heating mat plus thermostat combo works pretty well in my opinion. (In fact I have two sets now.)

They have an Ant Nectar feeder in the outworld and their staple food is cut up mealworm, feeding with increasing frequency as their numbers increase.

2019.11.10 I text seller a pic of queen in mini-hearth with over a dozen fat larvae and/or pupae about the size of rice grains. One pupa is extra large.

2019.12.4 Fraggles have acquired some kind of major or median worker. She is larger than the others.
I give them a live mini mealworm and the major's job apparently was to hang back and let the smaller workers handle it. The queen also stays away, in contrast to C. sansabeanus where the huge queen is the most aggressive of all of them and would march over and attack big time.

Even more brood.

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, March 22 2023 - 5:35 PM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

2020.1.3ish Fragilis are doing well. They have a huge pile of brood that looks like a big spoonful of dried out yellowy rice, plus the translucent eggs and smaller larvae. They seem to really like shrimp and freshly cooked lamb (leftover lamb not so much). Their staple is still mealworms though.

 

Their trash pile is right alongside the glass near the internal water tower of the mini-hearth. It has been rotting and turning into blackish detritus. They don't seem to mind.

 

Fraggles are fast, active, and their foragers are always trying to escape. They seem to be good climbers.

 

2020.1.6 I am trying to set up an Uncle Milton to take to an elementary school. I painstakingly capture two (later one more) C. fragilis and put them into the Uncle Milton. All they do is sit still and lurk near the top opening, waiting for a chance to escape. They show no interest in exploring.

 

Fragilis gaster drumming/tapping. I also was surprised to discover some of the workers tapping their gasters rapidly against the mini-hearth outworld. In fact one of them did it right up next to the ventilation on the ceiling where there are excellent acoustics, creating a sound like knocking on a guitar or other hollow instrument. I wonder if the weird spasms are related to the gaster tapping.

 

Next day the three fraggles have escaped the Uncle Milton, never to be seen again. Apparently I hadn't adequately sealed the top lid shut. I order some default Pogonomyrmex workers because fragilis just didn't seem cut out for Uncle Miltons.

 

2020.1.16 Defrosted some leftover lamb, soaked in water, and put in their outworld (I just fed all the colonies). It's got a bunch of fraggles on it now. Lately they seem bored by mealworm.

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, January 16 2020 - 11:46 AM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

2020.1.19 Decided to try to move fraggles to another mini-hearth with lighter outworld sand where I can see them better (experimented by moving one worker to a mini hearth with darker sand, then to a mini hearth with white sand - white sand wins by far). Current outworld sand is same color as ants. Plus they have so much garbage on their window.... (Note: only get mini-hearths with white sand if you are getting these light-colored ants....)

 

Hooked up the two mini-hearths. Moved the nestmate containing water to new one. Put new mini-hearth on heating mat (old one is no longer on the heating mat). Put red filter on the new one. Put a bright LED lantern next to the old mini-hearth.

 

It always amazes me how fast fraggles are at exploring. They are brave, curious, and move quickly without hesitation. Except when put into an Uncle Milton, where they freeze up and wait to escape.

 

 

Four or something hours later I come back and they are all moved to their shiny new mini-hearth. Except for two gluttonous stragglers who were eating bits of mealworm. One was in the outworld, her body deep inside the hollowed out mealworm. I was going to pick up the whole thing, but the movement made her leave her edible sleeping bag and she ran into the nest and found it empty. You could practically hear her freaking out. "Where is everyone?!" After a few false starts she went into the connecting tube and I dumped her into the new outworld. Late ant: "Where am I? What happened? Where is this?" Other ants: "What are you freaking out about?"

 

Here they are all moved in, with no blackened moldy crap all over the window, and ants much more visible in the outworld.

 

 

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, January 19 2020 - 5:14 PM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

2020.1.28 Today was their second and last excursion to school for some presentations to grades 1-3. They were one of the best ants to bring, as they have the cocoons and they are visible through the window. The %!@#!!@! Tetramorium built a massive sand mountain on their water tower and moved their brood behind it, making it impossible to see them, but fraggles keep their brood on the floor next to the water tower. The only downside of fraggles is their queen isn't large and impressive, unlike C. sansabeanus (whose queen is nicknamed The Mean Queen, lol). The queen is, in fact, hard to find because she isn't much larger than the workers.

 

I brought them home, gave them back their ant nectar, and gave them a bit of thawed frozen cricket that they totally ignored. No one seems like frozen cricket....

[OhNoNotAgain]

2020.1.31 Nurbs advised me yesterday to keep them off heat until spring, so I'll do that.

They are really quirky ants. Sometimes I find a ton of them wandering around, then I open the lid to put in something and they all freak and most of them disappear.

 

Also I love the gaster tapping. I'm going to see how to get them to do that more consistently. I do have a video of gaster tapping but can't attach it just like a photo.

 

Later edit:

I took this photo earlier and they've formed a big clump, like a wall, above the water tower. Their gasters look fat to me, so as much as I worry about their protein I guess they are pretty well-fed. Also just a few minutes ago I walked into the room and a horde of fraggles zerged out of the nest into the outworld and most of them started trying to climb up the wall. It looked like a concerted effort, like someone had recruited a scouting party and THIS TIME FOR SURE they thought they would get out and go exploring outside. Sigh.

 

 

Attached Images

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Edited by OhNoNotAgain, January 31 2020 - 10:51 PM.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Man, they look awesome! They kind of look like albino Camponotus!

[NickAnter]

Gorgeous colony. Going to try to find some myseld this year. What I really want is absquatulator, as the are even more pale.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

woah, that would be a sight to see

[AntsDakota]

They all look like callows.....

[ForestDragon]

They all look like callows....

 

i know right these are some gorgeous ants, if they are this pale callows must be INVISIBLE

[OhNoNotAgain]

2020.2.8 

Today sucked for many reasons but at least I gave the fraggles fresh byFormica Ant Nectar. (I also added a drop to Vero pergandei 2's water, but that's another story.)

A short while later I turned on the lights and yup, the fraggles had noticed. 

Attached Images

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[OhNoNotAgain]

2020.2.9 "EAT WHAT I GIVE YOU, NOT YOUR BROOD!"

Sheesh.

Okay so

1. I got some boiled egg for the first time in ages (I don't usually eat egg for reasons, tho I like egg). Ants had never had it. I gave everyone including fraggles a little tiny piece. Fraggles investigated and left it in outworld and IGNORED it. Forager: "Interesting ... um ... nahhh."

 

2. Shortly after looked in and was intrigued to see fraggles clustered up and doing something in the nest. I thought they were doing something with what looked like brood. Excited, I took a time lapse and realized they were EATING it. (Pic #1) They ripped it into pieces and ate every last bit, with relish. No wonder their gasters are all fat ... maybe they are eating brood! Why are you eating brood and ignoring the food I give you in the outworld?! You guys left the mealworm, you guys left shrimp bits, you guys left the egg yolk behind, too!! WTH!!!

(Also no wonder the brood looks like it has dwindled in number/volume since I turned off the heat....)

 

3. I got annoyed. I took the egg yolk from the outworld and dumped it into the nest, because foragers often ignore food that ants in the nest will actually eat. The egg yolk may have slightly dried out from sitting around ignored in the outworld.

 

4A. One or two ants were interested. Usually 1-2 ants at the yolk. This was the steady state.

 

4B. I put water into the moisture nestmate of the mini-hearth and some water dripped into the nest, even reaching the egg yolk. Suddenly they were drinking water and more interested in the egg yolk (2-3 ants at the yolk). Ants suddenly doing trophallaxis.

 

4C. I put more water into the moisture nestmate. In fact I overdid the water in the nestmate (too slow in closing it off). Suddenly there were:

- ants running out into the outworld, doing lots of things including apparently trying to figure out the byFormica nectar feeder (apparently yesterday's ant was a lone genius)

- ants running around in the nest, possibly moving brood

- ants ignored the egg yolk totally (0 ants at the yolk)

 

4D. The excess water was starting to be absorbed by the mini hearth. Things were calmer. Gradually the egg yolk accumulated ants. You can see the crowd at the egg yolk now. (Pic #2)

 

5. Some time later the yolk has moved and is back to having minor interest (1-2 ants). However, it looks larger than ever probably due to water bloat. I'll see what's left over the next couple days.

 

Apologies for craptastic pics. It's night and I can't find my macro lens and stuff and I took screenshots out of a time lapse etc.

Attached Images

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Edited by OhNoNotAgain, February 9 2020 - 9:38 PM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

2020.2.10

They are again eating brood. I could see them ripping apart a white mini-ant complete with legs. They seem really hungry.

No sign of the boiled egg yolk from yesterday. Found egg yolk in their trash pile which is on their water tower, next to the remaining brood....

I'm sure this isn't what an experienced ant keeper would do, but I put some bits of defrosted lamb INTO the nest directly to bypass the picky foragers.

They are really active in the nest and seem to be eyeing other cocoons as food. Without heat but at low-mid 70's F, maybe brood isn't developing enough to keep them caring for them, but the adults aren't slowing down enough to forage adequately? I dunno. Why are foragers so picky about their protein?

I wish I could've gotten some roaches this weekend but germs got in the way.

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, February 10 2020 - 8:05 PM.

[TheAntGuy]

Really strange behavior, I am not sure how to help but if I think of anything I will be sure to tell you, hope they do okay.

[justanotheramy]

Found egg yolk in their trash pile which is on their water tower, next to the remaining brood....

So they've put their brood on the trash pile?

Is it a hibernation thing? Do they hibernate?

[OhNoNotAgain]

 

Found egg yolk in their trash pile which is on their water tower, next to the remaining brood....

So they've put their brood on the trash pile?

Is it a hibernation thing? Do they hibernate?

 

 

 

Oops didn't see your question. No brood in trash pile ... they are separated by like 2 cm. 

Actually there's not much brood left. Ugh.

 

I'm told they don't hibernate but nurbs strongly suggested taking them off heat. Once I took them off heat is when they changed from increasing brood to consuming brood.

[OhNoNotAgain]

2020.2.22

 

I've been encouraged on Discord to provide fraggles with (1) urea (a Camponotus thing) and (2) a larger outworld than a mini-hearth can provide.

Fraggles have previously seemed uninterested in (1), but today I am doing both (1) and (2).

I hooked up an unused THA outworld to the mini-hearth, and also put in a small piece of bird dropping. I am a bit concerned because the bird was sick and also was taking medication in the last days, but the poop is also a year old at this point. If there is interest on the part of the ants, I'll try sourcing safer bird poop from someone with a healthy pet bird. (The bird I sourced from unfortunately passed on so although I used to have unending quantities of poop, no more....)

 

In the outworld I put a tiny bit of mealworm, a byFormica ant nectar feeder, a few bits of hemp hearts just to see if there's any interest at all, and the small piece of bird poop on a bit of paper towel. So far zero interest in any of those....

 

In the meantime I guess I'm considering getting a THA Fortress for these fraggles. I estimate 70-100 workers right now.

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, February 22 2020 - 6:40 PM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

Oh man, forgot to add about my experiment with feeding blue bottle fly spikes a couple days ago.

I recently got my first ever shipment of blue bottle fly spikes (I'm also preparing to acquire a different type of insectivorous invert). I was hoping they would be soft enough to eat easily (the way fraggles rip apart their own squishy soft brood as if pulling apart taffy).

 

I put one into the nest alive and it crawled around frantically trying to burrow. It eventually died and ants were trying to eat through its skin.

Next I tried cutting one up with tweezers.

Boy they are TOUGH. They actually have a really tough transparent membrane. On the plus side, the ants were interested - at least the ones in the nest. The foragers seem useless as usual.

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, February 22 2020 - 6:46 PM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

2020.2.23

Fraggles seem to have ignored bird poop, piece of mealworm, and nectar in the new, big outworld. On the other hand, maybe because I stuffed the connecting tube into the mini-hearth at the spot closest to their trash pile, they have taken some bits of trash and moved them to the outworld. I guess that's good?

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, February 23 2020 - 11:33 AM.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

progress takes time-especially with Camponotus