204 replies to this topic

[AntsExodus]

I had another good haul today! I caught what looks like another Camponotus Chromaidoes founding queen and a huge Camponotus colony in the same log!

 

I do not know this species of Camponotus is black as its head and orange in its abdomen and has a black gaster.They are very beautiful and have not just majors but also super majors!

 

I also saw some Lasius Neoniger and some more Ponera. Haven't seen any Neivamyrmex yet. Also saw some Formica Subserica and some Camponotus Pennsylvanicus.

 

Also this is the 100th post of my journal wo ho!       

Edited by AntsExodus, April 8 2020 - 6:59 PM.

[AntsExodus]

Holy crap I have big news about the new Camponotus colony! They have 2 queens! They also have these super mega majors which are extremely big even looks like they are bigger then their own queens and one is being used as a replete right now! They are so beautiful and this is my dream ant colony right in front of my eyes!

[CheetoLord02]

Sorry to rain on your parade, but Camponotus don't have super majors. Camponotus are polymorphic without any set castes. This means there is a tiny minor size, a big major size, and every other size inbetween, unlike species like Pheidole that have 2 (or 3) specific sizes. A third caste, supermajors, are only defined by a distinct role in the colony, such as Pheidole rhea, which have a minor, a major, and a supermajor. The supermajor is different from the normal majors because they use their oversized heads to block the nest entrances during Neivamyrmex raids, something that the minors don't do, AKA a specialized task. In Camponotus, all of the majors serve the same purpose more or less, meaning they aren't considered to be separate castes. It's a little confusing, but as a rule of thumb just assume most species don't have true supermajors. Even in Pheidole as I mentioned before, only 7 species are known to have supermajors out of the 1000+ species.

Either way, polygynous Camponotus are an amazing find, and if they've got max-sized majors that's even better. Good luck with that colony, they'll be a ton of fun to keep!

[CheetoLord02]

Sounds like you found Pachycondyla harpax.

Honestly, I have my doubts. The only Pachycondyla record in Georgia seems fishy based on the rest of their distribution. On the other hand. Brachyponera chinensis is all over the northern half of Georgia and is commonly mistaken for Ponera or Hypoponera. Maybe would be wise to look into it.

[Ferox_Formicae]

 

Sounds like you found Pachycondyla harpax.

Honestly, I have my doubts. The only Pachycondyla record in Georgia seems fishy based on the rest of their distribution. On the other hand. Brachyponera chinensis is all over the northern half of Georgia and is commonly mistaken for Ponera or Hypoponera. Maybe would be wise to look into it.

 

That's what I was thinking.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Sorry to rain on your parade, but Camponotus don't have super majors. Camponotus are polymorphic without any set castes. This means there is a tiny minor size, a big major size, and every other size inbetween, unlike species like Pheidole that have 2 (or 3) specific sizes. A third caste, supermajors, are only defined by a distinct role in the colony, such as Pheidole rhea, which have a minor, a major, and a supermajor. The supermajor is different from the normal majors because they use their oversized heads to block the nest entrances during Neivamyrmex raids, something that the minors don't do, AKA a specialized task. In Camponotus, all of the majors serve the same purpose more or less, meaning they aren't considered to be separate castes. It's a little confusing, but as a rule of thumb just assume most species don't have true supermajors. Even in Pheidole as I mentioned before, only 7 species are known to have supermajors out of the 1000+ species.

Either way, polygynous Camponotus are an amazing find, and if they've got max-sized majors that's even better. Good luck with that colony, they'll be a ton of fun to keep!

yea, there is no thing of 'mega majors', unless (and I can't say the importance of this enough), you are keeping Pheidole or gatekeeper ants who have ants designed to block off nest entrances, but even then it's called a guard not a mega major. Also with turtle ants  

[AntsDakota]

I don’t believe any ant is currently known to have ‘major’ as a separate caste, just sub-castes.

[AntsExodus]

The ants I found at my park look just like Pachycondyla harpax and the ants I caught are the same size as Pachycondyla harpax are recorded to be.

[AntsExodus]

Also I think you guys are right the majors could be the biggest ones and then there could be this caste in between the workers and the majors. I'm gonna call the middle caste a media.

[ForestDragon]

if you could show the 2 queens that would be really interesting, I would like to see some proof of it myself lol

[AntsExodus]

Sure I would just like to find a easy way to send a picture

[AntsExodus]

These are all my catches from the past week

Also I merged my Pheidole Dentata colonies and now they have 2 queens if you can see in the 3rd pic!

Edited by AntsExodus, April 9 2020 - 1:14 PM.

[AntsExodus]

For today's haul I caught another Pheidole Dentata colony and my very first aphenogaster colony! I merged both of my Pheidole Dentata colony so now they have 2 queens!

[AntsExodus]

Hey guys I have a question. Are Lasius Claviger polygenous?

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

Did you catch them from different nests/areas?

[AntsDakota]

Hey guys I have a question. Are Lasius Claviger polygenous?

I believe they are pleometrophic. They can found together, but only one queen will come out alive in the long run.

[ANTdrew]

Don’t get carried away with gathering captive colonies. Even one large colony is a huge responsibility and challenge, believe me.

[AntsExodus]

Yeah I am going to stop collecting colonies I just did ant colony catching to keep me off the pandemic sorry. I just need to keep my mind off what's going on

[AntsExodus]

My new Camponotus Chromaidoes queen I caught 2 days ago has laid three eggs she is in her founding stage and my Aphenogaster colony which has around 50 workers has laid 200 eggs in the past day and 20 small larvae have popped out and I think they are starting to produce alates cause their larvae is huge! I've heard that a lot of Aphenogaster have alates when they have small colonies. They have around 10 big alate pupae but they could be just workers but they are big. This wasn't a big colony when I caught it they had no tunnels and they are around a year old. I also have a tornado coming my way so I gotta watch out!

Edited by AntsExodus, April 12 2020 - 7:18 PM.

[AntsExodus]

Nothing has happened these past few days. I really want to catch Trachymyrmex Sentriaponallis hopefully I will. My Pheidole Dentata colony has literally tore the mealworm exoskeleton which is pretty sick. I have a few colonies coming soon so I'm excited!