55 replies to this topic

[Canadant]

Several of my crematogastor ants are much smaller than the other workers. It's very noticeable. They're kinda cute. I'm not sure why that is. My guess is that they're new yearly workers that had to develop through the winter and spring. Perhaps the queen I brood boosted was another species. Perhaps they're her newer ants and the other workers are still from the brood of the bunch that I gave to her. I'll see if I can get some pics.

[ANTdrew]

Gaster is with an e, brother.

[AntsDakota]

Gaster is with an e, brother.

Well said, brother ANTdrew. 

[ANTdrew]

I went back to the area I saw the tiny Crematogasters today, but I didn’t see any. The interesting thing is that the bird crap was totally gone. I guess they licked their plate clean!
I’ll try to get photos another time; maybe they are more nocturnal.

[AntsDakota]

Welp, I decided to revive this since I'm keeping Cremas now (cerasi and pilosa). I aspire to become a CrematoMaster. I hope to someday expand my collection to include Cremas from all over the country. Getting those permits will be a hassle, but worth it. My cerasi colony is now my favorite colony due to their fast growth and constant activity. I'm sure the pilosa will be even more fun, being larger and presumably more aggressive than cerasi. 

 

But it in the meantime, can we not all agree that Crema callows are adorable:

[madbiologist]

Is now a good time to share that Crematogaster are my pc lock screen?   

 

 

[ZTYguy]

Recently caught myself a few different sp of crematogaster so I’m excited to give them a try.

[ANTdrew]

Is now a good time to share that Crematogaster are my pc lock screen?
Love it!

IMG_0752.jpg

[AntsDakota]

Even though my colony has over 200 workers and hundreds and hundreds of brood, I still caught the queen caring for her eggs, though there are maybe 700. It's quite humbling that she would still care for her eggs even though she's constantly attended to and constantly pregnant. 

 

Broob

 

Eggs, eggs, eggs...

 

Full view of the larger brood pile:

[AntsDakota]

Welp, I gave my colony a new outworld a couple days ago. Ig the last time I opened the outworld I left the lid slightly open by a non-noticeable miniscule amount. When I got home from work today there were Cremas beginning to make trails on the outworld lid.I nipped it in the bud, but now I know to always double check the lid  . 

[ANTdrew]

Been there, done that! Sounds like you need fluon to keep them away from the lid, though.

[ANTdrew]

Massive flight of Crematogaster today. Y’all can have your Myrmecocycstus. I’m set with these:

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[AntsDakota]

Massive flight of Crematogaster today. Y’all can have your Myrmecocycstus. I’m set with these:

cerasi or lineolata?

[ANTdrew]

I’m fairly confident these are cerasi.

[ANTS_KL]

Reading through this thread makes it clear to me that Southeast Asian Crematogaster are much different. The ones we have here are arboreal ants that usually have symbiotic relationships with "ant plants". There are still ground dwelling Crematogaster, but they are very rare to find. Currently I have a single queen with a large batch of eggs. I find that they do well in long thin test-tubes. Hopefully my post will provide some form of new knowledge to anyone wondering about the Crematogaster here.

[ANTdrew]

Reading through this thread makes it clear to me that Southeast Asian Crematogaster are much different. The ones we have here are arboreal ants that usually have symbiotic relationships with "ant plants". There are still ground dwelling Crematogaster, but they are very rare to find. Currently I have a single queen with a large batch of eggs. I find that they do well in long thin test-tubes. Hopefully my post will provide some form of new knowledge to anyone wondering about the Crematogaster here.

They are the 7th largest genus in the world. There must be vast differences between species. Our temperate North American ones are extremely fast growing and prolific. I have a new queen starting off really well, so I’ll start chirping here a lot more.