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ANTdrew's Lasius Species Journal

Started By ANTdrew , Mar 24 2020 10:35 AM
claviger parasites lasius

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41 replies to this topic

#21 Offline Canadant - Posted February 8 2021 - 7:48 AM

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Look at the caboose on that!
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"You don't get what you want. You get what you deserve".

#22 Offline ANTdrew - Posted February 8 2021 - 7:51 AM

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Girl's got a gASSter like a wagon! ;)


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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#23 Offline KitsAntVa - Posted February 8 2021 - 7:57 AM

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How to identify a queen ant, The queen must have a gaster bigger than her head as well as the thorax and her gaster must ¨MUST¨ have drank root beer and honey that day or the day before. 


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We don’t talk about that

#24 Offline NickAnter - Posted February 8 2021 - 8:37 AM

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That is a seriously fat queen. Judging by the opaqueness of her gaster, that is from eggs, not sugar water. My americanus never got anywhere close to this fat with eggs, only sugar water.


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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#25 Offline TennesseeAnts - Posted February 8 2021 - 8:40 AM

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That is a seriously fat queen. Judging by the opaqueness of her gaster, that is from eggs, not sugar water. My americanus never got anywhere close to this fat with eggs, only sugar water.

Mine didn't either... My current Lasius niger-group colony's queens are getting quite full of eggs, but no where near that size!


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#26 Offline NickAnter - Posted February 8 2021 - 8:45 AM

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I'm hoping they fill out this year. Their worker population will more than triple once all their larvae develops, so it will be easier for them to gather more food, thereby increasing production. On that note, I wonder if one could represent this with an equation.


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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#27 Offline ANTdrew - Posted February 8 2021 - 9:51 AM

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That is a seriously fat queen. Judging by the opaqueness of her gaster, that is from eggs, not sugar water. My americanus never got anywhere close to this fat with eggs, only sugar water.

That’s how I like my girls. Just sayin!
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#28 Offline KitsAntVa - Posted February 8 2021 - 10:06 AM

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Q+E=W(E x E)

Q= 1

W= 1

E=5

 

queen plus eggs equals workers-times eggs plus more eggs.


Edited by KitsAntVa, February 8 2021 - 10:07 AM.

We don’t talk about that

#29 Offline NickAnter - Posted February 8 2021 - 10:14 AM

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I'm not sure it's a linear equation.


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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#30 Offline ANTdrew - Posted March 1 2021 - 6:40 AM

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Update 3-1-2021

Great news in this update! My super-thick queen's eggs have hatched! This is way farther than I got last year with my dud queen. I'm getting more and more optimistic about my future as a Lasius keeper. The only issue will be space for all my colonies since I have a lot of really big ones now. First world problems....

 

Sorry for the crappy photo, but I don't do a lot of staging to avoid disturbing founding queens.

IMG 9237

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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#31 Offline Kaelwizard - Posted March 1 2021 - 6:48 AM

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Congrats! I hope she succeeds.


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#32 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted March 1 2021 - 7:54 AM

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still can't get over the size of that queen! mine have gotten big, but not that big. maybe we should call lasius the honeypots of the north...?


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Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8

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#33 Offline Kaelwizard - Posted March 1 2021 - 8:04 AM

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still can't get over the size of that queen! mine have gotten big, but not that big. maybe we should call lasius the honeypots of the north...?

I think Prenolepis imparis takes that title, but Lasius come in a close second for sure. Unless there is some other species that I am just not familiar with.


Edited by Kaelwizard, March 1 2021 - 8:04 AM.

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#34 Offline NickAnter - Posted March 1 2021 - 11:18 AM

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23 more days for me. :D  I hope my queens will eventually reach that size.


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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#35 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted March 1 2021 - 12:02 PM

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still can't get over the size of that queen! mine have gotten big, but not that big. maybe we should call lasius the honeypots of the north...?

I think Prenolepis imparis takes that title, but Lasius come in a close second for sure. Unless there is some other species that I am just not familiar with.

 

true, but prenolepis is false honeypot ants. lasius can get as big as them at times, i have seen.


Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8

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Attention Ant-Keepers in South Dakota! Join the SoDak(Society Of Dakotan Ant Keepers)

#36 Offline Kaelwizard - Posted March 1 2021 - 3:08 PM

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still can't get over the size of that queen! mine have gotten big, but not that big. maybe we should call lasius the honeypots of the north...?

I think Prenolepis imparis takes that title, but Lasius come in a close second for sure. Unless there is some other species that I am just not familiar with.

 

true, but prenolepis is false honeypot ants. lasius can get as big as them at times, i have seen.

 

I think we can agree that both of them are FAT.


#37 Offline ANTdrew - Posted March 8 2021 - 6:31 AM

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Update 3-8-2021

 

I checked my founding queens on Saturday and saw that my L. neoniger queen has pupae! I'm probably the only person that gets excited about these, but , hey, if you can get excited about ordinary things, you'll always be happy. This is the a terrible photo to document the great news:

 

IMG 9279

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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#38 Offline ANTdrew - Posted March 25 2021 - 4:30 AM

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Update 3-25-2021

 

I was happily surprised to find 5-6 nanitics had eclosed in my Lasius neoniger's test tube at some point this week! There are still quite a few more cocoons and smaller brood, so I think this queen is quite productive so far. She is still three-C's thiccc! I offered them a drop of Sunburst soaked in a paper towel square and left it at that. I need to decide if I can afford keeping these, or if I should sell them. Space is the main issue I'm dealing with at this point as my older colonies start needing more and more real estate. First-World problems...

 

Sorry for the poopy photos:

IMG 9416
IMG 9415

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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#39 Offline NickAnter - Posted March 25 2021 - 6:47 AM

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Congratulations! Glad to see them doing well, and that you finally got a colony of this species. Can't wait to see some GIFs of them!


Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#40 Offline Chickalo - Posted March 25 2021 - 9:25 AM

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Lucky!  My brevicornis queens still haven't laid, and one of them died.  They are not nearly as thick as that, but I'm not sure if they're fertile or not.  Maybe when I hibernated them the basement wasn't cold enough?  I dunno, that's why I'm getting a small mini fridge, but congrats on the pupa!


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