Genus: Pheidole
Species: navigans
Common Name:
Colony Stage: Fresh Queen with Nanitics.
Caught Date: 05-27-2020
Eggs: 05-30-2020
Larva:
Pupa:
Nanitics: 06-24-2020
Diet:
Special Needs:
Do they Sting or bite?:
Escape Artists?:
Queen or colony count: 3 Queens. 1 single tube queen died sadly. 2 queens in one test tube alive and well.
05-30-2020:
I noticed my single queen test tube had died. My two queen test tube in the beginning one queen seemed happy to stay with the other and would continuously caress/smell the other. Oddly though when I noticed they had eggs they seem to be keeping their eggs in separate piles. Is this a bad sign? Will they kill each other when the workers arrive? Should I try separating them before then or would that be too risky?
06-03-2020:
So they combined their egg piles. I'm told they aren't a poly species and with the piles together now I can't imagine how to separate them. I may just throw my arms up in the air and just see what happens. I just hope at least one survives if they decide to turn on each other when the workers arrive.
06-24-2020:
We have our first worker! I was thinking of trying to separate them before the workers arrived but it's a little late now. Still they are just so tiny I'm afraid of hurting them if I tried separating them. So, I guess I'll just have to wait and see if the workers start hurting the queens. I really hope not but I guess this is what I get for not researching the species better before trying to combine them. Any advice on what foods they may like best are welcome!
06-26-2020:
Question for the more experienced keepers of this species. When was it that your workers turned on the queens when you had multiple queens? I figure probably when their exoskeletons have hardened? So far I think I counted 8 workers, I think? Things seem to be peaceful in this moment in time. I didn't expect the workers to be so cute! With their big goofy heads and long antennae and tiny gasters. They're just all so little.
06-27-2020:
Still peaceful. They have a tiny outworld now where I put honey soaked in a piece of paper towel, a piece of a nut, and just added a tiny bit of a super worm I separated between my smaller colonies. Some of the workers just ventured out into it today. They're so tiny I don't really see them unless they are against the water cotton so I have to use a magnifying glass or my phone to observe them. lol There HAS to be an easier way to observe this tiny species! Suggestions?
06-28-2020:
The peace holds so far. More and more workers are braving the tiny "outworld" and are happily taking what they need from the bit of super worm. I figured I'll leave it until it dries out since there is plenty for these tiny gals. I'm hoping if I keep them in enough protein they won't turn on the double queens since that's what seemed to happen with one of my Invicta colonies. All the other double/triple queens were fine as long as I kept them in protein but the one I didn't give enough protein turned quickly on the second queen as a food source. I don't know if it'll work but I figured it's worth a try.
06-30-2020:
So I put two wingless fruit flies in for my navigans and the workers quickly took them to the Queens! The Queens promptly started to either help chop them up or eating them? Either way they were pretty excited about it. As you can see still peaceful so far. Fingers crossed!
07-03-2020:
So I have some bad news and some good news.
The bad news is that they finally turned on one of the queens. The good news? I was lucky enough to catch it before they did damage to her and they didn't attack the other queen.
So I stayed up late last night playing a game with friends since I had off work today and I had gotten up to potty my dog when I noticed there was a big dark blob near the entrance of the test tube. I took a closer look and realized it was one of the queens with workers surrounding her and trying to pull her apart. Luckily I had some outworld tubs prepared for when my other species got their workers so all I had to do is add the barrier. Then I hurriedly separated the test tube from it's mini outworld and used a q-tip to gently pull the attacked queen out. I then replaced the original test tube and placed the original setup back where I had them. I then carefully knocked off any lingering, stubborn workers and TRIED to replace them back in the original housing. They kept attacking the rescued queen so I didn't dare leave them with her. I'm sure I lost a worker or two during it all.
Once she was no longer being attacked the rescued queen went straight for the new test tube I gave her and settled in to clean herself. She looks like she is ok. The only thing I'm worried about is that she has no workers of her own and because of the tiny tube and the brood is kept at the very back I can't give her any older brood from the original nest. So she is on her own until she lays a fresh batch of eggs for herself. I'll try giving her a tiny drop of honey later to try and hold her over and hope she can catch up from the loss time.
My poor friend was like "what's wrong, are you ok"? lol I knew this was likely to happen since several people informed me that having two queens may end up with a nest war that could end up with both queens dead. But still it was an "Aaah! My queen!" moment. It was pretty lucky timing with work letting us have off Friday, I having been playing late with friends, and my dog telling me he wanted out at that time otherwise I'm certain that queen would be dead this morning. Still she has a long way to go if she is to survive this setback. I'll try to help her along to the best of my abilities but it's up to her when to lay. Better sooner than later so let's hope.
07-30-2020:
Yesterday was a big day for me. Not only did I notice my first impressa worker but I also noticed my first Major of my navigans! Sorry for the extra bad quality and sever shaking. I was a bit excited when I realized I had a big headed major and got more shaky than normal. Plus I might have been super tired after work. I really like this species despite being so tiny it's hard to observe.
02-15-2022:
Still thriving!
Edited by BitT, February 15 2022 - 4:15 PM.
, Ponera pennsylvanica, and Pheidole morrisi! 
