35 replies to this topic

[CheetoLord02]

Update 1/21

This colony has been doing simultaneously good and bad. They've gotten a 2nd full replete, and many more smaller ones, which is really awesome to see.
 

 

 

The issue is that up until a few days ago they just had hardly any brood. Currently all they have going for them is 2 pupae and some eggs that were laid a few days ago. So long as they're able to raise the eggs fine they'll be alright, but it does make me a little nervous.
 

[ANTdrew]

You need to cool it with all these journals or you’re going to overtake my rep points in no time.

[benxixi]

looks awesome !!

[Chickalo]

oh how id kill to have yourepic ants

Edited by Chickalo, January 28 2021 - 6:53 PM.

[CheetoLord02]

Update 2/11

Today I learned what happens when a Myrmecocystus replete dies. They cut the gaster off at the petiole so that they can drain it. I was very surprised to see that had happened when I checked on them, but yeah. There's a disembodied replete gaster laying on the water tower. It's also quite unfortunate that they don't have any callows to turn into new repletes, so I think this gaster is going to be sitting around for at least a bit. Maybe I'll remove it and feed it to another colony if it becomes an issue.
 

 

 

In good news though, there's now quite a lot of later-stage larvae and a nice batch of eggs. I'm expecting most of these larvae will pupate pretty soon, and we can finally get this colony's growth back on track. 
 

[KitsAntVa]

Cheeto likes cat girls now, but more importantly he likes cute smol ants that like to cannibalize

[Kaelwizard]

Half of Cheeto's posts is the signature lol.

[CheetoLord02]

Recently I moved this colony into an Atrium. It was a bit premature but I didn't want to worry about moving a ton of repletes. Even moving just one was a bit of a hassle.
 

 

 

The brood has also been going very well, with a nice pile of a few dozen pupae.
 

 

I also can't get enough of the top viewing window in this nest. It's just awesome.
 

[to_be_announced]

Update?

[cap_backfire]

Brother, your move to AZ was just what the doctor ordered.    These and the Atta colony journals are absolutely fascinating.   Also a great window into how you keep your ants and plan ahead for issues, even with ants you've never kept before.  

[That_one_ant_guy]

Update?

[Antkeeper01]

Cheeto i have a proposal that will mutually benifit both parties. Here it is...

 

 

 

UPDATE!!!!! please

[That_one_ant_guy]

Cheeto i have a proposal that will mutually benifit both parties. Here it is...



UPDATE!!!!! please

He only speaks of truth

[CheetoLord02]

Needless to say... I haven't updated this journal for a reason.

Pretty shortly after the last update this colony started to do absolutely terribly for some reason. They just stopped foraging and never seemed to eat, living off their repletes until those died... then had a massive worker die-off. I was forced to move the queen and whatever workers they had left back into a test tube to see if they could recover.

Well, to my surprise, they can? A few months later the colony is about to get their first new pupa and have a small batch of larvae and eggs as well. Down to 4 workers, but not done yet. I think this colony will almost certainly recover.

Another cool thing is that I've caught a bunch of other, bigger, better Myrmecocystus queens this year, and decided I wanted to try to DIY some nests specifically for them, since my Formisquarium nests (available on arthropodantics.com) are specifically not suitable for them. After a bit of tinkering I managed to make something that looked good, and decided to move the mimicus colony in.
 

 

 

It's now been a week or two since I moved them and they've started to do even better than they were in the test tube, and overall the nest seems to be a hit! I think all I need is a bit more testing and a few more revisions (maybe some rocks embedded in the back wall for the repletes to hang from?) before I start producing more of these nests and putting them up for sale on my website! I may even start experimenting with a larger size once a colony of mine needs a space upgrade, whether it be these mimicus or one of my new queens.

[United-Ants]

update?

[BDantsalberta]

Yeah cheeto, update?