Jump to content

  • Chat
  •  
  •  

Welcome to Formiculture.com!

This is a website for anyone interested in Myrmecology and all aspects of finding, keeping, and studying ants. The site and forum are free to use. Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation points to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!

Photo

Greg's Pogonomyrmex californicus unicolor Journal (Discontinued)

pogonomyrmex pogonomyrmex californicus harvester ant california harvester ant

  • Please log in to reply
34 replies to this topic

#1 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted May 12 2015 - 10:22 PM

Gregory2455

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,286 posts
  • LocationCalifornia

On May 12, 2015 I caught these six Pogonomyrmex cf. californicus (concolorous variation) queens, after they probably flew the same morning. There are five dealates and one alate as of May 12, 2015.

 

Here are the six queens as of May 12, 2015.

 

Here is a video of one of the newly mated queens looking for a place to dig, right before I sucked her up with my aspirator and placed her in a test tube. The second half of the video is the six queens as they are on May 12, 2015.


Edited by Gregory2455, February 20 2019 - 10:14 PM.


#2 Offline Wamdar - Posted May 13 2015 - 3:32 AM

Wamdar

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 123 posts

Great find! I've been following the local nests and have not seen anything, I'll venture out this morning and look again! They look a lot like the regular workers in the video, hard to tell them apart


  • Gregory2455 likes this

#3 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted May 14 2015 - 8:59 PM

Gregory2455

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,286 posts
  • LocationCalifornia

Update: 5/14/2015

By now, every single queen has filled up with byFormica Blue 100 and has laid eggs.



#4 Offline antsinmypants - Posted May 20 2015 - 7:45 AM

antsinmypants

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 124 posts
  • LocationFresno, CA

I have questions about boosting Pogonomyrmex. I have and have had Pogonomyrmex queens that stop producing eggs, and then if they have any larvae, pupae or nanitics, then these die, leaving the queen with no one until she eventually dies. Therefore, when I notice a queen that is no longer producing eggs, should I give her remaining eggs, larvae and nanitics to a more productive queen? In a newly mated queen, how many times should she produce eggs in her first season before the winter comes? I have also seen queens lose their eggs, larvae and even pupae. They just disappear, and so I think they are eaten. When I start seeing this happen, should I also take her remaining eggs, larvae and nanitics and give them to a more productive queen?



#5 Offline AntTeen804 - Posted May 20 2015 - 3:59 PM

AntTeen804

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 240 posts
  • LocationVirginia
Very good looking queens greg.
  • Gregory2455 likes this

If you ain't got a dream, you ain't got nothing.


#6 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted May 20 2015 - 4:07 PM

Gregory2455

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,286 posts
  • LocationCalifornia

I have questions about boosting Pogonomyrmex. I have and have had Pogonomyrmex queens that stop producing eggs, and then if they have any larvae, pupae or nanitics, then these die, leaving the queen with no one until she eventually dies. Therefore, when I notice a queen that is no longer producing eggs, should I give her remaining eggs, larvae and nanitics to a more productive queen? In a newly mated queen, how many times should she produce eggs in her first season before the winter comes? I have also seen queens lose their eggs, larvae and even pupae. They just disappear, and so I think they are eaten. When I start seeing this happen, should I also take her remaining eggs, larvae and nanitics and give them to a more productive queen?

I do not know... :/

 

 

Very good looking queens greg.

Thanks!



#7 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted May 31 2015 - 6:01 PM

Gregory2455

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,286 posts
  • LocationCalifornia

Update:5/31/2015

By now, at least three of the queens, including the alate have larvae. I also caught two more, an alate, and a dealate from my pool.



#8 Offline Foogoo - Posted May 31 2015 - 6:10 PM

Foogoo

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1,161 posts
  • LocationLos Angeles, CA

How long did it take for your Pogonomyrmex to settle down and start laying eggs? I hope I'm just being a worried first-time mother but it's bugging me that mine have been going at the test tube cotton for well over 24hrs now...


Camponotus vicinus, Crematogaster 1, Crematogaster 2, Formica francoeuri, *, *, Myrmecocystus testaceus, Novomessor cockerelli, Pheidole hyatti, Pogonomyrmex californicus, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Solenopsis invicta


#9 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted May 31 2015 - 6:15 PM

Gregory2455

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,286 posts
  • LocationCalifornia

How long did it take for your Pogonomyrmex to settle down and start laying eggs? I hope I'm just being a worried first-time mother but it's bugging me that mine have been going at the test tube cotton for well over 24hrs now...

The two new ones I have are still chewing the cotton as well. It took 3-7 days for all of them to settle down in the tube. Remember if you are keeping yours in a tube to give them more space (a smaller water space) and to feed them often.


  • Foogoo likes this

#10 Offline Chromerust - Posted May 31 2015 - 10:27 PM

Chromerust

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 305 posts
  • Locationsouthern California
I did a little experiment with five Pogonomyrmex queens I found last month. I used a standard test tube setup but also packed it with clean dirt and put a queen in it. The other four queens went into normal test tubes. The queen with dirt dug herself a cozy little chamber and now has mature larvae and doing well. The other four are dead. This might just be pure coincidence and I don't want to jump to any conclusions but it makes you wonder a little. I've also learned that Californicus are a lot calmer in plastic. I'm pretty sure the glass drives them nuts.

#11 Offline Foogoo - Posted June 1 2015 - 5:02 AM

Foogoo

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1,161 posts
  • LocationLos Angeles, CA
Got any pictures? I thought about trying that but wasn't sure how they would feel digging horizontally. I'm going to give that a try with a few of mine tonight.

Camponotus vicinus, Crematogaster 1, Crematogaster 2, Formica francoeuri, *, *, Myrmecocystus testaceus, Novomessor cockerelli, Pheidole hyatti, Pogonomyrmex californicus, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Solenopsis invicta


#12 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted June 21 2015 - 2:33 PM

Gregory2455

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,286 posts
  • LocationCalifornia

Update: 6/21/2015

All of the original five queens have pupae, and three of them have pupae with pigment already, so I can expect workers within the next few days. The two from my pool appear to both be infertile. As for the single bicolor variation queen that I caught in the desert recently, she will be getting her own journal, but as of now she has seven eggs and is eating a LOT.



#13 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted June 23 2015 - 5:02 PM

Gregory2455

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,286 posts
  • LocationCalifornia

Update: 6/23/2015

The first queen got a nanitic! :yahoo:


  • Jonathan21700, cpman and LC3 like this

#14 Offline cpman - Posted June 23 2015 - 5:09 PM

cpman

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 317 posts
  • LocationAustin, TX

Yay!


  • Gregory2455 likes this

#15 Offline LC3 - Posted June 23 2015 - 7:40 PM

LC3

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1,323 posts
  • LocationBC, Canada

Congratulations!  :good2:


  • Gregory2455 likes this

#16 Offline Jonathan21700 - Posted June 24 2015 - 9:42 AM

Jonathan21700

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 807 posts

Congrats! :)



#17 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted June 28 2015 - 9:16 PM

Gregory2455

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,286 posts
  • LocationCalifornia

Update: 6/28/15

One of the queens with two workers died. :( Luckily, since both of her workers are still callow workers, and the cause of death was not mites or any visible transmissible disease, I gave the brood and the young workers to a queen with just a single pupa. I just thought I would leave the callow workers in there and the queen would dismember them, but no! The callow workers immedietly acted submissive and after the queen inspected her new companions with a gentle pull or two, she accepted them too!



#18 Offline Foogoo - Posted June 30 2015 - 7:06 AM

Foogoo

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1,161 posts
  • LocationLos Angeles, CA

Update: 6/21/2015

All of the original five queens have pupae, and three of them have pupae with pigment already, so I can expect workers within the next few days. The two from my pool appear to both be infertile. As for the single bicolor variation queen that I caught in the desert recently, she will be getting her own journal, but as of now she has seven eggs and is eating a LOT.

 

What have you been feeding them? It seems with my queens, there isn't a universally accepted food. Between Blue 100, crickets, fruitflies and seeds, they all seem to have different tastes.


Camponotus vicinus, Crematogaster 1, Crematogaster 2, Formica francoeuri, *, *, Myrmecocystus testaceus, Novomessor cockerelli, Pheidole hyatti, Pogonomyrmex californicus, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Solenopsis invicta


#19 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted July 5 2015 - 2:25 PM

Gregory2455

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,286 posts
  • LocationCalifornia

These are all crazy about Blue 100, just like the rest of my Pogonomyrmex.



#20 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted July 16 2015 - 3:55 AM

Gregory2455

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,286 posts
  • LocationCalifornia

Update: 7/16/2015

I received another one of these queens from Drew, but she is some sort of mix between bicolor and concolorous variations, as her gaster coloration is nearly opposite to the original queens, but still not completely black in color. She has larvae right now so she should make some equally cool workers. :P All the other colonies are in the process of getting second generation workers.


Edited by Gregory2455, July 16 2015 - 3:56 AM.






Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: pogonomyrmex, pogonomyrmex californicus, harvester ant, california harvester ant

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users