125 replies to this topic

[ponerinecat]

Not much of an update on the Hypos but rather their food. My springtails I bought aren't doing to well (but I think I saw a baby??) so I took 6 and put them in a hydrostone setup. Hopefully they breed and can keep the culture going. I caught some springtails outside and put them in a charcoal setup. I also made a culture of springtails from my isopod setup. I'm feeding all my springtails nutritional yeast, long grain brown rice, and fish flakes. Hopefully out of all of these some succeed. My booklice are mostly gone and once they die out I'll probably never get another culture of them again. Sorry if you were hoping for an actual update. 

If anything keep the bought springtails in charcoal and move the wild caught to a hydrostone. Most wild springtails can't stand a setup as wet as a charcoal bin.

[M_Ants]

Okay. I'll move the wild ones. The ones I moved from my isopod bin, the silvery ones, they seem to like the charcoal setup. 

[Ants_Dakota]

Not much of an update on the Hypos but rather their food. My springtails I bought aren't doing to well (but I think I saw a baby??) so I took 6 and put them in a hydrostone setup. Hopefully they breed and can keep the culture going. I caught some springtails outside and put them in a charcoal setup. I also made a culture of springtails from my isopod setup. I'm feeding all my springtails nutritional yeast, long grain brown rice, and fish flakes. Hopefully out of all of these some succeed. My booklice are mostly gone and once they die out I'll probably never get another culture of them again. Sorry if you were hoping for an actual update. 

it seems to me that lots of your cultures are dying. you should look into that. there is probably a reason. i would try to fix that. mine died because i did not feed them enough.

[M_Ants]

I really don't know. I'm no expert on springtails. I'm just keeping them for the sake of my Hypos.

[M_Ants]

Update one the dirt setup Hypos. Today I got bored and dumped them out to see if anything ever happened. The queens are still alive. Not sure what happened to those cocoons I saw. They disappeared. There were some larvae so I put them and the queens back in the setup but without the dirt. I gave one larvae to the other Hypos. Also they seem to have eaten their larvae but have new eggs. Booklice are officially gone. Rip. The springtails seem to be doing okay execept for the ones I bought. They are mediocre. They are alive but there aren't many and they aren't multiplying. 

[M_Ants]

I successfully bred the silver springtails! Also I caught a different springtails in my yard. Hopefully the Hypos figure out how to hunt the silver ones because so far they've been too fast.

[ponerinecat]

I successfully bred the silver springtails! Also I caught a different springtails in my yard. Hopefully the Hypos figure out how to hunt the silver ones because so far they've been too fast.

Prekilling is an option, hypos don't require live food. Recently caught an opacior dealate as well.

[NickAnter]

I'm so bummed the Hypoponera queen I caught died. Lasted the longest yet though lol.

[M_Ants]

Yeah that's a bummer. Hopefully you catch some next year. Good news for the springtails though. The ones I bought have babies too! I put them near the heating cable and boom, babies. 

Edited by M_Ants, December 24 2020 - 10:22 AM.

[M_Ants]

I think we lost another worker. Can't say for sure because I've seen them play dead or something for long periods of time only to turn out fine. Pretty sure it's dead though. I really hope this colony gets some more workers before they all die out.

[M_Ants]

K. Pretty sure I just lost another worker. That means I have 1 left. There are 2 larvae but they are not growing. Do they need heat or something? I don' want this colony to fizzle out. 

[Antkeeper01]

oh noooooo they are dying but i would try boosting the queen from a mature colony near youso the colony doesnt die, but i have never seen these much less kept these before soooooo

Edited by Antkeeper01, January 19 2021 - 12:29 PM.

[M_Ants]

Good news! I think I believe ponerinecat has saved this colony. I'll get to that in a sec. First of all I want to advise that anyone who keeps these has an aspirator. I finally was smart and used an aspirator to suck up springtails and it is so helpful. It makes getting a bunch so fast and easy which is important for this next part. Ponerinecat said that I should feed them enough springtails so that they had a pile of extra dead bodies piled up. I started feeding more and sure enough the pile appeared. (You can see it best in the second picture.) I looked today and boom, eggs! I think feeding these a ton is very important. The two larvae are growing still and now their are more eggs. You can see on of the larvae eating a springtail's head. I still have hope for this colony.

Edited by M_Ants, February 16 2021 - 11:12 AM.

[M_Ants]

Things are looking good. Feeding lots of springtails is certainly working. Saw a pile of sand yesterday and sure enough today there was cocoon. I think I see a second pile in one of the pics. Got a good amount of brood overall. So happy I'm finally back on track.

[M_Ants]

Finally got a worker today. Currently have 2 workers, 2 cocoons, various sizes of larvae, and some eggs.

[M_Ants]

Probably should have updated this earlier. These sadly died due to dehydration I think while I was gone. They really weren't worth the effort though. This year I'm going to have a ton of queens in a poly setup so that keeping them isn't like watching grass grow. 

[Antkeeper01]

sorry dude i know you worked hard on keeping them alive

[M_Ants]

This journal will likely return. I have a 3 queen dealate group and 2 queen winged group.

[M_Ants]

Finally got eggs. They really aren't hard to care for they just take patience. The key is plenty of food.