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UA's Ant Keeping Journal [Discontinued as of 7/12/23]

aphaenogaster camponotus crematogaster formica lasius tapinoma temnothorax tetramorium utah formicariums foranto journal pogonomyrmex pheidole

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#81 Offline UtahAnts - Posted March 26 2023 - 6:45 PM

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Update 31 - New setup for the pots

 

Updated colonies:

Myrmecocystus mexicanus
 
Myrmecocystus mexicanus - 180 workers
 
I moved this colony out of their dome setup as they had filled the entire thing. It took me an hour or two to manually move everyone, but I love the visibility of their new formicarium and outworld. In their new setup, the colony has taken advantage of the many humidity and temperature gradients to store brood based on age. They store eggs on hanging repletes, small larvae can be found on the cooler water tower, medium larvae can be found on the rock ledges, while large larvae and pupae blanket the floor.
 
IMG 0748

 

IMG 1094
 
M. mexicanus 3
 
M. mexicanus 4

 

M. mexicanus 5

 

IMG 1117

 

IMG 1167

 

IMG 1162

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Leave the Road, take the Trails - Pythagoras

 

Utah Ant Keeping --- Here

Formicariums and Outworlds --- Here

Photo Album --- Here

Videos --- Here


#82 Offline Ernteameise - Posted April 3 2023 - 11:00 AM

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Oh wow, these honey ants are beautiful.



#83 Offline Locness - Posted April 3 2023 - 11:10 AM

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Gif images, dual water towers, several points of view, and multi-levels--looking good!!



#84 Offline UtahAnts - Posted April 21 2023 - 7:26 PM

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Update 31 - Pots keep growing

 
Myrmecocystus mexicanus - 250 workers
 
Lots of new large repletes with plenty of pupae. The queen can often be seen hanging from the top rocks - perhaps being vertical makes egg production easier? This colony continues to favor cut mealworms to any other protein type. They have also created a distinct mound of pebbles around their outworld tubing. It's exciting to see natural behaviors become more pronounced as the colony grows, even in a captive setup.
 
M. Mexicanus Pupae

 

M. Mexicanus dark 3
 
M. Mexicanus dark 2
 
M. Mexicanus dark 1

 

 


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Leave the Road, take the Trails - Pythagoras

 

Utah Ant Keeping --- Here

Formicariums and Outworlds --- Here

Photo Album --- Here

Videos --- Here


#85 Offline UtahAnts - Posted May 14 2023 - 2:13 PM

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Update 32

 
Myrmecocystus mexicanus - 300 workers
 
The colony is doing well, new batches of eggs and larvae are always coming through. I'd estimate they have around 50 repletes, the laergest of which is the size of a small grape.
 
IMG 1531

 

IMG 1534

 

IMG 1523

 

Replete near the glass

 

 


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Leave the Road, take the Trails - Pythagoras

 

Utah Ant Keeping --- Here

Formicariums and Outworlds --- Here

Photo Album --- Here

Videos --- Here


#86 Offline Ernteameise - Posted May 15 2023 - 12:14 AM

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Beautiful.
I would love keeping this species, but they are very difficult to get here in Europe and when they are available, they cost an arm and a leg.
So I enjoy seeing your updates.

#87 Offline UtahAnts - Posted May 29 2023 - 1:37 PM

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I made a few short videos of the colony. I estimate they have around 50 repletes by now. The queen seems pretty healthy - there always seems to be a sizeable egg batch below her.

 

Link here


Leave the Road, take the Trails - Pythagoras

 

Utah Ant Keeping --- Here

Formicariums and Outworlds --- Here

Photo Album --- Here

Videos --- Here


#88 Offline UtahAnts - Posted June 15 2023 - 7:08 PM

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I tried taking some videos (links below) and pictures with a clip on macro lens. They don't beat the clarity of a DSLR but I like the zoom and focusing abilities in the videos. If someone would like to show me how to embed videos directly into a forum post that would be appreciated.

 

Link to video of queen

 

Link to short video

 

Link to short video #2

 

https://www.youtube....rts/vUAvF9zzwwQ

 

 

The colony is doing well, I've managed to create a few orange repletes by supplementing their red nectar with large apple slices. This colony is nearing 1.5 years old now, and I hope they continue to grow for many more to come  :drinks:

 

Pics below, the queen was standing on the center of the top tier on one side - hard to miss. 

 

Myrmecocystus mexicanus 2
 
Myrmecocystus mexicanus 3
 
Rocks Repletes
 
Queen Pot
 
Myrmecocystus mexicanus

Edited by UtahAnts, June 28 2023 - 2:16 PM.

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Leave the Road, take the Trails - Pythagoras

 

Utah Ant Keeping --- Here

Formicariums and Outworlds --- Here

Photo Album --- Here

Videos --- Here


#89 Offline Locness - Posted June 15 2023 - 10:17 PM

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Amazing! The increased surface area and ceiling height must help against moisture and mold. I think that's why I had such a massive die-off.

#90 Offline Ernteameise - Posted June 16 2023 - 1:02 AM

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Oh wow!

Absolutely beautiful.

I think this might be my new dream ant, I wish I could get them over here without selling a kidney.



#91 Offline UtahAnts - Posted June 16 2023 - 8:46 AM

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Amazing! The increased surface area and ceiling height must help against moisture and mold. I think that's why I had such a massive die-off.

 

That's a good point, this formicarium is usually pretty dry but large colonies can regulate the humidity much easier than smaller colonies can. Some of my colonies would go through similar die-offs at a young age. I force fed protein and they usually got back on track.

 

Oh wow!

Absolutely beautiful.

I think this might be my new dream ant, I wish I could get them over here without selling a kidney.

 

Even in the U.S. they are relatively expensive, so I can only imagine what they cost in Europe. 


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Leave the Road, take the Trails - Pythagoras

 

Utah Ant Keeping --- Here

Formicariums and Outworlds --- Here

Photo Album --- Here

Videos --- Here


#92 Offline AntsCali098 - Posted June 16 2023 - 8:56 AM

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My queen's favorite spot is also hanging upside-down. 


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Interested buying in ants? Feel free to check out my shop

Feel free to read my journals, like this one.

 

Wishlist:

Atta sp (wish they were in CA), Crematogaster cerasi, Most Pheidole species

 

 


#93 Offline UtahAnts - Posted July 5 2023 - 5:46 PM

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Update 34

 
Myrmecocystus mexicanus - 400 workers

 

Last update in this setup, I'll move them out to their new formicarium sometime in the next week. The colony has continued to grow, albeit at a slower rate, likely because they have covered the walls of their setup with repletes (the repletes have begun jostling for room resulting in a pile of red marbles on the floor), and growth seems to have slowed becuase they have limited space, a behavioral response I've noticed with this species.

 

Overall though I'm very pleased with how this nest held up. The repletes took complete advantage of the overhangs and rocks, and the ants stored brood on each level - not to mention the overhead lighting. I'll update again once they're settled into their new setup.

 

Upper view
 
Queen
 
Replete wall
 
Fallen repletes

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Leave the Road, take the Trails - Pythagoras

 

Utah Ant Keeping --- Here

Formicariums and Outworlds --- Here

Photo Album --- Here

Videos --- Here


#94 Offline Ernteameise - Posted July 5 2023 - 10:09 PM

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Oh wow!

Good luck with moving them!



#95 Offline UtahAnts - Posted July 12 2023 - 9:26 AM

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The colony was moved successfully into their setup. The M. mexicanus colony will now be featured in this timeline format journal - https://www.formicul...xicanus-colony/

 

All other colonies I still have are now in seperate journals with previous links throughout this thread. This all-species journal is discontinued until I feature a new species. If you've read this entire journal thank you for sticking with me to this point!

 

M. mexicanus setup

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Leave the Road, take the Trails - Pythagoras

 

Utah Ant Keeping --- Here

Formicariums and Outworlds --- Here

Photo Album --- Here

Videos --- Here


#96 Offline Ernteameise - Posted July 12 2023 - 9:43 AM

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OMG.

My jaw dropped to the floor.

This looks absolutely stunning.

What a centre piece for any collection.

This would also look amazing in a museum.


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Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: aphaenogaster, camponotus, crematogaster, formica, lasius, tapinoma, temnothorax, tetramorium, utah, formicariums, foranto, journal, pogonomyrmex, pheidole

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