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Subverted's Ants


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#61 Offline Subverted - Posted September 25 2015 - 8:15 PM

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Took a video of one of my M. mexicanus colonies the other night

 


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My ants | My free feeder design | PM or email me if you need and 3d printing, cnc machining, or manufacturing done: http://www.lrmachining.com

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#62 Offline Alexant - Posted September 27 2015 - 11:29 AM

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How many workers are in this colony?



#63 Offline Subverted - Posted September 27 2015 - 12:11 PM

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I think it has 12-14 workers. Not sure if those cocoons have opened up yet


My ants | My free feeder design | PM or email me if you need and 3d printing, cnc machining, or manufacturing done: http://www.lrmachining.com

Make your own mold/fungus/bacteria resistant test tube water! Don't get ripped off! Read my simple guide: http://www.formicult...-simple-how-to/

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#64 Offline LC3 - Posted September 28 2015 - 11:19 AM

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I heard that if the workers have nothing to hang upside down too than they use the queen as a replete. Noticing that your tube only has a bit of san at the bottom how do you plan to get the repletes?



#65 Offline Subverted - Posted September 28 2015 - 12:31 PM

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The M. mexicanus don't seem to have any trouble with walking on the glass but that has been on my mind as well. I don't have a solution yet.


My ants | My free feeder design | PM or email me if you need and 3d printing, cnc machining, or manufacturing done: http://www.lrmachining.com

Make your own mold/fungus/bacteria resistant test tube water! Don't get ripped off! Read my simple guide: http://www.formicult...-simple-how-to/

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov


#66 Offline Vendayn - Posted October 14 2015 - 9:41 PM

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You'd have to freeze the wood first.

 

But, would putting a small piece of wood work for your Myrmecocystus colony? The idea came up because my Drywood termites have tons of wood in their tubing and they've been there for over a month. No mold or anything. Maybe its the wood I used (it was sitting out for ages in the garage and was incredibly dry, plus I froze it for over a day to kill anything, like mites). I just made sure the wood didn't touch the wet cotton inside the tubing, so there is about half an inch gap from the wood to the cotton. Some of the wood is even a bit wet, and no mold at all.

 

Just a suggestion. :) But, your results may vary. :P


Edited by Vendayn, October 14 2015 - 9:42 PM.


#67 Offline Subverted - Posted October 28 2015 - 9:01 AM

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Life has had me pretty busy lately, if its not one thing its everything else! Thankfully the ants seem to be doing just fine, they didn't even notice I was neglecting them.

 

The Novomessor cockerelli colony of mine is doing great:

 

 

 

 

The center section of that formicarium has 2 microscope slides stuck to the lid with silicone - it works amazingly for taking photos.

 

 


My ants | My free feeder design | PM or email me if you need and 3d printing, cnc machining, or manufacturing done: http://www.lrmachining.com

Make your own mold/fungus/bacteria resistant test tube water! Don't get ripped off! Read my simple guide: http://www.formicult...-simple-how-to/

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov


#68 Offline Subverted - Posted October 28 2015 - 9:07 AM

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These free range Liometopum occidentale are doing the best of any of my colonies:

 

 

 

That pile of brood :o


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My ants | My free feeder design | PM or email me if you need and 3d printing, cnc machining, or manufacturing done: http://www.lrmachining.com

Make your own mold/fungus/bacteria resistant test tube water! Don't get ripped off! Read my simple guide: http://www.formicult...-simple-how-to/

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov


#69 Offline drtrmiller - Posted October 28 2015 - 3:30 PM

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These free range Liometopum occidentale are doing the best of any of my colonies:

 

What are they eating?




byFormica® is the manufacturer of the iconic nectar feeders and Sunburst Ant Nectar.
byFormica ant products always deliver consistent performance, convenience,
and reliability, making them among the most beloved ant foods and kit enjoyed by
ant keeping enthusiasts worldwide. For more information, visit www.byFormica.com.

#70 Offline dspdrew - Posted October 28 2015 - 3:58 PM

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The sticky icky. :lol:



#71 Offline Subverted - Posted October 28 2015 - 4:13 PM

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What are they eating?

 

 

Anything and everything. Sometimes I feed them powdered egg yolk or nectar mix. Mostly they scavenge dead bugs and eat fungus gnats.


My ants | My free feeder design | PM or email me if you need and 3d printing, cnc machining, or manufacturing done: http://www.lrmachining.com

Make your own mold/fungus/bacteria resistant test tube water! Don't get ripped off! Read my simple guide: http://www.formicult...-simple-how-to/

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov


#72 Offline antmaniac - Posted October 28 2015 - 6:41 PM

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Free range indoor? Maybe they can help with tidying up in the kitchen.

#73 Offline Mdrogun - Posted October 28 2015 - 7:07 PM

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You should post a video of your Liometopetum. They look incredible.


Currently Keeping:
Trachymyrmex septentrionalis

Pheidole pilifera

Forelius sp. (Monogynous, bicolored) "Midwestern Forelius"
Crematogaster cerasi

Pheidole bicarinata

Aphaenogaster rudis

Camponotus chromaiodes

Formica sp. (microgena species)

Nylanderia cf. arenivega


#74 Offline Subverted - Posted October 30 2015 - 7:53 AM

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Blurry Dorymyrmex:

 

 

Myrmecocystus:

 

 

 

M. navajo:

 

 


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My ants | My free feeder design | PM or email me if you need and 3d printing, cnc machining, or manufacturing done: http://www.lrmachining.com

Make your own mold/fungus/bacteria resistant test tube water! Don't get ripped off! Read my simple guide: http://www.formicult...-simple-how-to/

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov


#75 Offline Subverted - Posted October 30 2015 - 7:54 AM

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Free range Liometopum occidentale colony:

 

 

I might try taking some more video of these guys in a day or two.


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My ants | My free feeder design | PM or email me if you need and 3d printing, cnc machining, or manufacturing done: http://www.lrmachining.com

Make your own mold/fungus/bacteria resistant test tube water! Don't get ripped off! Read my simple guide: http://www.formicult...-simple-how-to/

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov


#76 Offline Subverted - Posted November 2 2015 - 9:07 AM

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Here is some video of the free range colony:

 


My ants | My free feeder design | PM or email me if you need and 3d printing, cnc machining, or manufacturing done: http://www.lrmachining.com

Make your own mold/fungus/bacteria resistant test tube water! Don't get ripped off! Read my simple guide: http://www.formicult...-simple-how-to/

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov


#77 Offline Subverted - Posted November 18 2015 - 2:45 PM

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Liometopum occidentale feeding frenzy over some nectar mix

 


My ants | My free feeder design | PM or email me if you need and 3d printing, cnc machining, or manufacturing done: http://www.lrmachining.com

Make your own mold/fungus/bacteria resistant test tube water! Don't get ripped off! Read my simple guide: http://www.formicult...-simple-how-to/

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov


#78 Offline Subverted - Posted November 30 2015 - 5:24 PM

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For some reason this lost some sharpness when being cropped...but still a cool photo! Pogonomyrmex californicus

 

23065674699_555c5df570_b.jpg


My ants | My free feeder design | PM or email me if you need and 3d printing, cnc machining, or manufacturing done: http://www.lrmachining.com

Make your own mold/fungus/bacteria resistant test tube water! Don't get ripped off! Read my simple guide: http://www.formicult...-simple-how-to/

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov


#79 Offline dspdrew - Posted December 1 2015 - 6:51 AM

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Your Liometopum occidentale colony looks like it's doing really well. The Crematogaster colony I free-ranged for a while is doing really well too. It would be cool if this was tried more often, so we could see if ants really do much better living this way.

 

BTW, if you let HTML shrink pictures (which this forum does if they are over 800px wide), it looks like crap. The best thing to do is resize them to 800px using a photo editor before embedding them.



#80 Offline Subverted - Posted January 3 2016 - 3:02 PM

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Myrmecocystus mexicanus have repletes now

 

24046836512_4e6a9be245_b.jpg


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My ants | My free feeder design | PM or email me if you need and 3d printing, cnc machining, or manufacturing done: http://www.lrmachining.com

Make your own mold/fungus/bacteria resistant test tube water! Don't get ripped off! Read my simple guide: http://www.formicult...-simple-how-to/

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov





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