166 replies to this topic

[Subverted]

I finally moved some Myrmecocystus into new test tubes...just don't have a good solution for housing these worked out yet.

 

M. mimicus:

 

[Subverted]

The P. californicus have made a lot of progress on their nest after being moved!

 

Front:

 

 

Back:

 

[Runner12]

How much space are you giving them between the glass?

[Subverted]

The total area for that nest and the one they moved from is 3/8in wide, 10in long, 8in tall.

[Mdrogun]

What happened to your free range Liometopum colony?

[Subverted]

One colony died off when I moved them, the other just got a new tube about a week ago:

 

[Subverted]

Like everyone else had some trouble with their Acromyrmex colonies this spring...mine is down to the queen and a single worker. The fungus does not look happy at all...

 

[dspdrew]

 

One of my big colonies is still not really recovering from its huge die-off.

[Subverted]

Yeah I think they might totally lose their fungus actually... I don't even really have my mycology stuff setup at the moment to be able to try and rescue it either! Bad timing haha.

[Vendayn]

I had a few of my Acromyrmex workers die off over Winter and the eggs weren't growing at all. But, mine is doing really good ever since I put in a heater. They had a worker recently eclose, and when I looked a week or two ago, they had TONS of larvae and quite a few pupae. The colony is starting to grow at a really nice speed now. Not sure how many eggs they have though, but once I put in the heater, it only took the eggs a 2-3 days to be large larvae. From there, it took 5 to 7 days to turn into pupae. After that, the first worker took a week and a half to a couple weeks to eclose. The brood grows really fast. About as fast as my Solenopsis invicta and Solenopsis xyloni did. 

 

I always keep them at 80 degrees in the day (according to the thermometer in there), and it drops to 75 degrees at night. This seems like temperature they really like and do really good in. Before the heater, it was actually too cold, 70-73 degrees in the day and dropping to the 60s at night. So, that is quite a difference with the heater.

 

I'm just surprised how fast the brood developed though, from egg to worker. I wasn't expecting the brood to grow as fast as Solenopsis invicta brood does.

 

However, did have the issue of a massive amount of fungus dying off (half of it) some time back. But, I think it was because it just got too cold for it. Because the week it died off, we had an entire week where it was VERY cold. That same time was when the fungus died off quite a bit. But, the fungus came back to be nice and healthy.

Edited by Vendayn, May 13 2016 - 12:04 PM.

[Chall]

I fed orange to a couple of the groups of queens I am trying out...they decided to stick their eggs to it. Pretty odd.
 

Or the citric acid might possibly keep them safe from bacteria and fungus.

[Tpro4]

what kind of camera do you have? and you're so lucky to catch so many queens, i'm very unlucky every year! :sad:

[Subverted]

This Crematogaster queen I have had sitting in a tube for months finally laid eggs a few weeks ago and now has a pupa!

 

[Subverted]

Or the citric acid might possibly keep them safe from bacteria and fungus.

Unfortunately the brood they stuck to that ended up dying...eventually the queens consumed most of it and stopped putting eggs on it.
 

what kind of camera do you have? and you're so lucky to catch so many queens, i'm very unlucky every year! :sad:

I have been using a Nikon D5500 for most of the last year and was using a D40 before that. Catching queens takes a lot of work! You have to do a lot of research, watch the weather forecasts, and follow up on all of that with time spent out in the right habitats at the right times.

Sometimes you just need to get lucky too All you can do is keep trying!

[Foogoo]

Did you detail your dirt Pogonomyrmex setup somewhere that I missed? I'm curious how you keep it hydrated. The trouble I've had with dirt setups is either needing daily watering or getting too wet and quickly growing mold.

[Subverted]

I'm not sure if I ever posted details on that but its pretty simple. There is just a straw up against the side that allows water to go to the bottom of the nest and soak into the dirt from there.

[sgheaton]

Can you provide a drawling of it?

[Subverted]

Why do you need a drawing? Look at the photo of the Pogonomyrmex colony and the red straw on the side - it is exactly as simple as I described it.

[Subverted]

This Camponotus semitestaceus queen that I collected ages ago finally laid eggs - 10 months later!

 

 

In other news I witnessed one of my Novomessor cockerelli workers laying an egg. I'm guessing this is a "trophic egg" used for feeding the queen/brood:

 

[PTAntFan]

Subverted, a few questions if you don't mind:

 

1. Do you like the thickness you chose for the Pogonomyrmex? 10mm.  Or do you wish it was thinner? 
2. What substrate are you using?
3. What is the height & width and do you think that's a good starter or final size given how big Pogonomyrmex colonies can get?
4. What's the thickness of your panes, is there any bowing?
5. Is your second setup acrylic or glass?

Thanks!  Great pictures and journal!

Edited by PTAntFan, June 4 2016 - 9:23 AM.