72 replies to this topic

[Swirlysnowflake]

 

I think he wanted any termite species.

 

And wow they are not Zoots? Never heard of dry wood termites living in rotten logs resting on the soil lol. 

He did want a species, but i remember him making a post specifically for incistermes minor. 

 

That's because, at the time, the only person selling termites only had Incistermes minor for sale lol

[Vendayn]

I think he wanted any termite species.

 

And wow they are not Zoots? Never heard of dry wood termites living in rotten logs resting on the soil lol. 

My Incisitermes minor are even weirder They dig in the soil (just the layer right underneath the surface), love 60-75% humidity, love water, dry up SUPER fast (as in can be less than 10 minutes, usually takes a few hours in dry conditions though) and they dominate the forest floor outside (keeping even the local subterranean termites mostly away when they'd usually be all over the wood on the ground). The local Incisitermes minor also grow really fast from observing colonies outside, and don't do their first year winter hibernation hibernation thing either.

 

Though I guess M_Ants found his in front of a flood drain or something in a big log, it was mostly dry so they probably are more normal.

[M_Ants]

Well. I gave them a fresh super dry piece of wood and they LOVED it. They are all on it so that's that. They are aptly named. I still want to learn more about termite casts and reproduction. Like what is the reasoning behind the diagrams that show what termites can molt into. Is it just a roll of the dice? Do nymphs or pseudergates or whatever they are, do they just wake up and think, "Today's a good day to become a pre-soldier." Anyhow, I need a good nickname for them so please suggest some. 

[Antkeeper01]

The Inscisors because the majors mandibles look like scisors its the best i could come up with

[M_Ants]

Level Up! One of the workers (Aren't they technically called pseudergates?) leveled up! Not sure what to but it's still cool.

Edit: It's a nymph that just became bigger so technically closer to a reproductive.  

Edited by M_Ants, January 20 2021 - 8:13 PM.

[ANTdrew]

The Incistors
The Ride-or-Drys

[M_Ants]

Is the second one a whole thing or two separate ones? 

[Swirlysnowflake]

Looks like the colonies’ got a new king or queen on the way

[M_Ants]

Most likely. It could become an alate or soldier but since there a missing king I think it'll become a secondary reproductive. 

Edited by M_Ants, January 20 2021 - 8:38 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Is the second one a whole thing or two separate ones?

It’s like the saying “Ride or Die” but I swapped out die for dry because they are drywood termites.

[M_Ants]

So as far as the "worker" leveling up I finally got it. It was a pseudergate, aka a wingless nymph that does work in the colony. Now it has molted and is into a nymph and it was wingpads and won't do any work. It is on the path to becoming either a brachypterous neotenic aka a shorted wing neotenic aka a secondary reproductive. That would be the end of the line for it meaning it wouldn't molt anymore. Technically it could become a alate aka imago, but it's unlikely since I'm missing the king. Got all this info from people in the AAK termite section.

[M_Ants]

Some interesting plot twists occurred. First of all, that nymph that leveled up into what I first thought was just a closer stage to being a neotenic, is getting darker pigmentation indicating that it may have actually become a neotenic already. That's not all though. Yesterday I noticed that another one had molted. Apparently when a primary reproductive is absent they'll send as many forward as they can to molt into the reproductive that's missing. Spnimer on AAK suggested that "it was too late to stop the molt when the second one molted." It sensed the pheromones but was too far along. So that's great and all. Except now I got two males and a female or vice versa. Which means...there's a third wheel and apparently it will probably be killed off. Who knew termite's lives could be so dramatic? I wonder who the alate will choose and who will die. It's like the Bachelorette but hard core and you die if you lose. (I don't watch that show I just hear people talk about it). In the second to last photo you see the king or queen and the soon to be third wheel. 

Edited by M_Ants, January 22 2021 - 9:42 PM.

[Antkeeper01]

Some interesting plot twists occurred. First of all, that nymph that leveled up into what I first thought was just a closer stage to being a neotenic, is getting darker pigmentation indicating that it may have actually become a neotenic already. That's not all though. Yesterday I noticed that another one had molted. Apparently when a primary reproductive is absent they'll send as many forward as they can to molt into the reproductive that's missing. Spnimer on AAK suggested that "it was too late to stop the molt when the second one molted." It sensed the pheromones but was too far along. So that's great and all. Except now I got two males and a female or vice versa. Which means...there's a third wheel and apparently it will probably be killed off. Who knew termite's lives could be so dramatic? I wonder who the alate will choose and who will die. It's like the Bachelorette but hard core and you die if you lose. (I don't watch that show I just hear people talk about it). In the second to last photo you see the king or queen and the soon to be third wheel. 

Remove the third wheel and freeze them, or boil them then feed them to ants so its a fast death

[NickAnter]

I would leave them be.

[M_Ants]

I'm just gonna let them do their thing. I could be wrong and maybe the one that molted is just a bigger nymph. I'll know soon though. 

[antsandmore]

I'm just gonna let them do their thing. I could be wrong and maybe the one that molted is just a bigger nymph. I'll know soon though. 

I agree with you though, because what if you accidentally take out the secondary reproductive?

[M_Ants]

I want to preface this by saying that drywood termite keeping is pretty awesome. Lowest maintenance pet ever. Since I found out they were drywoods I stopped watering them and they've been doing great. I'm glad I let them do their thing. Looks like the "third wheel" was a molt or two behind the other one because it didn't become a neotenic. Also the queen or king, (it's gotta be a queen right?), is getting super thicc. I guessing she mated with that neotenic and is either about to lay or has already laid eggs. They've dug a hole in the wood where they could be hiding eggs. Can't wait for nymphs. 

[mmcguffi]

Very cool -- I'm pretty jealous. I have a damp wood and subterranean termites, but dry wood I think are the pinnacle -- no care what-so-ever!

[M_Ants]

Yeah. I still want dampwoods though.

[mmcguffi]

I'm sure you know about this, but just in case: https://www.wardsci....otermopsis-sp-i

 

Comes with more Zoots than Termitat does, for a fraction of the cost (though, I do think the Termitat is amazing and a good deal mostly because of the great design and aesthetics)