43 replies to this topic

[cap_backfire]

Fair!   It's mostly my "regular sized" ants who get sent out to do the murders/ harvest foodstuffs.   I just noticed the peewees go out to get the sweets.  I DO love how you can watch their gasters fill up within about 30 seconds. They are so cool to watch.  I spent over an hour just voyuering them the other night. didn't even know where the time went. 

[cap_backfire]

OK as of now, the two smaller Camponotus "colonies" I have will be kind of shunted out of this journal.  If and when they advance in numbers I'll give them their own... As for now, an update on Lucy and her girls!   

Numbers seem to have grown pretty quickly-must have been a sizable eclosing ceremony I wasn't invited to.   Now, when I open the lid, a sure sign it's feeding time, about 40 girls come rushing out of the top and the main opening of the nest, frantic for goodies.   Yesterday, I gave them two large crickets-massive crickets-which were pre-killed, frozen and thawed... OMG.   There is nothing left.  The girls on top are usually in charge of the honey and their quarter sized "droplet" is basically gone now.   They are still lapping up the dried remains but... If they are working me this hard NOW, then when the next eclosure happens (they have at LEAST 50 cocoons waiting to pop) it'll just be that much more difficult to keep up but SO much more fun to watch.   Replacing all my barriers tomorrow, because I'm getting nervous I'll have a big problem if I have another escape... 

Loving ant keeping so far, and these girls have really kept me going.   

[cap_backfire]

OK so update on these maniacs... I hope to have pics soon that aren';t horrible.  Waiting on a new phone with better cameras on it.   

So, at least 100 pupae right now, larvae all over the place-not sure why they don't keep these together more?  They seem to be really spread out.   Is this so they don't suffer cannibalism from hungry nestmates?   eggs are difficult to find or view in my setup but I can usually see a few girls hauling around a cluster of 10 or so eggs.  Hard to tell the egg numbers as the girls are pretty quick, even in the nest.   They're still savage for their protein and insane about honey water.   Fresh fruit is a huge hit but there's usually some stiff competition between the two snails and the isopods-which is good because I managed to have a fruit fly outbreak in that setup that is basically stressing my sanity.   

 

So we're up to about 400 sisters now, with at least another 100 in the near future.  They're finally making some serious use of their nest and have PLENTY of room to grow.   Even see the queen herself on a regular basis.   All in all very proud of this colony as my first go round.  

[cap_backfire]

OK I finally made a DECENT video of my setup, and currently uploading a follow up video to my YouTubes now.   I would love some help or rule of thumb for estimating population as I assume I have between 1k and 1200 girls in this setup.   Tips and tricks???   

Thanks for tuning in!