354 replies to this topic

[NickAnter]

Sorry but I have to correct you, It's called a ant colony or formicarium. There's a difference an ant colony has a reproductive and a ant farm is just workers.

*an ant colony

 

Sorry, had to correct you there.

 

We need to see more journals on these tropical species, I wonder what the founder of this journal could find in a day in a rural forest...

[ANTS_KL]

Pictures:

Paratopula sp, she doesn't like me taking pictures of her and she likes to run around her test tube carrying her eggs whenever she feels vibrations or sees light. Circled is an egg and a larva.

WhatsApp Image 2021-11-08 at 1.13.03 PM.jpeg

Trichomyrmex destructor, the queen now has workers and next the worker next to her seems to be a major.

Anochetus sp2, she's a dark red Anochetus queen and she already laid two eggs! (not in picture unfortunately) Also good luck finding her in the picture   , she blends in very well.

Mesoponera cf rubra, she hasn't shed her wings or has she laid any eggs yet (neither has the other queen of the same species ).

Mesoponera rubra indeed! Good luck! 

[SYUTEO]

 

Sorry but I have to correct you, It's called a ant colony or formicarium. There's a difference an ant colony has a reproductive and a ant farm is just workers.

*an ant colony

 

Sorry, had to correct you there.

 

We need to see more journals on these tropical species, I wonder what the founder of this journal could find in a day in a rural forest...

 

Probably either nothing, just a handful or so many I don't have enough space to put them in my ant room (my ant room is literally just a small store room in my house and the only place I can house my ants is on two shelves and the place I take the pictures is also on one of the shelves.).

[Antkeeper01]

Sorry but I have to correct you, It's called a ant colony or formicarium. There's a difference an ant colony has a reproductive and a ant farm is just workers.

*an ant colony
 
Sorry, had to correct you there.
 
We need to see more journals on these tropical species, I wonder what the founder of this journal could find in a day in a rural forest...

crap I remember typing in the n i probably accidentally deleted it.

[SYUTEO]

I caught a new queen ant! I'm not sure what species though, either Euponera sharpi or Ectomomyrmex leeuwenhoeki.

[SYUTEO]

I got home and saw that the Anochetus colony now only has 3 pupae. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. My guess is that there's either a problem with the substrate, I'm under feeding them due to me not being home for 3 days, the queen probably died or had an egg laying break or possibly something else. If you know what may have happened please inform me and tell me what I should do to help them. It's my first time keeping a colony of Anochetus so I don't know much about their care.

 

The Anochetus queen has one larva.

 

Both S. geminata queens now have their nanitics.

 

BCA and Odontoponera died.

 

I caught two new queens, Tetramorium cf bicarinatum and Camponotus albosparsus.

 

Paratopula larvae are bigger and should hopefully pupate in the next few days.

[SYUTEO]

Found another O. simillimus queen! Hope she lets all of her larvae pupate.

[SYUTEO]

I came back home (again) and I have good news and bad news.

 

The good news:

 

Paratopula has 1 pupa and it looks like it's a worker.

 

Unknown ponerine, Tetramorium cf bicarinatum and Camponotus albosparsus queens laid eggs.

 

Anochetus (queen) has two larvae.

 

Most other small colonies have more workers.

 

The bad news:

 

Anochetus (colony) has no brood except a few eggs, they could have more that they hid away from my view.

 

Both Mesoponera rubra queens did not shed their wings nor did they lay eggs.

 

One S. geminata colony has two dead workers.

 

Tetramorium cf lanuginosum created a chamber in the wet cotton.

 

Iridomyrmex anceps has less workers than before.

 

 

 

I believe all the deaths is probably due to me not being at home for over a week and their repletes had ran out of food so they all starved, I will start feeding them and hopefully they'll regain all the lost workers.

[Idontexist]

Quick update on the Anochetus queen, she built a small chamber for herself, though she is usually seen foraging in the test tube. Unfortunately no eggs yet, hopefully she will start laying in the next few days. Also, I find that she doesn't eat anything else other than springtails, any suggestions on what to feed her?

Anochetus are known to eat very small prey so I think only springtails will work. Good luck tho! Damn I want em BAD. I found a dead queen once. Eaten by a spider... Killed the spider >:-D I'm still sad... Honestly [censored] spiders


Sent from my CPH2201 using Tapatalk

Quick update on the Anochetus queen, she built a small chamber for herself, though she is usually seen foraging in the test tube. Unfortunately no eggs yet, hopefully she will start laying in the next few days. Also, I find that she doesn't eat anything else other than springtails, any suggestions on what to feed her?

Anochetus are known to eat very small prey so I think only springtails will work. Good luck tho! Damn I want em BAD. I found a dead queen once. Eaten by a spider... Killed the spider >:-D I'm still sad... Honestly [censored] spiders


Sent from my CPH2201 using Tapatalk

[legendlife_ants]

Does anyone know how to keep trap jaw 
queen ant? I just caught one today.

[ANTS_KL]

I came back home (again) and I have good news and bad news.

 

The good news:

 

Paratopula has 1 pupa and it looks like it's a worker.

 

Unknown ponerine, Tetramorium cf bicarinatum and Camponotus albosparsus queens laid eggs.

 

Anochetus (queen) has two larvae.

 

Most other small colonies have more workers.

 

The bad news:

 

Anochetus (colony) has no brood except a few eggs, they could have more that they hid away from my view.

 

Both Mesoponera rubra queens did not shed their wings nor did they lay eggs.

 

One S. geminata colony has two dead workers.

 

Tetramorium cf lanuginosum created a chamber in the wet cotton.

 

Iridomyrmex anceps has less workers than before.

 

 

 

I believe all the deaths is probably due to me not being at home for over a week and their repletes had ran out of food so they all starved, I will start feeding them and hopefully they'll regain all the lost workers.

Good luck! Oecophylla nuptial flights are starting again!! Try and get a queen or 2 and see how it works out!

[SYUTEO]

Does anyone know how to keep trap jaw 
queen ant? I just caught one today.

It depends on the species. Though for sure, all trap jaw ants need high humidity except for desert species. There are many setups for raising a trap jaw ant queen, I find the most popular are test tubes filled with substrate attached or placed in an outworld. You will need to feed her insects everyday, this is to prevent her from eating her own eggs and also to feed the larvae once they hatch. Substrate is a must as the larvae need it to spin a cocoon.

[SYUTEO]

Here some pictures of some of the queens and colonies.

 

Solenopsis geminata, this is the second colony I have which has grown a lot.

Tetramorium cf bicarinatum, she broke off her wings and laid eggs (though it is very hard to spot since it's on the cotton).

Trichomyrmex destructor, they have more workers and you can see a major nest to the queen.

Camponotus albosparsus, she laid pink eggs, just like my C. irritans queen when she started founding.

Unknown Ponerine, this was her when I first caught her back in my grandmother's house (I actually caught her in a plantation, I brought her back to my grandmother's house to take pictures). And also I cropped this photo as she seems very small in the original photo and also so you don't need to find her and zoom in to look at her.

[ANTS_KL]

Here some pictures of some of the queens and colonies.

Solenopsis geminata, this is the second colony I have which has grown a lot.

Tetramorium cf bicarinatum, she broke off her wings and laid eggs (though it is very hard to spot since it's on the cotton).
WhatsApp Image 2021-11-22 at 8.30.48 PM (2).jpeg
Trichomyrmex destructor, they have more workers and you can see a major nest to the queen.

Camponotus albosparsus, she laid pink eggs, just like my C. irritans queen when she started founding.

Unknown Ponerine, this was her when I first caught her back in my grandmother's house (I actually caught her in a plantation, I brought her back to my grandmother's house to take pictures). And also I cropped this photo as she seems very small in the original photo and also so you don't need to find her and zoom in to look at her.

Looks like brachyponera

Sent from my CPH2201 using Tapatalk

[SYUTEO]

 

Here some pictures of some of the queens and colonies.

Solenopsis geminata, this is the second colony I have which has grown a lot.

Tetramorium cf bicarinatum, she broke off her wings and laid eggs (though it is very hard to spot since it's on the cotton).
WhatsApp Image 2021-11-22 at 8.30.48 PM (2).jpeg
Trichomyrmex destructor, they have more workers and you can see a major nest to the queen.

Camponotus albosparsus, she laid pink eggs, just like my C. irritans queen when she started founding.

Unknown Ponerine, this was her when I first caught her back in my grandmother's house (I actually caught her in a plantation, I brought her back to my grandmother's house to take pictures). And also I cropped this photo as she seems very small in the original photo and also so you don't need to find her and zoom in to look at her.

Looks like brachyponera

Sent from my CPH2201 using Tapatalk

 

I also think it could be Brachyponera but how sure are you?

[ANTS_KL]

Here some pictures of some of the queens and colonies.

Solenopsis geminata, this is the second colony I have which has grown a lot.

Tetramorium cf bicarinatum, she broke off her wings and laid eggs (though it is very hard to spot since it's on the cotton).
WhatsApp Image 2021-11-22 at 8.30.48 PM (2).jpeg
Trichomyrmex destructor, they have more workers and you can see a major nest to the queen.

Camponotus albosparsus, she laid pink eggs, just like my C. irritans queen when she started founding.

Unknown Ponerine, this was her when I first caught her back in my grandmother's house (I actually caught her in a plantation, I brought her back to my grandmother's house to take pictures). And also I cropped this photo as she seems very small in the original photo and also so you don't need to find her and zoom in to look at her.

Looks like brachyponera

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I also think it could be Brachyponera but how sure are you?

75% sure. I don't think we have many other ponerines with that body shape

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[SYUTEO]

Well, there's still Ponera (2 species), Euponera (2 species), and Hypoponera (7 species and 2 subspecies).

 

Edit: I was going to say Ectomomyrmex but then I realized Ectomomyrmex does not have clubbed antennae.

Edited by SYUTEO, November 24 2021 - 7:15 PM.

[SYUTEO]

Tetramorium cf bicarinatum has one larva currently confirmed.

 

Paratopula now has 2 pupae and she laid one new egg, the pupae should eclose in a few days (hopefully).

[SYUTEO]

Some crazy things happened recently:

 

The second S. geminata colony somehow managed to get through the cotton and collected some debris into their nest, I managed to get most of the workers back into their test tube.

 

Crematogaster and Iridomyrmex also somehow managed to get through the cotton but luckily didn't escape.

 

Three new queens, Polyrhachis cf bicolor x1 dealate (she broke off her wings in the test tube) and Colobopsis sp x2, both alates and they didn't brake off their wings though and one of them keeps flying in the test tube which means she may be infertile or she's just trying to escape by flying.

[SYUTEO]

Both Colobopsis queens broke off their wings and one of them laid an egg!

 

I also did some reworking on the first post of this journal to keep it neater and easier to navigate through my ants if you want to see what species of ants I have.