356 replies to this topic

[SYUTEO]

Sad that the journal is coming to an end. If you want to find some queens, you can go to the Bukit Kiara Federal Park. There are lots of ants there that would pique your interest. For example, I found some Cataulacus, Gesomyrmex, Camponotus bedoti and a Dilobocondyla yamanei queen that I am attempting to raise. Good luck!

That's nice! Not sure when can I go though, I've been cubing (solving Rubik's Cubes) a lot recently and I have competition coming soon.

[ANTdrew]

Sorry to hear this, but don’t give up.

[T.C.]

Sad that the journal is coming to an end. If you want to find some queens, you can go to the Bukit Kiara Federal Park. There are lots of ants there that would pique your interest. For example, I found some Cataulacus, Gesomyrmex, Camponotus bedoti and a Dilobocondyla yamanei queen that I am attempting to raise. Good luck!

That's nice! Not sure when can I go though, I've been cubing (solving Rubik's Cubes) a lot recently and I have competition coming soon.

That's a thing? I'm not trolling, I'm genuinely curious now. Believe me it takes me a solid hour to fix a Rubiks cube I messed up.

[ANTdrew]

I can figure those things out to save my life!

[SYUTEO]

 

 

Sad that the journal is coming to an end. If you want to find some queens, you can go to the Bukit Kiara Federal Park. There are lots of ants there that would pique your interest. For example, I found some Cataulacus, Gesomyrmex, Camponotus bedoti and a Dilobocondyla yamanei queen that I am attempting to raise. Good luck!

That's nice! Not sure when can I go though, I've been cubing (solving Rubik's Cubes) a lot recently and I have competition coming soon.

That's a thing? I'm not trolling, I'm genuinely curious now. Believe me it takes me a solid hour to fix a Rubiks cube I messed up.

 

Yes, and have been for a long time.

[SYUTEO]

This is ridiculous

 

The moment I decided to discountinue this journal I found a trap-jaw ant queen. That being said, do you guys still want to follow updates on this queen? If yes, I'll probably update it on my old trap-jaw ant journal.

[ANTdrew]

Of course, man. Like I said, never give up.

[Ant-nig321]

This is ridiculous

The moment I decided to discountinue this journal I found a trap-jaw ant queen. That being said, do you guys still want to follow updates on this queen? If yes, I'll probably update it on my old trap-jaw ant journal.

Yasss!!


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[SYUTEO]

Everyone, after nearly a whole year, this journal is back! I took a long hiatus from antkeeping due to burnout but hopefully now I am motivated enough to update this journal for all of you. Coincidentally, it's also on my birthday!   Here are the ants that will be featured here:

 

1 Camponotus irritans founding queen

1 Camponotus parius founding queen

1 Pheidole megacephala colony with 12 queens and about 50-80 workers

 

The two Camponotus queens are housed in a test tube setup and the P. megacephala are currently housed in a tubs and tubes setup but I plan on moving them to a new setup. Pictures will be coming in the next update!

 

Also I'm unable to find queen ants in the usual places I find them for some reason, they're getting harder and harder to find for me. Even the place where I found the two Camponotus queens don't have a lot of queens flying, not even others of their own species so I'm really hoping that they are fertile.

[ANTdrew]

Glad you're back at it. I hope the lack of queens does not continue for you. 

[ANTS_KL]

Everyone, after nearly a whole year, this journal is back! I took a long hiatus from antkeeping due to burnout but hopefully now I am motivated enough to update this journal for all of you. Coincidentally, it's also on my birthday!   Here are the ants that will be featured here:

 

1 Camponotus irritans founding queen

1 Camponotus parius founding queen

1 Pheidole megacephala colony with 12 queens and about 50-80 workers

 

The two Camponotus queens are housed in a test tube setup and the P. megacephala are currently housed in a tubs and tubes setup but I plan on moving them to a new setup. Pictures will be coming in the next update!

 

Also I'm unable to find queen ants in the usual places I find them for some reason, they're getting harder and harder to find for me. Even the place where I found the two Camponotus queens don't have a lot of queens flying, not even others of their own species so I'm really hoping that they are fertile.

Same here. Oddly, Malaysia has been having a shortage of nuptial flights this year. Not sure if it's the rising temperature, but it doesn't look good. 

[SYUTEO]

Hi everyone, I know, it's been 2 whole months since the last update and the reason is I'm just not that motivated to update anymore. Anyways, here is one picture of the Camponotus irritans. They now have 4 workers. Also according to ANTS_KL, they could be a subspecies of C. irritans, Camponotus irritans inferior.

C. parius keeps eating her eggs and P. megacephala lost a lot of workers but they still have their queens and a big pile of eggs.

[SYUTEO]

So unfortunately C. irritans is down to just one worker and no brood, I'm very sorry that this journal's comeback has been a huge disappointment especially since it's rated 5 stars but the thing is I just don't have the time and motivation anymore and that queens are getting harder to find. And from what I heard from my parents we might also be in a financial crisis as well. C. parius is likely infertile and P. megacephala is also dying out. It is likely this journal may be discontinued again so I'm sorry that its comeback only lasted 2 months and two updates. 

 

Now don't think too much, even though I may enter another hiatus, I will still visit this forum at least once a day and maybe post every now and then. I might also post photos of interesting ants I find, maybe on the photography thread even though they're probably going to be very bad since I don't have a camera nor macro lens. If I have the motivation and time again I might continue this journal as antkeeping has taught me a lot of things that amazed me and people I know.

 

There is still a chance the C. irritans can survive and live long enough for the journal to continue. All my feeders have also died except for my Turkestan roaches (Blatta lateralis) which are still alive and seem to be doing well.

[ANTdrew]

Don’t give up!

[100lols]

Sounds like you have a lot going on. But I agree, don’t give up!! Maybe being forced to focus on fewer colonies would help with your burnout. Get you that sense of connection and intimacy back with your pets.

I recently watched “Life on our planet” on Netflix and I’m feeling even more motivated and in love with these little life forms. Highly suggest checking it out either way!

Cheers mate!

[SYUTEO]

Hi all,

 

It's been a while, if you're wondering what I have been doing, basically I took a hiatus after my last Odontomachus simillimus colony died out and I have been more focused on other things. Now I feel like keeping ants again but I'm sticking to fewer colonies to avoid overworking myself on them.

 

The first queen I decided to keep was a Camponotus queen which I've referred to as Camponotus irritans but according to a friend of mine, C. irritans and a few other species/subspecies is currently being revised so currenty it's uncertain if they actually are C. irritans. For now I'll just call them the Camponotus colony. This queen was caught on 31st August 2024 and now they are around 40-50 workers strong. I've been feeding them mostly honey, fruits, jam and cooked meat for protein now as I don't feel like raising feeders again.

 

These pictures are of the colony on 7th October 2024.

This is the colony now with a brood pile, the queen is rather shy. Most of the workers have left the test tube and went to the outworld which is why there aren't many workers in the pictures. Their setup actually consists of 2 test tubes which the second I intended for them to move out of their old and dirty one but it's been at least a month and they still refuse to move. Light absolutely did not seem to bother them.

Then there's an Oecophylla smaragdina queen I caught on 22nd April this year and just today her first nanitic eclosed!

There's also a Carebara affinis queen that I caught two days after catching the Oecophylla queen but I don't want to take a picture as this species is rather sensitive. I did check on her yesterday and it seems that she only has eggs at the moment which is a bit strange as usually by now they would have had larvae and workers would usually appear around next week or the week after. I suppose it is possible she laid her eggs late and I am hoping she successfully raises her colony.

[SYUTEO]

Oecophylla smaragdina now has 4 workers!

 

I checked the second test tube of the Camponotus colony and apparently they had transformed it into their bathroom and rubbish dump instead of moving in.