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Salad - Solenopsis and Lasius Adventures by Domagoj


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#1 Offline Domagoj - Posted August 18 2021 - 11:06 AM

Domagoj

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I suppose I should document the progress of my three young colonies, but three separate topics would be too much for me, so you get to see the "best moments" abridged version.
 
First off, there is the Solenopsis fugax queen I caught last year. She has already been through hell of one catastrophic hibernation with flooding of biblical proportions where she was the sole survivor of my blunder with the cooling system. Her hibernation mates all died, but she survived and now has a few cute little workers. I tried to count them several times, but they are so tiny and light colored that I seem to have lot of trouble counting them all. They could also be hiding. Another plausible explanation is that my eyesight isn't what it used to be. In any case, there isn't much activity, I offered them a few mosquitoes, but they don't seem to be interested in them. Sunburst is available.
 
The other two test tubes are housing a Lasius emarginatus and L. niger. They were caught late June. Both have a nice clump of brood, emarginatus being a bit more productive. Apparently she's also a bit faster since today I noticed the first worker. Another one looks to be coming shorty as well. I suppose this is good enough of reason to post a picture.
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Worker bottom left, another one almost ready to eclose on top. If you look closely, you may notice the queen in the middle. She's not too tidy with her brood. There are eggs all around the test tube. Hopefully now that she has help, things will sort out and order will be established.

 

In other news, I'm making small nests for all three, but that will go into the Pictures of Formicariums thread.


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#2 Offline Domagoj - Posted August 28 2021 - 11:08 PM

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Update 29.08.2021.

S. fugax seems to have paused in growth. There are a few workers, but their number does not seem to be increasing. They are tiny so I could be miscounting them, but I was hoping to see more of them by now. I've noticed at least on dead worker at the outskirts of the test tube. They don't seem to be foraging nor interested in any of the food I've been offering them (mosquitoes, bloodworms, various types of fish and turtle food, seeds etc). I did notice one of the mosquitoes I gave them was moved a bit, but that's it. Perhaps they took what they wanted/needed from it and are fine for now. I don't know. I'll keep offering food and sugar.

Their test tube is now completely dry. A while ago I offered them a smaller test tube with fresh water and a restriction in the opening, but they haven't moved yet, so today I'm starting the eviction process to move them into the small nest I made and posted about in the Formicariums thread. I hooked it up and exposing test tube to light (i just put it next to a window, it's overcast/rainy today so no direct sunlight for now), but I'm worried that, as small as it is, the nest is still too big for them. Then again, by volume, the test tube is larger then the nest, according to my eyeballing abilities.

 

L. emarginatus still doesn't have any workers, but the queen is sitting on her small brood pile that seems to be in almost every stage of development (I haven't noticed any pupae yet). Fingers crossed, even though the development is a bit slower than my last years queens.

 

L. niger, my most active colony, is up to four workers, not including one dead I found in the outworld (tubs and tubes setup). They also have a very nice brood pile and I expect more workers soon. They seem to be starting to explore the outworld but, as with S. fugax, they don't seem to be all that interested in the food I've been offering. Their test tube is also drying up and I've provided them with a new one, but I've seen on two occasions a worker exploring the now dry water chamber of the old test tube. Apparently, the cotton ball shrunk a bit and an opening formed. I'm pretty sure the queen wouldn't be able to fit through, but workers may find it interesting. I'll let them roam there since fixing that would require quite a bit of disturbance.


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