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Legendary Atta Mexicana - It doesn't get any bigger than this ;)


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#1 Offline Luke_in_AZ - Posted August 4 2021 - 8:43 PM

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Ever since I got into anting because of my to young boys, I dreamed of finding the biggest and coolest ant queen in the wild and starting a colony from a fresh nuptial flight I got to witness.  This is of course the legendary Atta Mexicana (in my humble opinion).  The only problem; no one I know of has ever specifically done this in the U.S.

So I started researching, learning and traveling to make this dream a reality. I found some great resources including Atta Mexicana studies and I have the luxury of living only a few minutes away from Cheeto in good’ol AZ.  I could not have done this without his advice.  Tyler is who you want on your team for anything ant related.  I’m continuously impressed by his knowledge.

 

After a lot of gas money, multiple trips driving all night, taking time off of work no sleep for over 48 hours and more (yah, my wife thinks I’ve gone bonkers. Lol).  I found the holy grail in southern Arizona. Of course, in my opinion.  Maybe you think honeypots are #1.  That’s cool, I give them a strong 2nd😉

 

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#2 Offline Luke_in_AZ - Posted August 4 2021 - 8:50 PM

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They were already getting ready to fly by 2:00am.  From previous research, I knew they would fly about 4:40.  Some research said exactly 4:39 or 4:40 but I thought there’s no way...  I almost fell over when they started to swarm at exactly 4:40 on the spanking dot.

 

Pics do not do these ants justice.  Their albatross sized wings could be used to make ceiling fans.  When they started to fly, I would have sworn the low-pitched buzz of wings could be heard from a mile away. 

 

Catching mated queens was not easy.  They fly fast and far and immediately find a place to hide.  However, I was able to get a small quantity.   

 

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#3 Offline Luke_in_AZ - Posted August 4 2021 - 8:57 PM

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I found this stowaway drone in my truck on the way home.  Even this male is so big, I could hear him scratching as he climbed around.

 

PS.  Never text and drive!  Taking pictures of ants climbing around is ok. 

 

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#4 Offline Luke_in_AZ - Posted August 4 2021 - 9:11 PM

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They are also super fuzzy.  Yep, I admit, I was petting some…  Pretty much like a cat.  If you’ve ever seen the movie despicable me; “[She’s] so fluffy I’m going to die!!!”

 

These queens are gigantic and make my “guy” hands look small (I’m 6’2”).  Pics aren’t sufficient.  Their bolt cutter sized jaws can only be appreciated fully in person.  No magnifying glass needed. 

 

It was nothing short of an incredible experience. 

 

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#5 Offline Manitobant - Posted August 4 2021 - 9:19 PM

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Did you catch any fertile queens? If so, how many?
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#6 Offline Luke_in_AZ - Posted August 4 2021 - 9:49 PM

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I believe I caught a decent amount of fertile queens.  I'm waiting for larvae to verify fertility though.  I'll get some pics and post.


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#7 Offline CheetoLord02 - Posted August 5 2021 - 12:28 AM

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Awesome stuff Luke. Wish I was there to see it with ya. It'll be nice to finally have somebody to share the joy of this species with. Hopefully once you give your colony a rope bridge your wife will appreciate them and maybe call you a bit less crazy... because you're totally doing a rope bridge, right? I feel like it should be a crime to have Atta and not do a rope bridge...


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#8 Offline SoySauce - Posted August 5 2021 - 1:12 AM

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Wow! Congratulations on your find! How do you know they’re atta mexicana as opposed to atta texana?
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#9 Offline Manitobant - Posted August 5 2021 - 9:25 AM

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Wow! Congratulations on your find! How do you know they’re atta mexicana as opposed to atta texana?

texana aren’t in arizona, only mexicana is.
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#10 Offline Luke_in_AZ - Posted August 5 2021 - 1:41 PM

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Awesome stuff Luke. Wish I was there to see it with ya. It'll be nice to finally have somebody to share the joy of this species with. Hopefully once you give your colony a rope bridge your wife will appreciate them and maybe call you a bit less crazy... because you're totally doing a rope bridge, right? I feel like it should be a crime to have Atta and not do a rope bridge...

 

lol, right!?  I will for sure be doing a rope bridge.  I'm envisioning an awesome long aquarium style like setup with a super long rope bridge.  It's mesmerizing to watch them.  I love your rope style in these pics I took (check out Cheeto's journal for amazing Atta pics!).  looks like a real vine.  where did you get it?

 

I tease my wife but she actually helped me a whole bunch with setting up formicarium so I think she's liking them more and more.  :)

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#11 Offline CheetoLord02 - Posted August 5 2021 - 2:19 PM

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My vine is a reptile vine, I got mine on Amazon. I think it's zoomed.


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#12 Offline Luke_in_AZ - Posted August 5 2021 - 8:21 PM

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I got all these ladies into some leaf cutter setups and crossed my fingers for fungus, eggs and then larvae.  I ran out of some hole plugs and had to use cotton temporarily. Even though these queens are fully claustral I gave them some flowers and leaves.  They promptly cut them up and moved them to the "garbage".  

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#13 Offline mmcguffi - Posted August 6 2021 - 5:57 AM

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Congrats! I had a very similar experience to you with Atta texana earlier this year -- watching the weather, staying up for several days, loosing my mind from sleep deprivation, and a very patient partner haha

 

My A. texana queens did not accept anything at all until nanitics came, so I wouldn't worry about about feeding them. You could "boost" them with some fungus (and workers) from Cheeto if that option is available to you. My most successful colony I boosted with ~golfball size of fungus, so at least in my experience it seems that more fungus is better, though simply making sure the queens all have viable fungus is the most important imo

 

Also -- can I ask if the A. mexicana queens have a funky/minty/citrus-y smell? Atta texana, and especially the queens, have a very pungent and interesting smell. It's not unpleasant, but I wouldn't want to wear it as a cologne haha 


Edited by mmcguffi, August 6 2021 - 6:00 AM.

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#14 Offline Luke_in_AZ - Posted August 6 2021 - 9:39 AM

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Congrats! I had a very similar experience to you with Atta texana earlier this year -- watching the weather, staying up for several days, loosing my mind from sleep deprivation, and a very patient partner haha

 

My A. texana queens did not accept anything at all until nanitics came, so I wouldn't worry about about feeding them. You could "boost" them with some fungus (and workers) from Cheeto if that option is available to you. My most successful colony I boosted with ~golfball size of fungus, so at least in my experience it seems that more fungus is better, though simply making sure the queens all have viable fungus is the most important imo

 

Also -- can I ask if the A. mexicana queens have a funky/minty/citrus-y smell? Atta texana, and especially the queens, have a very pungent and interesting smell. It's not unpleasant, but I wouldn't want to wear it as a cologne haha 

 

That's hilarious because I was going to post about their musty flower smell.  You're right, not unpleasant but definitely noticeable.  I first noticed the aroma when they started to fly.  The smell was so powerful it filled the entire area!  It caught me off guard because who would think that you could smell ants?

 

Luckily Cheeto is going to give the successful queens a boost of fungus soon. That will be awesome.  I'll post some pics.


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#15 Offline SoySauce - Posted August 6 2021 - 11:29 AM

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I got all these ladies into some leaf cutter setups and crossed my fingers for fungus, eggs and then larvae.  I ran out of some hole plugs and had to use cotton temporarily. Even though these queens are fully claustral I gave them some flowers and leaves.  They promptly cut them up and moved them to the "garbage".


Are those tubes used to hydrate the hydrostone?
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#16 Offline Luke_in_AZ - Posted August 6 2021 - 7:43 PM

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Correct, they go into a "open chamber" below the hydrostone. 


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#17 Offline Luke_in_AZ - Posted August 6 2021 - 7:47 PM

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I was so excited when I saw this fungus I almost started jumping up and down.  lol

 

Atta mexicana fungus!

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#18 Offline smares - Posted August 6 2021 - 10:05 PM

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They look scary big! Just seeing your pics makes my heart race. Were you at all concerned about stings or bites from them? Do queens even have a stinger?
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#19 Offline SoySauce - Posted August 7 2021 - 5:09 AM

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I was so excited when I saw this fungus I almost started jumping up and down.  lol

 

Atta mexicana fungus!

Congrats on your fungus!


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#20 Offline CheetoLord02 - Posted August 7 2021 - 10:33 AM

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They look scary big! Just seeing your pics makes my heart race. Were you at all concerned about stings or bites from them? Do queens even have a stinger?

Atta don't have stingers, but bites aren't fun. Their largest majors can break skin (speaking from experience), and I wouldn't be surprised if queens could too.


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