109 replies to this topic

[JCRHJM]

NIGROCINCTA HAS BROOD!!

 

I didn't get a close enough look to see if they were eggs or larvae but likely eggs since they can take some time to hatch. Quite a large pile as well though almost certainly some of them will be trophic eggs to be consumed later.

 

 

Also this is another project I have going on where I am raising a metallica queen caught from my backyard to be added to my current colony. She is in a tub setup which I have discovered to be not optimal for semi claustral species since she has a heart attack whenever I open the lid. Despite this she has never eaten any brood and rhytidoponera in general seem to be pretty nonplussed to disturbances. What I plan on doing is to add substrate from my current colony so their scents will intermingle. Here she is below with her face buried in a mealworm

Edited by JCRHJM, October 13 2021 - 9:13 PM.

[JCRHJM]

Forficata has 4 pupae and 2 larvae as of 2 days ago, by the end of this week I expect 6 cocoons. 

Nigrocincta used to posture aggressively and open her mandibles when I first caught her, but now she just looks at me whenever I go near. It would be interesting to see how much recognition they can have. 

^ "you didn't see nothing" after I caught her sanding the honey

[JCRHJM]

Bad news for the forficata, I saw a discarded cocoon outside and I got excited that one had already eclosed. But when I lifted the cover, I saw 3 cocoons and 2 larvae which means that the queen had opened 1 of the cocoons and eaten them. In my opinion this was due to 3 things, disturbance (even though I had not been minding them any more than before), lack of protein for the larvae (I had not fed them for over a week as I assumed all the larvae was mature) or the larvae had died inside of the cocoon. 

Because of this, I will be providing them with additional protein and I will not be lifting the cover until mid november. 

[JCRHJM]

More Nigrocincta eggs have hatched and their is now a small pile of larvae, they seem to not be accepting mealworms though they are taking in crickets 

^ the larvae are currently not much bigger than eggs though they are sausage shaped 

[JCRHJM]

Nigrocincta larvae just finished up a good sized cricket and the queen has been slurping honey for nearly half an hour. The rhytidoponera have been accepting less protein, though I do see a lot of discarded cocoons which means most of their brood are either eggs or cocoons currently. 

^ The rhytidoponera drown in the honey quite easily so I added a tissue bridge

Edited by JCRHJM, November 2 2021 - 6:12 PM.

[ExponentMars]

Aw sorry to hear that the Forficata queen ate the cocoon  

[JCRHJM]

Aw sorry to hear that the Forficata queen ate the cocoon

Yeah I've been too afraid to check on them now, just waiting for them to eclose.

[JCRHJM]

Nigrocincta is accepting crickets now that were frozen then dipped in boiling water. This is great because it means that I can stockpile protein (other than mealworms) for long periods. The larvae have gone through several good sized meals so I assume they are larger even though I haven't seen them. I'll check after they finish this one.

Here are some old photos of the rhytidoponera before they moved into their naturalistic setup. They have gone back to refusing protein and the springtails are now having an absolute feast. 

[JCRHJM]

I've added a heating cable to the forficata and aeneopilosus setups since the weather has been cooler than expected. I'll only keep it on during the sub 25 degree days as I'm not sure directly heating the plastic is safe. The nigrocincta have at least 6 good sized larvae and are progressing nicely. 

[JCRHJM]

Right, some big updates.....

 

nigrocincta is continuing to eat regularly and has around 7 mid sized larvae.

 

Forficata now has 1 worker!!!!!! 

 

I had previously been disappointed to see that the queen had discarded another cocoon around a week ago, when I opened it, the larvae was still inside and was nowhere near developed as seen in the pic below. But now that one of the pupae has eclosed, I'm confident the 3 cocoons left will soon as well. 

After all the nanitics have hatched, I will transfer them to their formicarium and get some better pictures then.

 

[JCRHJM]

Okay there are actually 2 workers eclosed, they just didn't bring out the second cocoon.

Edited by JCRHJM, November 23 2021 - 7:10 PM.

[JCRHJM]

More big updates...

 

The rhytidoponera have continued to accept protein here and there, I haven't seen any explosion in numbers though there are more discarded cocoons, I guess they are just happy to remain underground.

I know this species isn't usually considered polymorphic but I have been seeing some significant size variation among my workers, the smallest being 5mm and the largest 9mm. My colony is over a year old so the smaller earlier generations should have died out by now. This is also true for the established rhytidoponera colonies in my backyard.

 

The forficata have removed another empty cocoon, I haven't checked but I assume another worker has eclosed bringing the number up to 3 workers with 1 cocoon left to go.

 

The nigrocincta have not been accepting protein for the past couple of days, I checked on them today and one of the larvae had pupated! I didn't expect them to be so early especially since the larvae still seemed fairly small. They were less than half the size of the forficata larvae when they pupated despite the size difference between the queen and adult workers not being nearly as great. I have now moved their setup next to the aeneopilosus to give them access to the heat cable. I count 1 pupae and 6 larvae.

Edited by JCRHJM, November 28 2021 - 8:12 PM.

[JCRHJM]

These are the first photos I have of the new forficata workers, I was surprised at how large they are, apart from a slimmer thorax and smaller abdomen, they are the same size as the queen. Overall the forficata nanitics are larger than the nigrocincta queen which I did not expect. I caught them eating out of a mealworm slice I had put in which was a little surprising as typically adults eat sugars while larvae eat protein, though I suppose nutrients can still be gained from the mealworm. 

The queen's abdomen has also reduced in size which means that she has likely deposited a bunch of eggs.

 

[JCRHJM]

 

Received a nigrocincta colony, has around 25 workers and a few small larvae, in the couple of days I have had them so far, they have not accepted protein. The cricket I added was stung but left aside and mealworm pieces have not been touched. But they are likely still adjusting and don't have a large amount of larvae currently so I'm not sweating it. I'll update on them again when they start taking meat. 

[ANTdrew]

Looks like a Mario Brothers level. Nice work.

[PaigeX]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Received a nigrocincta colony, has around 25 workers and a few small larvae, in the couple of days I have had them so far, they have not accepted protein. The cricket I added was stung but left aside and mealworm pieces have not been touched. But they are likely still adjusting and don't have a large amount of larvae currently so I'm not sweating it. I'll update on them again when they start taking meat. 

 

that's the cutest nest I've seen! awesome!

[Leptomyrmx]

Ah yes, saw that one on AntsOnline. A pretty good deal.

[PaigeX]

Ah yes, saw that one on AntsOnline. A pretty good deal.

oo I found it. Great deal i must say.
https://www.antsonli...-in-best-dress/

[JCRHJM]

 

Some photos of the workers eating the mealworm, after lapping up the juices they brought it into the nest for the larvae presumably. This is interesting as myrmecia adults are typicallly thought to consume sugars. Nonetheless, I am happy the colony is starting to settle in. I have a dish of honey constantly available for them which they go to throughout the day. As for the nest, I will be moving them into a larger formicarium once some of the larvae have started pupating. 

[PaigeX]

 

 

 

 

Some photos of the workers eating the mealworm, after lapping up the juices they brought it into the nest for the larvae presumably. This is interesting as myrmecia adults are typicallly thought to consume sugars. Nonetheless, I am happy the colony is starting to settle in. I have a dish of honey constantly available for them which they go to throughout the day. As for the nest, I will be moving them into a larger formicarium once some of the larvae have started pupating. 

 

I've also found most ants I have that are only meant to eat sugar do also lap up the juices of protein.