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ANTdrew's Aphaenogaster treatae Journal - DISCONTINUED


96 replies to this topic

#81 Offline 100lols - Posted October 8 2023 - 9:56 AM

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That’s so awesome!!! Tbh sometimes have to appreciate the moments we have with our ants even without the camera. Just in the moment!

The queen is a G lol.

#82 Offline ANTdrew - Posted October 8 2023 - 4:51 PM

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She is an OG now, tbh.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#83 Offline ANTdrew - Posted November 10 2023 - 2:01 PM

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Video update:
https://drive.google...ew?usp=drivesdk
This colony continues to do very well. They will be going into diapause soon.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#84 Offline ANTdrew - Posted December 5 2023 - 7:17 AM

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Update 12-5-2023

 

 This colony is now in diapause in my parents' unheated basement. I'm very pleased with how they did this season, but I don't think they'll be hitting a massive size any time soon. Their colonies may just stay relatively small. My favorite things about these ants are how neat they are, their large size for observation, and the awesome feeding responses they mount. 


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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#85 Offline Zzz - Posted July 4 2024 - 11:35 PM

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Hey could we get an update. I keep a small aphaenogaster subterranea colony and I really love yours!!!



#86 Offline ANTdrew - Posted July 5 2024 - 3:09 AM

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Thank you. I will work on an update, but the colony has been kind of struggling in their fourth season for some reason.
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#87 Offline ANTdrew - Posted October 16 2024 - 6:20 AM

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Update 10-16-2024

 It's been a challenging season for my Aphaenogaster treatae. Despite having lots of eggs and brood throughout the summer, the colony did not grow or even recover their size from last year. They also stopped being as clean in their nest and outworld and started leaving trash all around their outworld, instead of in the neat pile they used to. I decided to try moving them into a new nest to see if something about their old Fallen Fortress was negatively affecting the colony. The old Fallen Fortress also started cracking in a corner, which further inspired me to move them out. I had made a DIY formicarium back in August, so I hooked this up with tubing to the old nest and set it out in the sun on 10/14. The colony moved very quickly, and I was relieved to see lots of pupae ready to eclose. I'm hoping they can recover numbers finally. I'm also planning to forgo a full diapause with these, since I don't want them to go through the kind of winter die-off that happened last year. 

 

A view of the new nest: 

IMG 8603
IMG 8611
 
The cracked old Fallen Fortress. Unfortunately not the first time a THA nest has randomly cracked on me after a few years of use. 
IMG 8604

 

 


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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#88 Offline ANTdrew - Posted October 30 2024 - 11:09 AM

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RIP Jord 2021- 2024

Sadly, this journal is coming to an end. Queen Jord was found dead yesterday in their nest. Her head had already been eaten. It was a great three years with this rarely kept species.
F4-D34655-AB2-F-496-C-876-A-B91-D93-F9-F
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#89 Offline AntsGodzilla - Posted October 30 2024 - 11:34 AM

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Noooo... 

It's always sad when a colony's live comes to an end.

I hope to someday see this species again.


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I keep:

pogonomyrmex rugosus

myrmecocystus depilis

monomorium ergatogyna

And many Carnivorous plants such as:

Dionea (fly trap), Sarracenia x 'Fiona' ( American Pitcher plant), Nepenthese ventrata (Tropical Pitcher plant), and Pinguicula agnata x emarginata (Butterwort) (show off your plants here)

 

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores it's provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. Proverbs 6: 6-8

 

2 or more ant colonies coming soon...


#90 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted October 30 2024 - 11:49 AM

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Any hypothesis as to the death?


Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8

My Nationwide Ant Shop Here I have PPQ-526 permits to ship ants nationwide

Attention Ant-Keepers in South Dakota! Join the SoDak(Society Of Dakotan Ant Keepers)

My Formica sp. Journal

My Lasius sp. Journal

My Micro Ants Journal

My Pogonomyrmex occidentalis Journal


#91 Offline ANTdrew - Posted October 30 2024 - 3:31 PM

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Any hypothesis as to the death?

Not really, but something has been wrong with the colony all season. It’s really quite sad since my son found this queen, and I highly doubt I’ll ever find another of this species.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#92 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted October 30 2024 - 6:15 PM

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Any hypothesis as to the death?

Not really, but something has been wrong with the colony all season. It’s really quite sad since my son found this queen, and I highly doubt I’ll ever find another of this species.

 

I completely understand the feeling of never getting another shot at a certain species. Best of luck next year, though!


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Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8

My Nationwide Ant Shop Here I have PPQ-526 permits to ship ants nationwide

Attention Ant-Keepers in South Dakota! Join the SoDak(Society Of Dakotan Ant Keepers)

My Formica sp. Journal

My Lasius sp. Journal

My Micro Ants Journal

My Pogonomyrmex occidentalis Journal


#93 Online RushmoreAnts - Posted October 31 2024 - 4:07 PM

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Rest in peace Jord, you will be missed. 

 

 

 

 

I completely understand the feeling of never getting another shot at a certain species. Best of luck next year, though!

 

*Ahem, Crematogaster pilosa...


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"God made..... all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds (including ants). And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NIV version

 

Keeping:

Tetramorium immigrans

Formica cf. pallidefulva, cf. incerta, cf. argentea

Formica cf. aserva, cf. subintegra

Pogonomyrmex occidentalis

Pheidole bicarinata

Myrmica sp.

Lasius neoniger, brevicornis


#94 Offline ANTdrew - Posted October 31 2024 - 5:47 PM

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Rest in peace Jord, you will be missed.




I completely understand the feeling of never getting another shot at a certain species. Best of luck next year, though!

*Ahem, Crematogaster pilosa...
Thank you, brother. She was a special queen.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#95 Offline Mushu - Posted October 31 2024 - 10:32 PM

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RIP.  My buddies Myrmecocystus mexicanus queen also randomly died at the time with eggs/brood, so it was spontaneous. When you said you noticed something was wrong with the colony all season, was it due to low/inconsistent brood count? I feel one of my Myrmecocystus placodops colony may be doing the same.



#96 Offline ANTdrew - Posted Yesterday, 2:45 AM

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Mushu,
Basically, worker deaths outpaced colony growth. They got a few male alates at one point, and always had other brood at various stages. The brood just didn’t seem to develop as fast as it used to. They also went from being a very neat and fastidious colony to just leaving trash all over. A few days before she died, I saw the queen randomly walking around far from the workers in the nest. That’s when I got pretty worried. I found her headless a few days later. RIP, Jord.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#97 Offline Mushu - Posted Yesterday, 5:41 AM

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Mushu,
Basically, worker deaths outpaced colony growth. They got a few male alates at one point, and always had other brood at various stages. The brood just didn’t seem to develop as fast as it used to. They also went from being a very neat and fastidious colony to just leaving trash all over. A few days before she died, I saw the queen randomly walking around far from the workers in the nest. That’s when I got pretty worried. I found her headless a few days later. RIP, Jord.

 

The queen randomly walking far from the workers would  have been an indication she was most likely sick as you already know. The colony before she died is interesting, thanks for sharing.






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