Jump to content

  • Chat
  •  
  •  

Welcome to Formiculture.com!

This is a website for anyone interested in Myrmecology and all aspects of finding, keeping, and studying ants. The site and forum are free to use. Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation points to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!

Photo

ArcaneAnt's Black Rover Colony Journal

brachymyrmex patagonicus black rover ant

  • Please log in to reply
8 replies to this topic

#1 Offline ArcaneAnt - Posted January 31 2022 - 2:26 PM

ArcaneAnt

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 22 posts
Ant Update (01/31/22) [Day 79] :
 
Queen appears to be fine
 
There are about 12-14 eggs
Three of those eggs are quite large, 4-5 midsize and the rest incredibly small
One of the three large ones has a darker yellowy colouration compared to the lighter white colour of the others. 
 
This is my first log so heres a quick summary to bring us up to date:
I found this queen ant at my work in the Pacific Palisades California around 8pm mid november last year. Some lovely folks on Formiculture identified her as a Brachymyrmex Patagonicus, aka the Black Rover ant. I have been keeping her test tube setup wrapped in a shirt and in a cardboard box in my closet the whole time. I have not had to transfer her out of her test tube setup to replace the water yet has no mold has grown. She seems to have moved her and her eggs closer to the water cotton ball since my last check in (around two weeks ago).

If anyone reading this has any questions or suggestions, please let me know <|:]
(attached images are from when I first found her)

Attached Images

  • queen.png
  • queen2.png

Edited by ArcaneAnt, January 31 2022 - 2:39 PM.

  • RushmoreAnts, Antkeeper01, AntBoi3030 and 1 other like this

#2 Offline ANTdrew - Posted February 1 2022 - 9:18 AM

ANTdrew

    Advanced Member

  • Moderators
  • PipPipPip
  • 9,854 posts
  • LocationAlexandria, VA

The queen needs heating for the eggs to develop.


  • AntBoi3030 likes this
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#3 Offline ArcaneAnt - Posted February 28 2022 - 8:24 AM

ArcaneAnt

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 22 posts
Ant Update (2/28/22) [Day 107]
 
Queen is doing fine as usual
 
There is a new batch of eggs it appears, bringing our total up to around 15-16?
 
Yesterday was a very exiting day, as it was the first day I saw our very first workers! One seemed to be fully grown, with a dak black colour. They were carrying around a bundle of three eggs all around the tube, maybe scared because this is the first time it had seen sunlight, and I had picked up the tube and carried it around. There was a second worker who I think had probably just hatched in the last few days because it was small and seemed to be more grey than black, almost translucent.

The queen has fully snuggled herself against the water end of the tube along with the smaller eggs which worries me slightly that there isn't enough moisture in their testube setup. In any case I will soon invest in a terrarium so the workers can go out and forage. If I do that, I can also  introduce a 2nd testube with fresh water and less of a cotton barrier so the water maybe be a bit more available.

In any case, Its very very exiting to see the first workers in action! I'll check in again soon if anything new happens

Attached Images

  • 20220227_153154.jpg

Edited by ArcaneAnt, February 28 2022 - 8:25 AM.

  • Antkeeper01 and AntBoi3030 like this

#4 Offline antsriondel - Posted February 28 2022 - 5:38 PM

antsriondel

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 927 posts
  • LocationRiondel British Columbia Canada.

 

Ant Update (2/28/22) [Day 107]
 
Queen is doing fine as usual
 
There is a new batch of eggs it appears, bringing our total up to around 15-16?
 
Yesterday was a very exiting day, as it was the first day I saw our very first workers! One seemed to be fully grown, with a dak black colour. They were carrying around a bundle of three eggs all around the tube, maybe scared because this is the first time it had seen sunlight, and I had picked up the tube and carried it around. There was a second worker who I think had probably just hatched in the last few days because it was small and seemed to be more grey than black, almost translucent.

The queen has fully snuggled herself against the water end of the tube along with the smaller eggs which worries me slightly that there isn't enough moisture in their testube setup. In any case I will soon invest in a terrarium so the workers can go out and forage. If I do that, I can also  introduce a 2nd testube with fresh water and less of a cotton barrier so the water maybe be a bit more available.

In any case, Its very very exiting to see the first workers in action! I'll check in again soon if anything new happens

 

congratulations! :yahoo:


  • ArcaneAnt likes this

#5 Offline ArcaneAnt - Posted March 14 2022 - 2:21 PM

ArcaneAnt

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 22 posts

Ant Update (3/14/22) [Day 121]

Queen seems active and ok

Plenty of more eggs are around.

More worker ants have been born at a total of 6 now. Very exiting to see this growth, I even bough a small fish rank today to eventually house them once I they reach that point. Speaking of, I am not super certain at what point I should move them in there, as well what kind of substrate to use. I wanna make sure its wet/dry enough to suit their normal habitat, but they are considered invasive so its hard to find any info about them that isn't on how to exterminate a colony of them :/

In any case, I'll keep doing research to make the move into the tank go smooth. I bough two fish tank decorations that I think are pretty goofy, but are brightly coloured so it will be easy to see the ants crawling on them. Same goes for the substrate, I hope its a light enough color to be able to see these tiny ants on them.

Thankyou for reading along, and if you happen to know any good info on Black Rover Ants, please make sure to let me know! Thankyou, and see you soon :]

Attached Images

  • ant.png

  • Antkeeper01 likes this

#6 Offline ANTdrew - Posted March 14 2022 - 4:27 PM

ANTdrew

    Advanced Member

  • Moderators
  • PipPipPip
  • 9,854 posts
  • LocationAlexandria, VA
Fish tanks don’t make the best formicariums. A plastic container with rounded corners is best because you can evenly apply fluon.
  • antgallery likes this
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#7 Offline ArcaneAnt - Posted April 5 2022 - 4:19 PM

ArcaneAnt

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 22 posts

Fish tanks don’t make the best formicariums. A plastic container with rounded corners is best because you can evenly apply fluon.

It should still work though, right? I don't have to worry about the rubber lining stuff on the edges between the glass? Ill put fluon all around the top of course. Also side question, do you happen to know what kind of dirt/soul Brachymyrmex Patagonicus prefer? I can't quite seem to find any information on it. I know they are an invasive species so I'm sure they can get along in just about any kind of soil, but I'd at least wanna try to use something they would prefer.

.



#8 Offline ANTdrew - Posted April 5 2022 - 5:58 PM

ANTdrew

    Advanced Member

  • Moderators
  • PipPipPip
  • 9,854 posts
  • LocationAlexandria, VA
Best bet would be to find soil from areas where you find colonies. Bake it a bit first to kill undesirable pathogens.
  • ZTYguy likes this
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#9 Offline ArcaneAnt - Posted June 25 2022 - 9:32 AM

ArcaneAnt

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 22 posts

Very sad to inform you guys that after I had moved the ants into the terrarium, they disappeared. They were just in the tube for a few days, but then one day just disappeared. I assumed maybe they moved underground into the potting soil, but its been over a month and none of the provided food has been eaten, so they are probably escaped or dead. 
Ill continue looking for new queen ants and try to maybe give them more time in the test tube to start.
Thankyou for checking in.







Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: brachymyrmex patagonicus, black rover ant

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users