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AntsCali's Marvelous Myrmecocystus "Purpleblacks'

Started By AntsCali098 , Mar 19 2024 6:57 PM

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5 replies to this topic

#1 Offline AntsCali098 - Posted March 19 2024 - 6:57 PM

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984 posts

LocationLong Beach, California (SoCal)

This is a long overdue journal.

I caught a single purpleblack queen during my desert trip last August. She immediately laid a huge batch of eggs!

She then got workers a few weeks later, and a relatively large first gen.

https://youtu.be/4dg...-6hVWPywmQk0PiV

Like most of my ants, the queen has just laid some eggs after winter that have now turned into some small larvae!

Thanks for checking out my journal!

Dan_Not_Found, TacticalHandleGaming, futurebird and 3 others like this

Interested buying in ants? Feel free to check out my shop!

Feel free to read my journals, like this one.

Wishlist:

Atta sp (wish they were in CA), Crematogaster cerasi, Most Pheidole species

#2 Offline futurebird - Posted March 20 2024 - 2:57 AM

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822 posts

LocationNew York City, NY

Excited to see what comes next for this colony. How did you spot the queen? Was there a mating flight? Or was she just wandering around?

AntsCali098 likes this

Starting this July I'm posting videos of my ants every week on youTube.

I like to make relaxing videos that capture the joy of watching ants.

If that sounds like your kind of thing... follow me >here<.

#3 Offline The_Gaming-gate - Posted March 20 2024 - 4:17 AM

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330 posts

LocationOrlando, Florida. USA.

What a beautiful queen! I love the way honeypots look. I’m excited to see the progress of this colony!

AntsCali098 likes this

Ants are small creatures... but together... they can rule the world.

#4 Offline AntsCali098 - Posted March 20 2024 - 1:07 PM

Advanced Member

Members
984 posts

LocationLong Beach, California (SoCal)

Excited to see what comes next for this colony. How did you spot the queen? Was there a mating flight? Or was she just wandering around?

She flew to my blacklight. I originally thought she was a M.navajo queen in the dark but when I got home I realized. She still had wings and was flying, so I assumed she was unfertilized, but thankfully I still collected her!

Interested buying in ants? Feel free to check out my shop!

Feel free to read my journals, like this one.

Wishlist:

Atta sp (wish they were in CA), Crematogaster cerasi, Most Pheidole species

#5 Offline TacticalHandleGaming - Posted March 21 2024 - 5:38 AM

Advanced Member

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726 posts

LocationOregon

Very interesting coloration! I look forward to seeing her colony grow!

AntsCali098 likes this

Currently kept species

L. neoniger, P. occidentalis, C. modoc, C. novaeboracensis, C. vicinus, T. immigrans, A. occidentalis, S. molesta, P. imparis, M. kennedyi, M semirufus, F. pacifica, P. californica, M. ergatogyna.

Previously kept species

T. rugatulus, B. depilis.

Looking for

Myrmecocystus pyramicus, Myrmecocystus testaceus

Pheidole creightoni, Pheidole inquilina, Crematogaster coarctata, Crematogaster mutans

My youtube channel. My ant Etsy store - Millennium Ants

#6 Offline AntsCali098 - Posted March 21 2024 - 7:41 AM

Advanced Member

Members
984 posts

LocationLong Beach, California (SoCal)

Excited to see what comes next for this colony. How did you spot the queen? Was there a mating flight? Or was she just wandering around?

She flew to my blacklight. I originally thought she was a M.navajo queen in the dark but when I got home I realized. She still had wings and was flying, so I assumed she was unfertilized, but thankfully I still collected her!

I just realized I wrote that for my Aphaenogaster megammota queen, not this one lol.

Anyways I caught 11 of them during that trip, in the morning and day. There was a bunch of founding chambers around and most had purpleblack queens. I noticed a few were still building their chambers, so I'm guessing they flew earlier that morning.