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

OiledOlives - Camponotus floridanus journal

camponotus floridanus

  • Please log in to reply
26 replies to this topic

#1 Offline OiledOlives - Posted March 29 2022 - 7:57 AM

OiledOlives

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 657 posts
  • LocationVirginia

I collected this queen at the base of a palm tree in early July with one pupae, two large larvae, and a small batch of eggs. She got her first workers in mid-July. After becoming a pain to feed, I put them in an AntLady 3 chamber nest until they were about 40 workers.
I fed this colony around 1-2 mealworms each one or two days. They are on heat the entire time.

October 29, 2021:
IMG_20211029_065541.jpg
At the 40 worker point, I ordered a Fallen Fortress from THA, which contained them for several months. 

I added a liquid feeder from byFormica and upped the feeding to 2-4 mealworms per day.
November 17, 2021:

IMG_20211117_184250.jpg

November 21, 2021:

IMG_20211121_172916.jpg

December 2, 2021:

IMG_20211202_162557.jpg

December 11, 2021:

IMG_20211211_203940.jpg

January 6, 2022:

IMG_20220106_112547.jpg

January 7, 2022: Queen lays an egg
IMG_20220107_161033.jpg

January 11, 2022:
IMG_20220111_065413.jpg

January 18-21, 2022: I move them to a 3-sided Casita from THA. On the 21st, I finally got bored of waiting and flushed them out. This didn't work so I took off the glass and aspirate them into the new nest. They were getting 8-10 mealworms every couple days.
3/20: I spilled hundreds of crickets on the floor and since my floridanus is the only one that can take a ton of food, I poured 200+ crickets into their outworld.
IMG_20220324_213142.jpg
They remained in the Casita until 3/27, when I attached a piece of tubing to their Casita connecting to a Nucleus. 
Them today:

I have only fed them once since I attached them. I might begin feeding 10-20 mealworms a day.
I do not only feed them mealworms, but they are my main feeder because they're really easy to keep. I occasionally feed this colony crickets, dubias, and fruit flies.

Early July-Early August: Test tube till 8 workers
Early August-Mid-November: 3 chamber nest till 40 workers
Mid-November-Mid-January: Fallen Fortress till 100 workers

Mid-January-Late March: 3-sided Casita till 1.5k workers
Late March-Early April: Nucleus III

Edit: Changed to past tense


Edited by OiledOlives, May 19 2022 - 1:41 PM.

  • smares, UtahAnts, AntBoi3030 and 3 others like this

#2 Offline ANTdrew - Posted March 29 2022 - 8:07 AM

ANTdrew

    Advanced Member

  • Moderators
  • PipPipPip
  • 9,363 posts
  • LocationAlexandria, VA

Woah! So you got a permit to bring these in?


"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 OiledOlives - Posted April 11 2022 - 5:00 AM

OiledOlives

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 657 posts
  • LocationVirginia

I fully moved them into the Nucleus a little over a week ago by both aspirating them and knocking them in. They take up around 2/5 of the nest right now but they are very cramped in the portions they are in (probably due to the heat).

I dropped 10 cut up mealworms into their outworld after.


  • antsinvirgina likes this

#4 Offline OiledOlives - Posted April 18 2022 - 3:32 PM

OiledOlives

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 657 posts
  • LocationVirginia

They barely have any pupae left and it looks like they have a bunch of first instar larvae and eggs. Diapause time!


  • antsinvirgina likes this

#5 Offline Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* - Posted April 18 2022 - 7:50 PM

Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_*
  • Guests
Diapause now? I didn’t even know these ants hibernate lol. Mine thrived through winter, though they did slow down at one point.

#6 Offline Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* - Posted April 18 2022 - 7:54 PM

Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_*
  • Guests

Woah! So you got a permit to bring these in?


If he lives close to NC in VA, he may have found naturally.

#7 Offline OiledOlives - Posted April 19 2022 - 4:08 AM

OiledOlives

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 657 posts
  • LocationVirginia

 

Woah! So you got a permit to bring these in?


If he lives close to NC in VA, he may have found naturally.

 

Permit



#8 Offline Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_* - Posted April 19 2022 - 2:07 PM

Guest_SolenopsisKeeper_*
  • Guests
Ohh. That’s still nice though. Permit process is a bit more difficult in Florida is what I have heard

#9 Offline OiledOlives - Posted May 19 2022 - 1:43 PM

OiledOlives

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 657 posts
  • LocationVirginia

Picture of the nest right now:

SijgsZrNigSbMI50j-RfnTxwUNRe_2hBF4qJi6zk

Had lots of fun cleaning a little bit of their outworld (this is after I removed the big piece of wood in the middle:
 


  • T.C., smares and antsinvirgina like this

#10 Offline OiledOlives - Posted June 4 2022 - 6:26 AM

OiledOlives

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 657 posts
  • LocationVirginia

I've been feeding them a large dubia roach every day now. Here's a picture of them 12 hours after first giving them it.

floridanus food.JPG


Edited by OiledOlives, June 4 2022 - 6:27 AM.

  • smares and ANTdrew like this

#11 Offline ANTdrew - Posted June 4 2022 - 6:31 AM

ANTdrew

    Advanced Member

  • Moderators
  • PipPipPip
  • 9,363 posts
  • LocationAlexandria, VA

Awesome!


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

#12 Offline OiledOlives - Posted July 10 2022 - 8:36 AM

OiledOlives

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 657 posts
  • LocationVirginia

They have been very crowded in their Nucleus. I am waiting for a friend to get his ultracal30 so I can rehouse this colony. They are getting upwards of 100 crickets per week.


  • smares likes this

#13 Offline ANTdrew - Posted July 10 2022 - 1:31 PM

ANTdrew

    Advanced Member

  • Moderators
  • PipPipPip
  • 9,363 posts
  • LocationAlexandria, VA
Go to Hobby Lobby and buy Perfect Cast. It’s cheaper and works just as well as Ultracal.
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#14 Offline OiledOlives - Posted July 10 2022 - 2:55 PM

OiledOlives

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 657 posts
  • LocationVirginia

I don't have enough spare money for DIY at the moment. I am making small setups for some colonies but I am not going to attempt making huge formicariums for my ants, as most formicaria that I've made has been low quality and I will need to spend far too much to get better, especially when I can buy a 12x12 nest with a 12x12 outworld for $100.


  • FloridaAnts likes this

#15 Offline FloridaAnts - Posted July 10 2022 - 8:04 PM

FloridaAnts

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 374 posts
  • LocationFlorida

They have been very crowded in their Nucleus. I am waiting for a friend to get his ultracal30 so I can rehouse this colony. They are getting upwards of 100 crickets per week.


Maybe I should reconsider growing my colony to this size…
  • OiledOlives likes this

#16 Offline OiledOlives - Posted July 29 2022 - 11:29 AM

OiledOlives

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 657 posts
  • LocationVirginia
They are about to have a couple hundred pupae eclose.2dc25a1a2ea1dc346e1ae66a2d6932eb.jpgbeae021e01780090457cf570a66923fd.jpg

Sent from my IN2015 using Tapatalk
  • smares, Fatatoille, KadinB and 2 others like this

#17 Offline FloridaAnts - Posted July 29 2022 - 4:29 PM

FloridaAnts

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 374 posts
  • LocationFlorida

They are about to have a couple hundred pupae eclose.2dc25a1a2ea1dc346e1ae66a2d6932eb.jpgbeae021e01780090457cf570a66923fd.jpg
Sent from my IN2015 using Tapatalk


You think wet fluon and baby powder combined would work? I am really trying to find a barrier that containers most workers.
  • smares likes this

#18 Offline ANTdrew - Posted July 29 2022 - 6:25 PM

ANTdrew

    Advanced Member

  • Moderators
  • PipPipPip
  • 9,363 posts
  • LocationAlexandria, VA
You need one of my CrematoProod outworlds, or try to copy the design.
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#19 Offline OiledOlives - Posted October 4 2022 - 4:07 AM

OiledOlives

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 657 posts
  • LocationVirginia

Lots of stuff has happened since the last update. I got the nest around a month ago and decided to put the formicarium inside of the tub since I didn't have any large outworlds to attach to the nest. I cut myself with one of the decor rocks while putting decorations in, which meant that I couldn't really fix any problems that occured while the plaster was setting. After the setup was done, I then put their entire setup inside the tub and began the process of dumping the ants out of the nest after two or three days of not moving. I have not been feeding a ton of proteins to limit their growth. They are being heated with a cable from underneath the tub which, unfortunately, causes a ton of condensation. It's pretty cool to watch the ants guard the small nest entrances and be able to look into their setup without 500 ants running out.99a5c7f5b6e4c481d183961df9c17a31.jpg40000dc867a9a2fb15fc118c357e28da.jpg

Sent from my IN2015 using Tapatalk


Edited by OiledOlives, October 4 2022 - 4:20 AM.

  • AntsCali098 likes this

#20 Offline OiledOlives - Posted October 8 2022 - 1:55 PM

OiledOlives

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 657 posts
  • LocationVirginia
Some better pictures1b0b2ab4f656f29a93277d78812a48d2.jpg2ea453a45d4c0315faf7a7384cacb089.jpg

Sent from my IN2015 using Tapatalk
  • Dan_Not_Found likes this





Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: camponotus floridanus

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users