15 replies to this topic

[FloridaAnts]

This journal may not be updated for months at a time, as development in this colony has been quite slow.

Recently, I bought a Camponotus socius colony from a vendor. They was a bit on the expensive side, but based on antwiki and related sources, it sounds like you can only find them in non-disturbed areas. In Florida however, non-disturbed areas just get harder and harder to find. So based on these circumstances, it sounds like they are quite rare.

Also, are their eggs normally pink? I have never seen regular colored eggs in this colony, which is surprising to me. Not only this, but all first instar larvae remain pink until further development(I don’t even feed them pink food). I have also noticed they will not eat dead prey, in no circumstances. I tried dead crickets, superworms, and dead fruit flies, but they have not accepted anything except live fruit flies. In a few days the colony will hit four workers, which is exciting to me as it has taken them months to get pupae.

Also, does anyone have any tips for taking quality photos with a normal device camera? I use a macrolense attachment, but it doesn’t help drastically…

Here is some photos:
Colony Overview
 B77A42E2-3FF8-42CF-8A92-D75974833768.jpeg   151.14KB   3 downloads
Queen cleaning gaster:
 0A0166AE-E61E-49A3-9E82-F0FFAB8E836A.jpeg   178.22KB   3 downloads
Queen alone:
 04D7365E-E202-4864-814C-CEC19357D89F.jpeg   157.48KB   3 downloads

Edited by FloridaAnts, July 3 2022 - 10:10 AM.

[FloridaAnts]

No photos today, but I have some news! I moved them into a mini-hearth, and to show their appreciation, they sliced open a coccon and ate its contents(A nanitic). They have food, so I guess the move was stressful…

Pictures will be in the next update!

Edited by FloridaAnts, May 24 2022 - 1:01 PM.

[FloridaAnts]

Alright, sorry for not doing photos last update, but here we go. Another nanitic has hatched! This puts them at five workers. It seems the more ants that hatched, the more colorful they get! The most recent seems it is going to form yellow patches on the gaster, like the fourth worker!

Here are pictures:

Queen peeking
 02EA1651-872C-4A4B-A548-BB833D8BAE15.jpeg   191.14KB   1 downloads
Workers moving hatching cocoon
 7E50C1EC-E7A3-4E9B-9525-E52993DE00CC.jpeg   177.64KB   1 downloads
Cocoon hatching
 42DAA88C-6700-4B71-9E7A-0BC80F6FE6DE.jpeg   201.95KB   1 downloads
Cocoon hatching two
 BD046228-5A6B-4453-A6EF-741AD5C70A86.jpeg   186.42KB   1 downloads
Cocoon hatching three(Gotta love the vibrant gaster colors)
 E252150C-30D4-45DD-B354-33115921D65D.jpeg   183.8KB   1 downloads

Edited by FloridaAnts, May 27 2022 - 4:03 PM.

[CheetoLord02]

Nice! It's about time FC gets a Camponotus socius journal.

[FloridaAnts]

I have heard they are rare down here! I was lucky enough to be offered one for a good price!

Edited by FloridaAnts, May 27 2022 - 4:28 PM.

[FloridaAnts]

Does anyone have any experience with Camponotus larvae pupating instead of spinning a coccon? One of the mature larvae has begun to pupate despite having loose substrate

Edit:
Here are some photos I took today. I tried to bring out the hairs and tiny details on the queen, and I did try to bring out her true head color, but it is difficult to do. Maybe take the lighting down a notch?

Attached Files

•  962FCA4E-BBE4-4B67-ABB2-2F18AC1B52DF.jpeg   230.41KB   1 downloads
•  09ED7268-2864-4130-A2C7-82021D08997E.jpeg   208.44KB   1 downloads
•  ED7A069B-CCE3-44CD-AFDA-D4E1F9E1010D.jpeg   253.74KB   1 downloads

Edited by FloridaAnts, May 28 2022 - 11:44 AM.

[FloridaAnts]

Happy Memorial Day!
Today was the first day the ants accepted(didn’t throw out of nest) food other than protein liquid and fruit flies! It seems they prefer larger crickets, rather than small ones.

Does anyone have any name suggestions for the queen?

Here are some older pictures that didn’t make the cut for the five pictures each update or were taking recently (I was told that I should include these by a friend) Take note some of these can be seen on the ant photography thread.

Attached Files

•  FEAD2BA5-AEF4-4BE1-9176-BB6D3AF4C8BF.jpeg   230.53KB   1 downloads
•  466E48D3-7C73-4B7E-BE3E-DEAD77DFCE86.jpeg   168.04KB   1 downloads
•  EB8A1206-D94E-4514-A8A2-404CBC7C88DB.jpeg   269.92KB   1 downloads
•  1C86A900-C18C-4425-8247-C1A73FC06BC9.jpeg   241.18KB   1 downloads
•  AD3330CF-E98D-4FE4-B264-39FCCB1A382B.jpeg   198.62KB   1 downloads

Edited by FloridaAnts, May 30 2022 - 8:21 AM.

[azzaaazzzz00]

The queens name could be Solis maybe? It mean "the sun" in Latin. I suck at names, ANTdrew would do better...

[FloridaAnts]

The queens name could be Solis maybe? It mean "the sun" in Latin. I suck at names, ANTdrew would do better...

Was that AC’s fire ant queen name?

I do like the fact it starts with an S. Solis the C. Socius

The people who named this species literally put Camponotus member(Socius meaning)….

Edited by FloridaAnts, May 30 2022 - 10:12 AM.

[FloridaAnts]

The queens name could be Solis maybe? It mean "the sun" in Latin. I suck at names, ANTdrew would do better...

Added to the poll

[SolenopsisKeeper-]

Happy Memorial Day!
Today was the first day the ants accepted(didn’t throw out of nest) food other than protein liquid and fruit flies! It seems they prefer larger crickets, rather than small ones.
Does anyone have any name suggestions for the queen?
Here are some older pictures that didn’t make the cut for the five pictures each update or were taking recently (I was told that I should include these by a friend) Take note some of these can be seen on the ant photography thread.

Beautiful queen! I am tempted to get this species!

[FloridaAnts]

Just a late weekend update, they now have 8 workers! Into photos, sorry

[FloridaAnts]

I am sorry to say, but the first two workers, who worked to give the colony a future, are beginning to die off. The first one was dying today, flipped upside down in the trash pile moving slightly.

Also, on another note, I cleaned their trash pile up. It started to get mold spores, so I took the glass off and pulled the pile out. Only a few workers tried to attack, but they all went back inside when I put the glass on

[FloridaAnts]

Houston, we have a problem
Caught a sneaky little bugger eating a pupae unfortunately, they will not accept crickets(One week old) and I am fresh outa fruit flies. Hopefully I can find something they will eat, or I will loose this beautiful species . I am not sure why they keep doing this, eating 2 pupae at a time. This has happened 3 times now, every few weeks since I got this colony. As long as some hatch, I am happy. Would also like to know why not attack the Cotten candy eggs the queen lays? Why pupae? I don’t check on them every day, typically every other day.

Also, on the name poll, looks like Solis might be the queens name until more are suggested to vote on.
Eat the eggs, not the pupae!
 6F36E02E-0FD2-4C51-BF0E-86E4DE6864D3.jpeg   183.45KB   0 downloads

Edited by FloridaAnts, June 19 2022 - 2:41 PM.

[FloridaAnts]

June 23, 2022
Today, we hit 10 workers. To be honest, I thought this colony was going to die out at the rate it ate its pupae with the first 2 workers. This colony isn’t in the clear yet, as the queen isn’t laying too many eggs anymore, now in batches or 5-10 while it use to be in batches of 20. The colony still eats pupae though, so I am little worried about that.


Also, the queen is currently named Solis, which has more votes than the other option(Not solis).

Since there was really only one name recommended, you can still recommend names! I do like Solis so far though…


Who would I be to not include pictures when a colony hits double digits?

Attached Files

•  2333F327-E78F-43F8-B16D-E9C762A475D7.jpeg   204.33KB   0 downloads
•  68163CE2-21D5-4205-9512-377AB31749CB.jpeg   264.08KB   0 downloads
•  D50F82EC-6B6F-4D82-BB80-8EC1D053E1EB.jpeg   217.72KB   0 downloads

Edited by FloridaAnts, June 23 2022 - 11:17 AM.

[FloridaAnts]

I try to have weekly updates, so here it is.

Minimal egg production, a few workers have full gasters. I am getting less eggs than when they had two workers, but they also just came out of diapause then… I only get around 8-10 eggs a batch. And yet, these girls are still growing much faster than I intended! They have 8+ pupae, a few larvae, a lot of first in stars, and a batch of eggs. Also, queen Solis does not move. She moves her antennae, and the workers convince her to move in bright light. Still physogastric, and I am now realizing how massive these queens are. 22mm, to be exact. Wondering how big majors will be…

Also, on another note, they still only eat protein liquid and flies. Nothing else, but they occasional cricket. I am trying to get them to eat superworms and crickets more, but they throw out crickets and don’t touch superworm. This might explain the minimal eggs… any tips?

Solis with children
 0C7E250E-19A5-4E9A-B8D9-28725FB1AD7A.jpeg   204.33KB   1 downloads
 12333372-E17E-4F10-BD25-FAEE37C747A4.jpeg   223.94KB   1 downloads

Brood pile a few days ago
 4AE2409D-A278-4E9A-890D-954F7C5B32F5.jpeg   230.83KB   1 downloads

Edited by FloridaAnts, July 3 2022 - 11:51 AM.