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#1 Offline FloridaAnts - Posted June 24 2022 - 9:39 AM

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Recently, I caught a Camponotus floridanus queen, and a little bit a go I caught a Camponotus inaequalis queen. I’ll be sharing some pictures later today. Both share the common name the Florida Carpenter Ant, or what I have read.
“ The Florida carpenter ant complex is comprised of several species, two of which are common around structures: Camponotus floridanus (Buckley) and Camponotus tortuganus (Emery). These bicolored arboreal ants are among the largest ants found in Florida, making them apparent as they forage or fly indoors and out.”

https://edis.ifas.uf...blication/IN455

June 4th, 2022
Camponotus inaequalis alate was caught searching for a nest. She shed her wings shortly after outing her with a male she cared for and fed. Separated after shedding.

[attachment=12199:D673012C-3616-43B8-B3B2-8FE5E8F69E47.jpeg]

June 17th, 2022
Camponotus inaequalis queen extremely physogastric, laid an egg. Now has a good batch going of 5 eggs. I also brood boosted her using C. floridanus brood.

[attachment=12198:image.jpg]


June 21st, 2022
Caught a Camponotus floridnaus queen that flew to a black light. Quickly caught her and a few males, all but one of she killed, and put them in a test tube. Male was fed, and survived.

June 23rd, 2022
Male turns up dead, despite being fed. Queen sheds wings, I suspect mating in the tube, as all the other males of similar species I caught died after 30 minutes of captivity, except for 1 or 2 which were later released.

June 24th, 2022
Camponotus floridnaus queen goes on to lay 2 eggs, considering brood boosting her.
[attachment=12197:image.jpg]


Edited by FloridaAnts, October 28 2022 - 4:44 AM.

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#2 Offline FloridaAnts - Posted June 28 2022 - 5:26 AM

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June 28, 2022

The Camponotus inaequalis queen is even more physogastric, and her stolen cocoons are developing nicely. I would say C. Tortoganus but I have been told it is an “undescribed taxon”.
[attachment=12247:22D867D7-CB25-4D26-808E-A5E6956FC74B.jpeg]

[attachment=12248:827BB5F5-385C-4DE2-AC97-8F684E73BF3E.jpeg]
[attachment=12249:A46CF2B3-3FC0-48BE-8DB8-96429AF0B15B.jpeg]
The Camponotus floridanus queen laid several more eggs, with a batch of about 7. Not much has happend really, except for more eggs and a few look like they are beginnng to develop into larvae.
[attachment=12250:E9610269-FC1E-429C-9AD3-93D7EAD5DBB4.jpeg]
[attachment=12251:392F7526-2B64-42DF-BB24-71495191BFD4.jpeg]
[attachment=12252:FF4DB988-5D5F-4930-B0CB-6024A65A79CC.jpeg]

Edited by FloridaAnts, July 9 2022 - 7:44 PM.

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#3 Offline FloridaAnts - Posted July 3 2022 - 9:54 AM

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July 3rd,2022

Caught a Camponotus discolor alate climbing a pole. I am going to consider them the “Florida Carpenter Ant” due to their similarities to Camponotus floridanus. Speaking of Camponotus floridanus, I caught another alate on a black light. A few days ago, she shed her wings and laid 8 eggs overnight.

If anyone can confirm Camponotus discolor, I would really appreciate it. Here are some pictures for those who are interested.[attachment=12297:9D9E9690-94F3-49E0-9D30-5AA1D386383D.jpeg][attachment=12299:DFB7E733-A3F7-4B8B-BA92-B30E08C2114B.jpeg][attachment=12298:1781400A-432D-4C22-9DDF-26A0EF893A58.jpeg]

Edited by FloridaAnts, July 3 2022 - 10:05 AM.


#4 Offline FloridaAnts - Posted July 14 2022 - 4:14 PM

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July 14th, 2022

Unfortunately, the Camponotus discolor never shed its wings or laid eggs. Hopefully it will in a week or two…

On another note, the Camponotus innequalis queen’s pupae is so close to hatching! Never seen pupae this close to hatching, usually they hatch by now.

#5 Offline FloridaAnts - Posted July 24 2022 - 10:40 AM

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July 24, 2022
Camponotus floridanus
This. Queen…

So a few days ago, I see some cocoons getting spun and I think “Wow, that would be a cool picture”. As soon as I got a macrolense, the queen sat on top of the cocoon the whole time. A good mother, on the bright side I guess. Then, today, I try to get some good pictures with good lighting, details, etc. Then… I realized the cotton she pulled at the beginning was stealing the focus…
[attachment=12596:09B08D49-ED72-4B25-8B73-C6E0D86E32E0.jpeg][attachment=12597:EEF08292-312E-4C20-8783-8937F8BB9CB6.jpeg]

On another note, the other C. Floridanus queen has small small larvae and eggs. The next update will likely be on her.

Camponotus innequalis

The Camponotus innequalis queen still hasn’t hatched the cocoons, who are likely dead, and now she has small larvae, after my experience with the other queen, there really isn’t much to show.

I did catch yet another queen of this species… she has one wing, and I caught her laying an egg! No macro photos of that so it’s not a great accomplishment…

[attachment=12598:8D02E579-1084-4D19-8E9D-41B3E60B7645.jpeg]

[attachment=12599:227AC373-6CF0-4F59-B650-DB56BCF42024.jpeg]

Edited by FloridaAnts, July 24 2022 - 10:41 AM.

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#6 Offline FloridaAnts - Posted August 3 2022 - 6:04 PM

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August 3

I have really been putting this update off for a bit, but now almost all the queens have progress so… sorry.

Camponotus floridanus

The first(1)Camponotus floridanus queen has even more pupae. Dang, this things get brood quick with some nectar feedings on a heat pad. For any bodies reference it is an 8.5 Volt heating pad, just in case anybody wanting to raise these has that question ;).

Photos of Camponotus floridanus queen one

[attachment=12840:308EFA17-1EB6-4AF9-8CE8-46090E6917B9.jpeg][attachment=12841:D2A0EEB7-3BE7-4D66-A785-65910B1FFE76.jpeg]

The second Camponotus floridanus queen has pupae now. She has around 5, and doesn’t like pictures. Kind of surprised because she is raised in light. She has more brood than queen one, but it is mostly larvae. Sounds like strategizing for the long run while queen one is going for the short run. Anyway, here are some pictures of queen two. These are some of the best in this update.

[attachment=12842:058082CA-4709-4488-91CA-A627F0C3D382.jpeg][attachment=12843:FEAD25CF-5FC6-46A4-916F-FCF97AC5E66E.jpeg] [attachment=12844:30F20334-FE73-4330-BCBD-F966841F804D.jpeg]

The third Camponotus floridanus queen is now getting her first larvae, but photos were hard due to condensation caused by heat.

[attachment=12845:5BD16E59-4521-4A13-B18B-895433C72BBF.jpeg]


Camponotus innequalis

One the first queen has any major changes so, the winged queen won’t be shown tonight.

The first Camponotus innequalis queen finally got pupae! Pretty sure those Camponotus floridanus cocoons are dead because they are black and she doesn’t really do anything with them. I wonder if her workers will open them for her…

[attachment=12846:22A0830A-DBD6-4280-A175-1FA8B501A035.jpeg][attachment=12847:53B0CA54-4BE4-45B4-A45D-431C6E03AEF1.jpeg]

Edited by FloridaAnts, August 3 2022 - 6:06 PM.

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#7 Offline FloridaAnts - Posted August 8 2022 - 8:58 AM

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August 8, 2022

Camponotus floridanus

Colony one had its first nanitic! Congratulations queen one!
[attachment=12916:7A9D14F2-E20A-4229-8EDC-846C4975E0BC.jpeg]
Introducing colony 4… when looking for ants, I snapped a twig open, and found a Camponotus floridanus worker who was young. Then, I moved some leaves and saw a huge gaster, and this turned out to be the queen! They ate the cocoon I found but laid a single egg to make up for it.
[attachment=12915:4B8F7561-8E76-4539-B3AC-BB6F4039EC86.jpeg]
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#8 Offline United-Ants - Posted October 7 2022 - 11:50 PM

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Update?
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#9 Offline FloridaAnts - Posted October 28 2022 - 4:20 AM

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October 28th, 2022

   A lot has happened over the last two months. Colony two died, and two more colonies were succeeded. I have been neglecting these colonies and they have not been getting enough nutrition to produce a multitude of brood. I have decided to focus the journal on one Camponotus floridanus colony, so I can focus more on growing one colony, and not four. I moved this colony into a new tube with plenty of sand, for them to move as they please. I also gave this colony an outworld with a ByFormica nectar feeder available. I can't believe how big these queens get when they are physogastric. I chose to focus this colony because they acted less aggressive towards me than the other colonies, but had more workers. This queen is about 17-18mm currently, and she is not significantly bloated. The Camponotus innequalis, on the other hand, haven't been growing very fast and have some small larvae and cocoons.

 

The new outworld:

[attachment=13551:9773E9D8-2EB4-40B5-9E40-88FC7112E2B1_1_105_c.jpeg]

 

The Camponotus floridanus colony

[attachment=13552:5B033AD7-0F7C-4E08-B426-8C8306B60EBE.jpeg]

 

The Camponotus innequalis brood and colony

[attachment=13553:6DCDA1CF-0447-4EF7-8E0F-39425FE1EF96_1_105_c.jpeg]


Edited by FloridaAnts, October 28 2022 - 4:47 AM.

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#10 Offline Ant-nig321 - Posted October 28 2022 - 9:58 AM

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Nice journal.
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Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: camponotus, camponotus floridanus, florida carpenter ant, carpenter ant, fast growing, journal, agressive, camponotus discolor, camponotus innequalis, frequent updates, floridaants

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