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PogoQueen's Formica Fusca Journal

formica fusca silky ant wood ant mountain polygynous

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9 replies to this topic

#1 Offline PogoQueen - Posted January 2 2014 - 10:03 AM

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Recently I went up to the mountains in Shaver lake to relax at the cabin. While my dad was chopping wood he split into a couple logs with ants and a couple logs loaded with dry wood termites. Knowing how much I love ants he told me about this and I asked if he could please show me which logs and if he could split them. The logs were all in 1 large pile. the termite and ant infested logs were located next to the soil under the log pile, under a heavily shaded area surrounded by pine trees in shaver lake at an elevation of 5500 feet.

 

When he first split the logs I wasnt sure there were even ants in there. However, once he split the first soft, wet log thousands of large fat dry wood termites fell out and dispersed everywhere. I have come into contact with these termites once before but never saw the soldiers, and let me tell you they are HUGE and kind of scary. I found it interesting that the termites and the formica ants were living in logs basically right next to each other.

 

The next log he split was crawling with these medium sized black ants. Having worked extensively with Pogonomyrmex californicus I'd say they were almost the same size as them but their gasters were larger. Upon closer inspection of the black ants I noticed first that there were no eggs/larvae/pupae present. The second thing I noticed was I saw about 5-8 queens crawling around, so I knew they were polygynous. I didn't have my lens with me to take any close pictures but at this point I knew they were some kind of formica. When I got home yesterday I took some close ups and here they are. I now have a small colony of these girls with about 100 workers and 5-7 queens. Any advice/identification confirmation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading and I hope this journal will be helpful to future Formica fusca enthusiasts.  

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#2 Offline dspdrew - Posted January 2 2014 - 10:30 AM

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Welcome back, and nice Formica colony you have now. :)



#3 Offline PogoQueen - Posted January 2 2014 - 12:40 PM

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Thank you! No ant activity lately has kind of gotten me down! But I suppose even in the middle of winter you can find queens, which has made me very happy.



#4 Offline Crystals - Posted January 2 2014 - 1:11 PM

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Nice find!

I would love to have a colony with numerous queens.

I am not very good with ID's unless they are native to my area and I have seen them. 

 

Did you manage to separate the ants from the wood, or are those the termites in the tub?


"Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astound the rest." -- Samuel Clemens

 

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#5 Offline PogoQueen - Posted January 2 2014 - 1:40 PM

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Thank you! I did separate them from the wood but decided that I would just give them a piece of wood for the time being to live in so that they can have shelter while I build them their formicarium. They love the dark and espesially love to hang out in and upside down on the wood. There are also termites in there, but the ants killed them all and piled them up in a corner.



#6 Offline PogoQueen - Posted January 21 2014 - 4:15 PM

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So I moved them in the formicarium about 1 week ago. It went smoothly! i put a paper towel down in the formicarium then dumped the ants and log and debris in. When I sifted through the debris I noticed that all the termites were eaten. They ran around like crazy because they absolutely hate light until they found the two holes in the corner. After the first worker found the dark hole she ran to the log and carried her sister into the hole then they both came out and carried 2 more workers in. Then all 4 of them came out and carried 4 more workers in, so on and so forth until all queens and workers had moved in. At first the colony was split between both nests but the next day the whole colony was in the bigger nest. They had also carried the surrounding sand into the nest entrance and blocked it. As far as I can tell they have not come out to drink from the test tube, or eat any of the honey. The tunnels are made of cork and the top is made out of left over wood siding I cut to perfectly fit inside. The sand is decorative sand I bought from Michaels. In the future I would try a grout nest like crystalsbecause the cork has already started to mold on the side the ants are not living in (smaller nest).

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#7 Offline PogoQueen - Posted January 21 2014 - 4:18 PM

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More Pictures

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#8 Offline dspdrew - Posted January 21 2014 - 5:04 PM

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Maybe you should have glued the sand down.



#9 Offline specimen24-6 - Posted January 21 2014 - 5:52 PM

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When he first split the logs I wasnt sure there were even ants in there. However, once he split the first soft, wet log thousands of large fat dry wood termites fell out and dispersed everywhere. I have come into contact with these termites once before but never saw the soldiers, and let me tell you they are HUGE and kind of scary. I found it interesting that the termites and the formica ants were living in logs basically right next to each other

PogoQeen those don't sound like drywood termites those sound like Zootermopsis sp. (or dampwood termites) these live in moisture rich roting wood, they love wood that has been inoculated with fungus and are native to California. Trust me I've been doing research for a while on these. I also plan to rear those in captivity when ever I get the chance.

Edited by specimen24-6, January 22 2014 - 5:40 PM.
Fixed quote

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#10 Offline Crystals - Posted January 23 2014 - 7:03 AM

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Nice little colony.

 

I love the all in one concept.  I can only imagine what those ants thought when they saw that sea shell.  :D

Personal experience has told me that it is very hard to apply fluon or thoroughly clean the outworld - but I still like those all in one setups.

 

I am trying out firebrick right now, and it seems to be a very good building material.  Very easy to hydrate - it absorbs water almost instantly and holds it for some time.  I will make another how to thread on it once I have it down pat, but that is a few months away.


"Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astound the rest." -- Samuel Clemens

 

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Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: formica, fusca, silky ant, wood ant, mountain, polygynous

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