6 replies to this topic

[Zhuge]

I got this colony from stateside ants 4 months ago. They have 10 workers, a few larvae, and lots of eggs. No pictures yet. They seem to be slow growing so I will update this monthly. For now. Their diet still consists of the seed packet I got from stateside ants and a few fruit flies here and there. Thanks for reading!

[Zhuge]

1 new worker. They are still active in the outworld and are growing at a slow rate. Not much to update.

[Zhuge]

They have 10 workers now and have a really large brood pile. 

[AntsMates]

Awesome, any tips in terms of heating?

[Ants_Dakota]

Awesome, any tips in terms of heating?

Full_Frontal_Yeti has an amazing journal full of tips on heating. Use the search bar to find it.

[Zhuge]

They are thriving with 20 workers now. I just gave them lots of drinking water and seeds and they got lots of brood.

Edited by Zhuge, July 24 2025 - 10:40 AM.

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

Awesome start.

 

Once their numbers start to push close to 100+, their group attitude will totally change. They will get aggressive and really live up to their description of being pugnacious.
All they really need is water, seeds and temps to be warm enough consistently they will totally grow like crazy.

 

I've never seen a massive Camponotus style summer rush brood pile happen. Instead i find the queen is a steady production of i'd guess 5-15 new eggs or so a day. Eventually reaching a mostly stable size brood pile, with new ants eclsoing at just about the same rate as new eggs are added.
Then the queen takes a break from egg laying for about 3-6 weeks sometime during the year. Not a full colony diapause, just her taking an egg lay break for a bit. The brood pile has shrunk down during that break to almost nothing before i notice new egg clutches starting to show back up.

 

Just FYI, the queen taking a break from time to time seems to be a normal thing to have happen.