34 replies to this topic

[FelixTheAnter]

I really admire this colony.
You have been so lucky with this.
And they appear to develop nicely.
Thank you for sharing.

I'm glad other people have been enjoying them as well!

[FelixTheAnter]

Good news below!

But first...I think this colony has quickly become my favorite of my 20ish colonies, even without the beetles. They're so fun to watch! And I swear this brood pile is getting bigger by the day.





I have observed a beetle leave the nest when the colony has gone into a feeding frenzy, twice. The entomologist I'm talking to has never seen this happen before, and we decided I'd mark a beetle with a bug-safe pen if it happened again. This way we can tell them apart in the nest, and know if it's the same one that keeps leaving.

Today I fed the ants some fresh mosquito larvae...they went NUTS. Massive feeding frenzy.

This little minor trying to drag a small larvae off their (new) branch is hilarious


A major in the swarm, carrying a single small larvae


Sometimes they get too excited and lose their footing


And what do you know...the beetle left the nest again!


Marked!



It's so smol and cute I could literally cry


It was very hesitant to go back into the nest for some reason, but after 15 minutes of sitting outside the nest entrance (perhaps reaquiring their smell? The ants had briefly acted aggressively towards it when it was returned to the outworld), two minors grabbed it and dragged it in. All seems well since then.



I will now be guessing that it's a "he" until I have proof otherwise. And his name is Mr. White. Because he is marked with white, he's a sneaky little murderer, and he deals drugs to the ants (in the form of chemical secretions, yummy).

Edited by FelixTheAnter, May 21 2023 - 12:24 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Pheidole are just awesome to keep.

[futurebird]

I feel like I'm watching a scary movie and yelling "Don't let him in!!" as the hapless protagonist unlocks their front door to the unspeakable evil!

[Flu1d]

The picture of that minor falling from the branch took me out 🤣

[futurebird]

This thread is great. I'm talking trash about you over on the fedi:

https://sauropods.wi...408867993824207

(all the ant people from twitter have gone there)

[futurebird]

Made a cartoon about the beetle. 

[Ernteameise]

OMG that beetle is tiny!

 

Fantastic pictures.

I also love how you tell a story with some humor strewn in.

 

By the way- have you seen the book "Guests of Ants" by Bert Hölldobler and Christina L. Kwapich?

They also cover these beetles in there.

I even suspect Christina L. Kwapich might be the entomologist you are referring to?

In any case, wonderful book, great pictures, might be right up your alley.

[FelixTheAnter]

Pheidole are just awesome to keep.

Agreed. I have a second colony of P. Mega that's still really small, but they're already so active for their size. Can't wait to see them grow

I feel like I'm watching a scary movie and yelling "Don't let him in!!" as the hapless protagonist unlocks their front door to the unspeakable evil!

LOL not only do they unlock the front door, they forcefully drag the guy into their house!

The picture of that minor falling from the branch took me out 🤣

Same. Glad I'm not the only one who finds it way too amusing haha

This thread is great. I'm talking trash about you over on the fedi:

https://sauropods.wi...408867993824207

(all the ant people from twitter have gone there)

Alright, I just joined. Great thread

[FelixTheAnter]

OMG that beetle is tiny!

Fantastic pictures.
I also love how you tell a story with some humor strewn in.

By the way- have you seen the book "Guests of Ants" by Bert Hölldobler and Christina L. Kwapich?
They also cover these beetles in there.
I even suspect Christina L. Kwapich might be the entomologist you are referring to?
In any case, wonderful book, great pictures, might be right up your alley.

Thank you! I haven't seen that book, but I may have to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation!

[FelixTheAnter]

Made a cartoon about the beetle.

No joke, if you send this to me I will frame it and put it on the wall by the colony. Please.

[FelixTheAnter]

I have an update, and unfortunately it's not a good one Could use some input from you guys.

Saturday morning all seemed fine. My fiancee and I went to a friend's birthday party, got home late and went right to bed. Sunday morning I check on the ants, and notice BOTH beetles are in the outworld. One is especially frantic, running around nonstop. Both seem stressed. The ants occasionally try to pull or lick a beetle, which is typical behavior.



I was worried and tried to put one back in the nest entrance, but it immediately ran back out and ran all the way across the outworld, in the opposite direction of the nest. Eventually the marked beetle went back to the nest on its own, the other was still running around.

My 8 month old pup was demanding his morning walk, so I left my phone camera recording the outworld & went out.

When I got back, marked beetle was still in the nest, but it was being attacked. Second beetle was nowhere to be seen.



The beetle was being quite severely attacked, the ants were relentlessly chasing it around the nest and biting it for over 15 minutes. At one point a major grabbed hold of its neck, and I was worried it was going to be able to just snip it's head off. So I decided to break open the nest. Cut the silicone, pulled off the glass (which broke in the process) and grabbed the beetle. I didn't have a spare nest, or a replacement piece of glass, so I filled two mason jars. One with dirt, one with sand. Put those in the box the now-open nest was in. Didn't take long for the ants to start moving in.

Later, when I was reviewing the footage from when I was walking the pup, I saw the unmarked beetle had been standing outside the nest entrance. It tried to fly, but crashed back down into the outworld. 20 minutes later, it climbed up the branch in the outworld, and never came back.

I've looked all around my windows, hoping it flew towards the light and was somewhere nearby, but I can't find it anywhere. It's been over 24h, so I've about lost hope now.

I'm so stupidly sad about this.

I've talked to the entomologist, she thinks maybe the best course of action is to get a second colony and keep this beetle with them. I was also thinking that may be best, but now I'm wondering if it'll actually work or not. Would a new colony smell the old colony on the beetle and try to kill it?

I have the beetle with a handful of brood + workers in a test tube, and none of the workers (including some I introduced to the tube this morning) have been acting aggressively towards the beetle.



I'm wondering if the best thing to do is add more workers to the tube so the beetle gets properly covered in the colony scent, and as long as none act aggressively, see if I can reintroduce it to the original colony. With the original colony now in a more natural setup, perhaps lower stress levels + plenty of places for the beetle to run/hide if needed will work.

Also, if this is a female (could be male, we don't know) I think the chance of success for raising babies is much higher in a dirt setup.

Neither myself nor the entomologist have any idea why the ants suddenly recognized & started attacking the beetle.

Would highly appreciated your guys thoughts on what to do here.

Also, enjoy this picture of a major who managed to grab ahold of the back of my hand. She held on for several minutes and ended up drawing blood! Pretty impressive for such a tiny little thing.

[CatsnAnts]

Aww man sorry to hear that! Hopefully everything will turn out alright.

[Ernteameise]

Hmm.

Since it is so incredibly rare to have these beetles as pets, it will be difficult to say anything for sure.

No idea why the ants turned on the beetles and why the spell and glamour the beetles wove has broken.

It will be a gamble, but if the scientist thinks that a second colony might be the answer, you might as well try.

 

In any case.

I am eagerly awaiting updates.

And I keep my fingers crossed for the surviving beetles!

 

(are there any beetle larvae in there that are maybe still living with the ant brood?)

[ANTdrew]

I wonder if these beetles go through a mating/ dispersal phase. That may be why the one was trying to fly. Perhaps something changes in their pheromone profile to signal other dispersing beetles? Just some theories of mine…