353 replies to this topic

[kiedeerk]

Last couple native founding colonies are doing well.
1. Pheidole bicarinata looks to have around 15-20 workers and I see some major pupae in there.

2. Solenopsis molesta with their three queens have now 20-30 workers at least.

3. Colobopsis obliqua have 4-5 workers and they have slow down quite a bit

4. Temnothorax Curvispinosus have between 10-15 workers

5. Prenolepis imparis have eclosed all their brood. I estimate between 20-30 workers. I need to fatten them up and get them ready for diapause

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[ANTdrew]

How do you keep the test tubes so clean??

[kiedeerk]

How do you keep the test tubes so clean??

 

they are really not lol but i try to clean up for them until they can keep it clean themselves. but they are still all in a sealed test tube so i have to manually remove their waste. 

[cooIboyJ]

You should try and get everything right and get the alates of two of your larger colonies of the same species to come out (make sure they are ground mating) and put males and queens together in a test tube. It might get them to mate and you could reproduce your colonies to sell or give to friends.

[kiedeerk]

You should try and get everything right and get the alates of two of your larger colonies of the same species to come out (make sure they are ground mating) and put males and queens together in a test tube. It might get them to mate and you could reproduce your colonies to sell or give to friends.

Usually it’s not that easy. Getting colonies to alates takes a few years. I usually just keep one of each species. The conditions for mating is not easy and depends on weather, environment, chemical/pheromones. Most ant species mate in the air. There have been only a few anecdotal stories about captive mating and success is poor at best. Most queens mate multiple times with many males.

Edited by kiedeerk, September 15 2025 - 5:34 AM.

[kiedeerk]

It’s the time of year in the temperate regions when we get to put away the majority of our colonies for diapause. Even southern and desert species of ant need a period of rest. For these I usually just take them off heat and let them stay at room temperature. I have placed all my native ants into my garage where they experience outdoor temperatures which has dipped to the low 40s and high 30s. I will check on them weekly and make sure they have fresh water. But other than that I hope they make out of diapause. There certainly will be casualties but hopefully majority of workers and the queen will survive.

One of my honeypot ant colony has out grown their THA nucleus so I decided to make them a new nest. I will move them in the coming days or weeks. It will be a couple hours of work.

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Edited by kiedeerk, October 26 2025 - 6:25 AM.

[kiedeerk]

Finally moved my large M. Placadops 01 colony into their new formicarium. It took many hours of work with a few replete casualties. But it always surprise me how many ants can cram into a nest. There are always more than you think there are. They also have tons of brood of all stages. I have also not been feeding them that much. At this rate they will outgrow this nest soon too.

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[ANTdrew]

How did you do the move?

[kiedeerk]

How did you do the move?

Pretty much ant by ant. Honeypots are extremely hard to move because of the repletes

[kiedeerk]

Got myself some new macro lens. Not as good as a dlsr or mirrorless macro set up. But it’s a level above those cheap clip on macro lenses. Took some decent shots. The real issue is sometimes lighting and how clean the glass is on the formicarium. The latter being the hardest to fix.

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[kiedeerk]

Most of my ants are in diapause so only a few colonies still active. The Colobopsis Papago still have a lot of brood of all stages. I might still take their heat source away so they can rest for a few weeks to month. They filled up their wood formicarium pretty well. I don’t believe they grow very large but maybe next year I will carve them a bigger nest.

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[kiedeerk]

More pictures of some of my diapausing colonies. I having a lot of fun with my new iPhone macro lens.

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[ANTdrew]

Any tips on finding C. ashmeadi?

[kiedeerk]

Any tips on finding C. ashmeadi?

They fly fairly early in spring. Caught mine in April on warm nights with a black light