7 replies to this topic

[ClaytonBaby]

Going to be doing picture updates on these girls here. Video will provide context.
First time I’ve found something like this happening and I’m hyped to be able to document it. Pleometrosis or polygyny?!
https://youtu.be/5Rd...1QRUs4RgeWgRUa5
Collected - Aug.22.23
Species - Pogonomyrmex Rugosus
Location - Victorville, CA


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[gcsnelling]

Robert Johnson looked into this sort of thing, it would be worth looking up his work.

[100lols]

Awesome video! Very interesting observations.

[ClaytonBaby]

Robert Johnson looked into this sort of thing, it would be worth looking up his work.

Just looked into him and wow! He has a lot of stuff out there, thank you so much for the lead man I’m gonna have a lot of fun reading into his findings!


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Awesome video! Very interesting observations.

Thank you!! I really appreciate you checking it out man.


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[ClaytonBaby]

Aug.24.23, I noticed the first egg, although there were likely more under the queen cluster that I could not see.



Sep.2.23, While checking on the pile of eggs I realize the flaxseeds are molding. This concerns me and I carefully connect a larger tube with dirt for them to move over into if they feel the need to.



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[ClaytonBaby]

Sep.4.23, You’ve probably noticed by now that I am checking on this colony quite often and I would like to address this so I don’t confuse any new keepers. This is a NO NO NO for a lot of species for a lot of reasons especially during the founding stage. Rugosus in my opinion and in my personal experience is not very photosensitive. I can throw a flash grenade at the colony most days and they could care less. This does not mean your colony of Rugosus or any other SP will react the same and any stress on the queens in a enclosed space that they cannot escape from during founding can genuinely lead to death. Moving on, within these two days I have realized 2 things, the queens have no interest in separating from each-other,(Way to early to say this confirms pleometrosis or polygyny, but this does make me happy to know they are comfy with eachother and any other queens that went through the same thing in the area are also likely still comfy with eachother.) and they do not seem to care about the mold attempting to collapse the entire civilization they are a part of. LOL. I would like to note that I have witnessed the queens taking turns guarding the tube entrance much like workers would. It’s interesting to me that a single queen does not seem to be designated to doing this. They all share in the role.






Sep.15.23, At this point I’ve given up on the larger tube since it will only make transferring them over into the THA enclosure I have on standby infinitely harder, if they don’t wanna move I won’t be making them. Back on the 4th I removed the little bit of light filter I had on the colony, during the darkness of the night, and stuffed the tube back up with cotton. Today I offered the girls a soft mid morphed mealworm and grabbed some flics of the gorgeous larvae that have recently hatched out. They took it in and spread it around graciously.






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[100lols]

Does appear to be going smooth! The eggs don’t seem to be separated either, which is a good sign.

The conditions taking place where you located the queens are similar to what Robert Johnson describes in one of his studies. But once those nanitics come it will be a true test of the fate of this colony!

[ClaytonBaby]

The suspense… LOL



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