59 replies to this topic

[AsdinAnts]

I have moved the colony back into a test tube, and gave them an outworld. I will post pictures of it later, but I made the mistake of moisturizing the rock/sand mixture that I had as their flooring and now they’ve gone and nested in that. Two of the four pupae have started gaining a lot of color, so I’m pretty sure that they’re going to eclose anytime soon! 🥳

[AsdinAnts]

One of the pupae have eclosed! This brings the worker count to 7!

[The_Gaming-gate]

Yay!! Colony is doing great! Let the substrate dry out and the ants will head back to their test tube. Have those eggs hatched yet? If not they’re probably just trophic eggs that the queen (or workers?) laid to eat later between feedings.

[AsdinAnts]

So, A lot has happened in these past 10 days. Firstly, I decided to keep watering the substrate, and let them live in there since it’s obviously their more preferred nesting area. Secondly, they have a bunch of larvae, I counted 5, but there are probably more hidden in the dirt/gravel that they are nesting in. Thirdly, I decided to add actual dirt, and I also have added rolypolys and beetles to act as a cleanup crew and food for the ants as well. That’s all for this update. (i also saw 3 more pupae tdy).

[AsdinAnts]

I believe that the colony is still growing, but I am not entirely sure. The colony is still hidden underground, but I have seen 2 workers foraging around for food. I also fed them an adult earwig, and they devoured its stomach, so I’m pretty sure they’re still alive and growing

[AsdinAnts]

Haven’t updated in a while, and i’m sorry about that. I have been caught up in a lot of things as of late. Anyways, my colony is doing really good rn! I always see at least one worker foraging, I also checked under the outworld tdy, and I saw a tonne of brood! The queen is really going to work this year. I am so happy that they are thriving, I counted at least 19 larvae, 3 big batches of eggs, and like 6 more pupae/pupating larvae!

[AsdinAnts]

THESE GIRLS HAVE A TONNE OF BROOD! I checked under the outworld they were in, and I saw a huge amount of brood! I saw pupae, pupating larvae, larvae, and so many big batches of eggs! I’m super excited for this colony, and I can’t wait for them to grow huge ‼️ (actually I can…)

I fed them sugar water like 10 minutes ago, and I currently see one worker drinking like there’s no tmw. Her gaster is expanding rapidly, i’m actually in love with my aphaenogaster 😁

[AsdinAnts]

I almost just killed them while taking these photos….. I was holding the outworld, and it’s pretty large, I was holding the flashlight in my mouth, the tank with my right hand, and taking pictures with my left. I almost dropped the tank in order to get low quality photos cause I couldn’t get my macro lens close enough and still enough in order to take some decent pics 

 

You can sort of see the brood pile!

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[AsdinAnts]

Nothing much to update on, aside from the fact that the brood pile is now double the amount it was in the picture

[AsdinAnts]

nothing.

 

 

 

 

I checked underneath the container like I always do, and my ants are gone. There is no brood, no queen, and no workers. I’m digging up the container trying to search for them, but my search is in vain. I am so sad right now 

 

you know what I did find? monomorium everywhere. 

Edited by AsdinAnts, May 14 2024 - 7:08 PM.

[antsriondel]

nothing.

 

 

 

 

I checked underneath the container like I always do, and my ants are gone. There is no brood, no queen, and no workers. I’m digging up the container trying to search for them, but my search is in vain. I am so sad right now 

 

you know what I did find? monomorium everywhere. 

I am so sorry. That is just pure awful. 

[Artisan_Ants]

I am very sorry for your colony Asd. Many people loved this colony and journal including me and seeing it go torn like this is so sad. Well it’s just like what happens in the wild to ant colonies; especially small ones. It’s just the circle of life that varies so greatly but moments like these shall never be forgotten.

[AsdinAnts]

I found the queen…

 

The queen is fine, but she’s very skinny. I also only found two of her workers out of like 13. I put her in a test tube along with the workers, they’ve been eating and now look sort of plump. I’m really hoping that she does okay, she also laid around 7 eggs, which hopefully all turn into workers.

[AsdinAnts]

I haven’t taken any pictures, since I do not want to disturb the queen.

 

I checked on the queen today, and one of her two workers have died. Sadly, this colony is most likely not gonna make it… Her eggs are still eggs, the queen and worker do look very plump though, so I have hope in that.

 

I’m really hoping that this colony will make a comeback, seeing as this was my first actual colony this year. (aside from argentine ants)

Edited by AsdinAnts, May 29 2024 - 8:22 PM.

[Topgun757]

I haven’t taken any pictures, since I do not want to disturb the queen.
 
I checked on the queen today, and one of her two workers have died. Sadly, this colony is most likely not gonna make it… Her eggs are still eggs, the queen and worker do look very plump though, so I have hope in that.
 
I’m really hoping that this colony will make a comeback, seeing as this was my first actual colony this year. (aside from argentine ants)

I’m sorry to hear that, I hope that they manage to bounce back from this.

[AsdinAnts]

hopefully

[1tsm3jack]

Dang I'm sorry that really sucks, hope they make a comeback.

[AsdinAnts]

I may just freeze the remaining queen and worker, the eggs never seem to develop into larvae.

It's that, or the queen is just eating whatever hatches, and relays eggs again. 

[Artisan_Ants]

If they are not on heat then that might be the case larvae aren’t developing. I remember (I didn’t do this on purpose) one of my S. molesta colonies whose workers died out so there was some heat from the heater (and it was a lot of heat) which is what made her raise workers in about 1 1/2 weeks! (They are fast growers anyways). As of now; you can at least try to give them more heat even though it will obviously not get them more workers in 1 week. Sometimes due to stress; the queen may lay trophic eggs in high is the reason she keeps eating them and then she will suddenly start producing fertile female workers eggs but that is unlikely in most cases. Make sure to feed them regularly although that is pretty obvious anyways and can be done regularly especially for this species. What I really think is affecting them right now is heat so provide them with more than usual (of course not too much) and there might an increase in growth and productivity. Hope this helps and good luck!

[AsdinAnts]

They were on heat for around two weeks, but I still noticed that their eggs had not developed.
I took them off heat because I thought that it was heat affecting their growth, but it wasnt that either. I’ll put them back on heat to see if it will work now, thanks Artisan!