3/19/24 - "Brood Boost"
Today I went to my local invicta colony, and flipped a few stones before running into a brood chamber. It was mostly alates, but I got about eight worker pupae, and two small larvae. The brood was introduced to the queen, who immediately picked them up and moved them toward her egg pile. I do think I got a major pupae, which will likely eclose soon (due to amber coloring). I also noticed the queen laid more eggs, possibly doubling her egg pile, and I believe I saw a small larva. But enough words, time for pics!
Great job! I know she is happy.
Unlike S. geminata, S. invicta don't have true majors. They are highly polymorphic, and have more or less what is referred to as "media". They generally have one worker caste that is extremely polymorphic, ranging in size from small to pretty large, in some cases I have found, VERY large. On several occasions, while queen hunting during the day on sidewalks and gutters, I have stopped at what I thought may have been a queen. In reality, it was just a rather large invicta worker.
I look forward to watching this colony grow!
Thank’s for the info! I always thought the medias didn’t have big enough heads to be majors. When do you think I can expect the first bio medians? (medians not counting boost)
As previously stated, invicta don't have a clearly defined major caste.
That being said, it could take a long time before your queen decides to make workers on the larger side. I had a colony that got to over 1000 estimated workers, and even she wasn't making any that were very large.. and they were eating discoid roaches whole, as well as live fruit flies.
Thanks for the information, I can't wait for the first giant ants. To clear it up, i meant that i used to think medians were majors, not that I still do.
Ohhh okay! I gotcha
You are very welcome. Solenopsis invicta were my first ever ants, and I have captured TOOOONS. They are a very fun species, and as long as you have enough room and keep enough room for them to grow, they aren't hard to keep. They're super clean, they move all their trash away from the nesting area (all of mine kept their trash in the outworld, all in a big pile to easily clean up) and if you give them a lot of heat and a lot of protein, they will absolutely explode.
Mine didn't really try to escape, but I also made sure they had a lot of nest space to grow into, a large outworld, their nest stayed hydrated and I kept them supplied with plenty of drinking water, sugar water and protein. They probably felt no real need to escape.
I used an Arthropod Antics style nest and outworld (ones that I made myself at home, but buying from them is just as good, I wanted to have a bunch, however, and cost-wise it just made more sense to create them myself). They enjoyed it thoroughly. Right now I keep Pheidole dentata in the same type of setup (also home made) and they also seem to love it.
I can't wait to see your colony get huge and eventually outgrow your test tube! It's a good feeling when you release them into the outworld and then they find their way into the nest and settle in.
Edited by Flu1d, March 19 2024 - 9:37 PM.
