96 replies to this topic

[Flu1d]

I moved my colony into a new tube when I did it, and they were fine. That being said, not all colonies are the same. I figured my little move would be slightly less bothersome than invading their tube with something to push the cotton back down in there slightly. You can choose either method based on how you feel your queen would respond. You want the cotton to be in a place where it will stay damp from the reservoir, and not where the front will become dry. When you suck up water from a tube when making it, you're not trying to also suck up moisture from the cotton (unless it's so soaked it will flood the tube), you're just trying to get the loose water out. Any small traces of moisture droplets can be soaked up by a dry piece of cotton after the majority of the water is removed. This is if you shoved the original cotton in too far and have a flood in the founding area of the tube.

What I tend to do is I like to fill my 150mm long tube with slightly more than 50% with water. Then I use a plastic plunger type thing with a flat surface to push the cotton in one motion down into the water, to where the water JUST reaches to the tip of the cotton to where it's soaked, but not spilling water (or at least not more than the tiniest bit) into the founding area. If I spill some, I use the above mentioned method. Suck it up with a syringe, wipe with dry cotton.

It takes some practice to get it in the right place each time, but when I got into anting it wasn't ant season yet so I just practiced making tubes for a few months before flights started so I got pretty good beforehand.

If I do it right, slightly more than 50% of my tube is 100% a water reservoir. It means I don't have to shove cotton as far in to make the chamber feel safer for the queen because it gives me naturally a smaller chamber, and it means my water will last longer if I need it to, while still providing the queen and her eventual colony ample room to grow if I need her to have an extended stay in the tube.

I have seen tubes run out of water waaay too fast, and I believe my method allows there to still be lots of room to grow (especially since the cotton typically recedes back as the water does) while providing an extended water reservoir.

[The_Gaming-gate]

I moved my colony into a new tube when I did it, and they were fine. That being said, not all colonies are the same. I figured my little move would be slightly less bothersome than invading their tube with something to push the cotton back down in there slightly. You can choose either method based on how you feel your queen would respond. You want the cotton to be in a place where it will stay damp from the reservoir, and not where the front will become dry. When you suck up water from a tube when making it, you're not trying to also suck up moisture from the cotton (unless it's so soaked it will flood the tube), you're just trying to get the loose water out. Any small traces of moisture droplets can be soaked up by a dry piece of cotton after the majority of the water is removed. This is if you shoved the original cotton in too far and have a flood in the founding area of the tube.

What I tend to do is I like to fill my 150mm long tube with slightly more than 50% with water. Then I use a plastic plunger type thing with a flat surface to push the cotton in one motion down into the water, to where the water JUST reaches to the tip of the cotton to where it's soaked, but not spilling water (or at least not more than the tiniest bit) into the founding area. If I spill some, I use the above mentioned method. Suck it up with a syringe, wipe with dry cotton.

It takes some practice to get it in the right place each time, but when I got into anting it wasn't ant season yet so I just practiced making tubes for a few months before flights started so I got pretty good beforehand.

If I do it right, slightly more than 50% of my tube is 100% a water reservoir. It means I don't have to shove cotton as far in to make the chamber feel safer for the queen because it gives me naturally a smaller chamber, and it means my water will last longer if I need it to, while still providing the queen and her eventual colony ample room to grow if I need her to have an extended stay in the tube.

I have seen tubes run out of water waaay too fast, and I believe my method allows there to still be lots of room to grow (especially since the cotton typically recedes back as the water does) while providing an extended water reservoir.

If the worker is having trouble enclosing next time I check on them, I will move them into a new tube.

[The_Gaming-gate]

I tried to catch a wolf spider to feed the ants yesterday evening, but it bit me. It would be a real shame if it was actually a brown recluse.

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, March 30 2024 - 12:17 PM.

[Flu1d]

I tried to catch a wolf spider to feed the ants yesterday evening, but it bit me. It would be a real shame if it was actually a brown recluse.

Brown recluse is extremely rare if existent at all in Florida. And they are easy to tell the difference between.

[The_Gaming-gate]

I tried to catch a wolf spider to feed the ants yesterday evening, but it bit me. It would be a real shame if it was actually a brown recluse.

Brown recluse is extremely rare if existent at all in Florida. And they are easy to tell the difference between.

I know, pretty much just trying to be funny. I literally got stung by a Psuedomyrmex worker before I wrote this, and that seems a lot worse than the spider bite right now.

[The_Gaming-gate]

Your RIFAS seem much better than my P. diexi.

I’m not fond of harvesters either.

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, March 31 2024 - 11:34 AM.

[The_Gaming-gate]

Oh. My. GOSH! A worker has eclosed and is running around the test tube! And the eggs appear to have mostly hatched into larvae! YES! I will make a entry later today.

[Artisan_Ants]

Oh. My. GOSH! A worker has eclosed and is running around the test tube! And the eggs appear to have mostly hatched into larvae! YES! I will make an entry later today.

Congrats! The time has finally come. Don’t forget to feed them (sugar water or honey). For honey; you can put some water to lighten it so the ants won’t drown into it; but I don’t put water or lighten the honey in any way for my S. molesta, and they do fine. Just give them a small drop about the size of the workers head or just a little bigger. Once again congrats and good luck!

[The_Gaming-gate]

 

Oh. My. GOSH! A worker has eclosed and is running around the test tube! And the eggs appear to have mostly hatched into larvae! YES! I will make an entry later today.

Congrats! The time has finally come. Don’t forget to feed them (sugar water or honey). For honey; you can put some water to lighten it so the ants won’t drown into it; but I don’t put water or lighten the honey in any way for my S. molesta, and they do fine. Just give them a small drop about the size of the workers head or just a little bigger. Once again congrats and good luck!

 

Thank you! Ants will be fed soon.

[The_Gaming-gate]

4/2/2024 - ``The Queen's Daughters``


I'm either very unlucky that all but one pupa were decapitated, or very lucky that one of them lived long enough to eclose. The lone pupa eclosed into a nanitic worker, who quickly ran around the tube, helping to feed larvae, clean eggs, and tend to the queen. Since this queen has managed to raise her first workers, she shall get a name. I chose "Queen Firestorm." The test-tube's cotton was opened revealing a foraging area outside containing a drop of honeywater. I was suprised that the queen wanted to explore more than the workers. Queen Firestorm walked out to the edge of the tube, the last area where it smelled like home, and surveyed her surroundings. She stood calm, taking in the unexplored territory that was soon to be hers. She smelled the honeywater and tried to walk further, but the worker rushed her back home. Their were still eggs to tend to and larvae to back at the other end of the test tube. Not as much eggs hatched as I expected, there is one large larva and two smaller ones, the rest of the eggs have yet to hatch. (I am quite concerned now.) They are exposed to 80 degree heat, so temperature can't be the issue. The queen is mated so I'm not too sure what's going on. It's been over two weeks, and the eggs still haven't hatched. As always, any guidance relating Queen Firestorm and her growing queendom is highly appreciated!



Pictures! (worker ant is on the edge of the cotton, she was moving but froze when exposed to light.)

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Edited by The_Gaming-gate, April 2 2024 - 2:15 PM.

[Flu1d]

That's still a fairly solid brood pile for that stage in founding. Question, and I apologize of you had already stated this, but is all of her brood biological, or did you boost from an outside nest at all? Just curious!

Thanks for the updates.

Edited by Flu1d, April 2 2024 - 2:26 PM.

[The_Gaming-gate]

That's still a fairly solid brood pule for that stage in founding. Question, and I apologize of you had already stated this, but is all of her brood biological, or did you boost from an outside nest at all? Just curious!

Thanks for the updates.

Eggs and larvae are from the queen, only the pupae that hatched the worker and decapitated ants were boosted The queen laid two batches, one when I first found her, (half of those are larvae now) and one batch a week later (still eggs). It has been two weeks since the most recent batch. I think she ate a few of her larvae since there used to be five, now there are only three.

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, April 2 2024 - 2:29 PM.

[Flu1d]

That's exactly what I was wondering. You're for sure positive you got that brood from specifically a Solenopsis invicta colony?

I'm wondering if perhaps it was a different species, perhaps even S. geminata? Or, I wonder, if maybe monogamous queens don't tolerate polygynous S. invicta brood?

I brood boosted a couple of my S. invicta colonies, but they were queens of the polygynous variety.. so it's possible they would take monogamous AND polygynous S. invicta brood, whereas I wonder if monogamous S. invicta would be more selective. That or perhaps you accidently pulled up brood from a different species of ant altogether.

Also, I don't know if monogamous S. invicta are selective or not towards which type of brood they'll accept, that's just a question I was raising just to get to the bottom of why they'd kill off the brood in that manner.

I'm sure somebody far more knowledgeable than I may be able to help you figure that out.

[The_Gaming-gate]

That's exactly what I was wondering. You're for sure positive you got that brood from specifically a Solenopsis invicta colony?

I'm wondering if perhaps it was a different species, perhaps even S. geminata? Or, I wonder, if maybe monogamous queens don't tolerate polygynous S. invicta brood?

I brood boosted a couple of my S. invicta colonies, but they were queens of the polygynous variety.. so it's possible they would take monogamous AND polygynous S. invicta brood, whereas I wonder if monogamous S. invicta would be more selective. That or perhaps you accidently pulled up brood from a different species of ant altogether.

Also, I don't know if monogamous S. invicta are selective or not towards which type of brood they'll accept, that's just a question I was raising just to get to the bottom of why they'd kill off the brood in that manner.

I'm sure somebody far more knowledgeable than I may be able to help you figure that out.

It was definetly invicta, they had polymorphic medians but lacked majors, and they are identical to the colony the queen came from when she was an alate. Also just seemed pretty "invicta-y." I'm pretty sure the colony where the alate came from was monogynous, but so was the booster colony. The male she mated with was polygynous.

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, April 2 2024 - 3:05 PM.

[The_Gaming-gate]

Observation 001 - A Mini Update

 

Worker eventually got used to the light and resumed sorting brood with Queen Firestorm.  The worker ventured into the vast lands of the- tiny AC Test Tube Portal. She walked just over the edge of the test tube, but got a sniff of the foreign smells (honeywater) and ran back to defend the queen. It's fun to watch, you can really feel sympathy for the ant, feeling her fear. The largest larvae is slowly morphing into something like a pupa, which is great, considering this nanitic will need the help of as many sisters as she can get. I'm planning to feed the colony a mealworm piece so that the protein can help larvae grow. Worker also seems generally more active then in the day time. maybe she had recently eclosed when I checked on her the first time, causing reduced movement? All in all, this colony is going well so far. The queen seems unstressed and has a nice brood pile. and her new worker generation is already proving themselves as hard-workers. I hope that progress continues.

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, April 2 2024 - 4:16 PM.

[Flu1d]

That's exactly what I was wondering. You're for sure positive you got that brood from specifically a Solenopsis invicta colony?

I'm wondering if perhaps it was a different species, perhaps even S. geminata? Or, I wonder, if maybe monogamous queens don't tolerate polygynous S. invicta brood?

I brood boosted a couple of my S. invicta colonies, but they were queens of the polygynous variety.. so it's possible they would take monogamous AND polygynous S. invicta brood, whereas I wonder if monogamous S. invicta would be more selective. That or perhaps you accidently pulled up brood from a different species of ant altogether.

Also, I don't know if monogamous S. invicta are selective or not towards which type of brood they'll accept, that's just a question I was raising just to get to the bottom of why they'd kill off the brood in that manner.

I'm sure somebody far more knowledgeable than I may be able to help you figure that out.

It was definetly invicta, they had polymorphic medians but lacked majors, and they are identical to the colony the queen came from when she was an alate. Also just seemed pretty "invicta-y." I'm pretty sure the colony where the alate came from was monogynous, but so was the booster colony. The male she mated with was polygynous.

I'm slightly confused by this. How do you know for sure the booster colony was monogamous?

What do you mean by the male was polygynous?

I'm fairly certain the males will mate with either, regardless of what type of nest they flew from.. at least that's what I believe I remember being told before. That the poly and mono have been breeding together in Florida for quite some time. Regardless, how would you know which one the male was?

This is not 100% set in stone, but it was mentioned to me as "what is currently BELIEVED, not what is true".. and I can back it up by what I have seen PERSONALLY as well.. but there's still studies being done on this.. HOWEVER.. The flatter, more area coverage S. invicta nests seem to be housing polygynous S. invicta, whereas the bulky, taller mounds typically house the monogamous S. invicta.

Again, that is just what some folks believe, however it SEEMS to hold weight, for it seems that the vast majority of S. invicta in my area, that I have personally caught, are polygynous.. and the vast majority of mounds in my area are the flatter, more square coverage mounds.. with some exception. We do have some of tye taller, bulkier mounds in some areas of my neighborhood, but not nearly as many. And there definitely are some in neighborhoods around town, and in parks, etc.. but I'm referring to what I catch and my immediate area.

If I go 30 minutes out of town, it seems there are slightly bulkier queens in size, and they have the taller, more bulky mounds.

Again, this may be coincidence and even possibly based on location more than a true defining factor for poly vs mono invicta queens, it just seems like it may be a possibility.

Could I see a picture of the mound where you got the brood from at some point?

Edited by Flu1d, April 2 2024 - 4:36 PM.

[The_Gaming-gate]

 

 

That's exactly what I was wondering. You're for sure positive you got that brood from specifically a Solenopsis invicta colony?

I'm wondering if perhaps it was a different species, perhaps even S. geminata? Or, I wonder, if maybe monogamous queens don't tolerate polygynous S. invicta brood?

I brood boosted a couple of my S. invicta colonies, but they were queens of the polygynous variety.. so it's possible they would take monogamous AND polygynous S. invicta brood, whereas I wonder if monogamous S. invicta would be more selective. That or perhaps you accidently pulled up brood from a different species of ant altogether.

Also, I don't know if monogamous S. invicta are selective or not towards which type of brood they'll accept, that's just a question I was raising just to get to the bottom of why they'd kill off the brood in that manner.

I'm sure somebody far more knowledgeable than I may be able to help you figure that out.

It was definetly invicta, they had polymorphic medians but lacked majors, and they are identical to the colony the queen came from when she was an alate. Also just seemed pretty "invicta-y." I'm pretty sure the colony where the alate came from was monogynous, but so was the booster colony. The male she mated with was polygynous.

I'm slightly confused by this. How do you know for sure the booster colony was monogamous?

What do you mean by the male was polygynous?

I'm fairly certain the males will mate with either, regardless of what type of nest they flew from.. at least that's what I believe I remember being told before. That the poly and mono have been breeding together in Florida for quite some time. Regardless, how would you know which one the male was?

This is not 100% set in stone, but it was mentioned to me as "what is currently BELIEVED, not what is true".. and I can back it up by what I have seen PERSONALLY as well.. but there's still studies being done on this.. HOWEVER.. The flatter, more area coverage S. invicta nests seem to be housing polygynous S. invicta, whereas the bulky, taller mounds typically house the monogamous S. invicta.

Again, that is just what some folks believe, however it SEEMS to hold weight, for it seems that the vast majority of S. invicta in my area, that I have personally caught, are polygynous.. and the vast majority of mounds in my area are the flatter, more square coverage mounds.. with some exception. We do have some of tye taller, bulkier mounds in some areas of my neighborhood, but not nearly as many. And there definitely are some in neighborhoods around town, and in parks, etc.. but I'm referring to what I catch and my immediate area.

If I go 30 minutes out of town, it seems there are slightly bulkier queens in size, and they have the taller, more bulky mounds.

Again, this may be coincidence and even possibly based on location more than a true defining factor for poly vs mono invicta queens, it just seems like it may be a possibility.

Could I see a picture of the mound where you got the brood from at some point?

 

I know the male's colony was polygynous because I collected males from the nest enterance to the same nest my friend has collected more than a dozen queens from. I can't prove the booster colony was monogynous, but with the amount of nest wrecking I did to get them out of my yard last year, I would have noticed a queen eventually if they indeed had multiple. I find with polygynous colonies, they don't even bother digging extensive nests and just leave the queens a few inches below soil, at least in some places. They originally lived in a tall and wide (but only with a few enterances and they all led inward toward the tree) mound based around a tree, but I eventually got them to move into the side of my driveway, which caused the nest to spread out. I believe the original nest was the tree, however.

[Flu1d]

Alates fly high in the air to mate, and then fly down. They can fly short distances, or sometimes even farther distances.. and they don't usually just fly straight up and then straight down. It is possible the males from the polygynous colony that you have near you mated with the dealates you found, but that doesn't mean that they did.. so it would be hard to know for sure which colony the male that mated with your dealate came from.

Also, you would be surprised how deep a nest can actually go, and how expansive the tunnels can be for a queen (or queens) to hide/escape from. Solenopsis invicta are known to tunnel, having a LOT of expansive escape routes for any queen or queens to escape from, and move elsewhere.


Edit: I don't mean to spam your post with this stuff, I really appreciate the journal and I look forward to all of the updates!

Edited by Flu1d, April 2 2024 - 10:22 PM.

[The_Gaming-gate]

Alates fly high in the air to mate, and then fly down. They can fly short distances, or sometimes even farther distances.. and they don't usually just fly straight up and then straight down. It is possible the males from the polygynous colony that you have near you mated with the dealates you found, but that doesn't mean that they did.. so it would be hard to know for sure which colony the male that mated with your dealate came from.

Also, you would be surprised how deep a nest can actually go, and how expansive the tunnels can be for a queen (or queens) to hide/escape from. Solenopsis invicta are known to tunnel, having a LOT of expansive escape routes for any queen or queens to escape from, and move elsewhere.


Edit: I don't mean to spam your post with this stuff, I really appreciate the journal and I look forward to all of the updates!

I picked up that male as he exited the entrance from the polygynous nest so I know for sure that is where he came from. Also, thank you for enjoying my journal!

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, April 3 2024 - 4:21 AM.

[The_Gaming-gate]

I forgot to make an update yesterday! Not too much happened though, I just fed them a mealworm slice which they failed to appreciate. They barely touched that honeywater yesterday, either, but I think the queen has a large portion of reserves still , and that’s what they are getting nutrition from. The pupa they have is further developing (yay!) but the eggs haven’t hatched still.

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Edited by The_Gaming-gate, April 4 2024 - 10:05 PM.