6th September 2025
"See you next time maybe in at the end of the month if I ain't lazy."
Guess I wasn't just lazy, I fell asleep and someone glued my eyes shut...
"when are we getting a spleeny formiculture update" here have this.
Paratopula bauhinia (1Q, 100W)
They have been living in this gross tube that I didn't even realise who much brood they have! In fact, they have alates now.
Crematogaster cylindriceps (1Q, 15W)
This is one of Crematobopsis queens I found in the long gone month of June. She and the workers like to nest close to the cotton, making observation a but hard. She also shed her wings very quickly, unlike the first ever queen I found which never shed.
Monomorium sp. (1Q, 400W)
These tiny ants are doing very well, despite me not really seeing them eat all that much. They workers never seem to be too interested in any food but you can see their gasters being full means that they are eating well.
Camponotus cf. largiceps (1Q, 10W x3)
The three founding queens got their workers a month ago, and more is arriving soon. I only took photos of one colony but all their development are similar.
Camponotus sp. 3 (1Q, 7W)
Good development from them. Another pupa is darkened, meaning she should come out today.
Camponotus sp. 1 (1Q, 400W)
Condensation buildup... my weakness... They have staged an escape before with some stragglers still roaming the ant table. Throwing them in one at a time.
Nylanderia emmae (1Q, 30W)
There is something wrong with them. The queen has not laid eggs for months and the workers are slowly dying off. I won't do anything special, just let them live on.
Nylanderia yaeyamensis (1Q, 80W)
The smaller Nylanderia is doing better. I see some brood but the dirty tube is obscuring the view.
Polyrhachis halidayi (1Q)
This is quite a nice find. This is in my opinion one of the cooler looker polys here (Myrma all look the same lol). She belongs to the Campomyrma subgenus and it is obvious why.
Polyrhachis fellowesi (1Q x2)
Okay maybe not all Myrma look the same. This species is one of the two larger Myrma species here, other being P.tyrannica which I have yet to see. Her long face looks like a grasshopper.
All the polys have yet to lay eggs. Typical of them.
Technomyrmex bicolor (1Q, 15W)
They have experienced some terrible things from me (spraying sugar water into the cotton and causing a mess, twice). That's probably why they don't have that much brood.
Ochetellus glaber (1Q, 13W)
The workers are tiny (2mm) and they are like a much smaller, less crazy Iridomyrmex. That's good, my Iridomyrmex... now scares me.
Odontoponera denticulata (1Q, 70W)
They have grown so much it's crazy. The massive pile of larvae means much chomping from each feeding.
Pseudoneoponera rufipes (1Q, 1W)
Probably the worse Pseudo colony I have raised but that doesn't matter. Strangely, she doesn't like her kid. I have an arena for them and the queen always forces the worker to be outside. Some Cinderella stuff going. The worker is in the chamber here because I disturbed them.
Harpegnathos venator (1Q, 4W)
This queen is the smoothest ponerine founding experience I have ever had. Barely any issues, willing to eat and lay eggs. She should have 8 workers in the first generation and I already see some more larvae appearing.
Odontomachus silvestrii (1Q, 2W)
The Lankymachus has once again returned. This time I caught some workers that were foraging in that area as to help her found. However I suspect might not be mated, due to her being really close to the nest.
Buniapone amblyops (2Q, 3Q, 4Q)
I have saved the best for last, the Bunny Pones. I was able to catch a massive flight going recently and found many queens. Now I have a 2 queen, 3 queen and 4 queen arrangement. All of them have laid eggs which is impressive since all my previous attempts had the queens die in 3 days after keeping. Very excited to see which group will get workers first.
I have done quite a lot of stuff in summer. Working three summer jobs, helping with uni orientation stuff and going on anting trips.
One of the best finds that I could ever have hoped for was this.
Leptanilla. Small, yellow ants whose larvae look like fungus strands. This is the first time a full colony is found in HK, so it is a new record so to speak.
They aren't in my collection anymore. They are at the lab of HKU where experiments are being done to them. (that is just Marco and Matt throwing centipedes in and watching the ants murk the poor thing.
Otherwise I will probably slow down ant keeping, through not collecting any more ants and euthenizing them.
Updates will still happen but maybe once every one or two months.
Well thank you for taking your time reading through this long post, I will see you next time, whenever that will be.
