40 replies to this topic

[dermy]

I noticed that the colony now has around 15-20 pupae and various sizes of larvae and even some new eggs. The queen has been out and about in the foraging area, typical of this species, they aren't the brightest ants in the world.....

[dermy]

Most of the pupae are turning into workers. The queen laid another nice batch of eggs, which are now slowly turning into larvae. This colony is doing great, esp. for a colony I barely look after [oops]

[dermy]

Finally they are back to at least 30-40 workers again, I can't believe the stuff this colony has been through, I'm expecting another spike in population in about a month, since there is so many larvae in the nest. The queen still forages from time to time because they are Myrmica

[dermy]

I decided to do some snooping in the nest, and found so many larvae I didn't even think 1 queen could make that many! I think it's safe to say they are the track to recovery

 

[dermy]

My colony has been doing very well lately, because i decided to cheat, brood boosting, why wait 2 months to get a big colony when you can just cheat

[PS. Cheating really isn't all that fun, i just decided to cheat because i found tons of brood in outside "doomed" colonies, at least they can have a second chance at life inside a different colony ]

 

 

 

Spoiler

Also, I "unlisted the Video" so if you can't see it tell me I want to try "unlisting videos" so i don't have to deal with as much comments [i have better things to do with my time haha ]

Edited by dermy, June 23 2016 - 9:54 PM.

[dspdrew]

It's only cheating if it's a contest.

[dermy]

Here's a Look at their Foraging Area it's gonna get even messier, because I'm too lazy to clean it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And yeah, the Queen comes out everytime to snoop at what I've fed them

 

 

 

Edit: Quick update for July 5/2016

 

 

 

Some of the pupae have started to eclose, looks like lots more on the way too!

Edited by dermy, July 5 2016 - 2:00 AM.

[dermy]

Lots of pupae have eclosed, tons of new callow workers all over

 

[dermy]

Great just GREAT!

 

 

 

Hopefully it didn't do too much damage and they can get back to speed again

[dermy]

Here's an update after the whole brother got the ants thing:

 

 

 

The pupae I boosted were a mix of workers and males.

[dermy]

Here is the colony, probably pre-disaster, nothing in my power I can do about it.

 

 

[sgheaton]

I enjoyed the knock back from the backhand at the end. Pre-disaster though? What you talking about? This group looks ready for a colony move if I had to guess...

[dermy]

I enjoyed the knock back from the backhand at the end. Pre-disaster though? What you talking about? This group looks ready for a colony move if I had to guess...

Your right they could use another nest attachment, but I'm talking about my Brother, whenever somethings going good he ruins it. I can put them in a spot I can hardly reach and he still finds a way to get to them and wreck them

[dermy]

Here's a look at their setup, I don't think I've cleaned them since the last video...

 

[dermy]

As of Sept. 9/2016 this Colony is in Hibernation, I'll wake them up whenever I feel like waking them up. Most likely not until Spring.

 

I also cleaned them out, and got them all condensed into one "nest area" so that way there is less risk of nasty mold build up. I will obviously still check on them once every 2 weeks. That's something I really need to start doing, checking Colonies when they are hibernating. You can't just throw them into hibernation and magically expect to have them all well and alive when you come back in the spring/whenever you wake them up.

Edited by dermy, September 12 2016 - 11:59 AM.

[dermy]

This is not a good update, This colony died in hibernation, due to me forgetting about them and them drying out. RIP Myrmica Colony, Now all I have left is a few Myrmica queens of this species. I guess whenever spring [May/June] comes around I'll have to go out and get another Colony.

[antgenius123]

Just another question. Can pupae over winter? If not do Myrmica pup

 

I think it might be heat related for the callow workers, they are heat loving ants after all. Form all the workers I have they usually take a very long time to fully darken I often find callow workers under warm rocks during the morning and winters but not so much during the summer and afternoon (by then it's either too dry or just normal workers). 

 

Just another question. Can pupae over winter? If not do Myrmica pupae over winter? 

I believe they can but not too often. During winter the colony stops all work and just rests. However, there's a possibility they do pupate but very slowly because of the temperatures.

[Alabama Anter]

This is not a good update, This colony died in hibernation, due to me forgetting about them and them drying out. RIP Myrmica Colony, Now all I have left is a few Myrmica queens of this species. I guess whenever spring [May/June] comes around I'll have to go out and get another Colony.

DERMY! How could you...

[antgenius123]

This is not a good update, This colony died in hibernation, due to me forgetting about them and them drying out. RIP Myrmica Colony, Now all I have left is a few Myrmica queens of this species. I guess whenever spring [May/June] comes around I'll have to go out and get another Colony.

RIP, hopefully you'll have better luck in the coming season

[dermy]

 

This is not a good update, This colony died in hibernation, due to me forgetting about them and them drying out. RIP Myrmica Colony, Now all I have left is a few Myrmica queens of this species. I guess whenever spring [May/June] comes around I'll have to go out and get another Colony.

DERMY! How could you...

 

I am "busy" in the winter time so I don't check on stuff that often.....

 

antgenius123-

Yeah, I'll get another colony going in the Spring time. They are everywhere around here anyway.

Edited by dermy, January 4 2017 - 2:18 PM.