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bmb1bee's Parasitic Lasius cf. californicus (updated 6 Sep. 2024)

lasius parasite lasius californicus journal california acanthomyops

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#1 Offline bmb1bee - Posted September 6 2024 - 9:13 AM

bmb1bee

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Update 6.IX.2024
                             
On August 15, I received a parasitic Lasius queen from TheAntGuy through a trade. She was later identified as possibly Lasius californicus, if not then at least in the Acanthomyops subgenus. Although she didn't come with any hosts, I was able to keep her alive until I managed to get my own on September 2. Lasius in the Bay Area are a bit of a pain for me to get, since they don't occur in the East Bay. It took at least 30 minutes or so across the bridge to get some, but at least it was worth it in the end. My spot for them had almost no rocks, so I had to dig part of a colony out of the ground. Luckily, I managed to get 40-50 workers from that excavation. Unfortunately, no brood was unearthed. My introduction method was to cull a few workers and offer them to the queen. Upon discovering the workers, the queen groomed the corpses and then herself. My assumption was that she was spreading the workers' pheromones onto herself. After a couple hours, I removed the dead bodies and introduced a couple callow workers I found to the queen. No aggression and plenty of grooming was observed. Shortly after, I removed the rest of the workers (which were placed in the refrigerator for a while) from their tube and dumped them in with the queen. As expected, there were no aggressive responses from either party. The workers consolidated around the queen and groomed her, which was a good sign. As of today, the colony has been fed well and is still in the tube until I can get a small nest for them prepared. I hope this colony does well, as I've never gotten a parasitic species to biological workers before.

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Edited by bmb1bee, September 6 2024 - 11:51 AM.

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"Float like a butterfly sting like a bee, his eyes can't hit what the eyes can't see."
- Muhammad Ali

Check out my shop and parasitic Lasius journal! Discord user is bmb1bee if you'd like to chat.

Also check out my YouTube channel: @bmb1bee


#2 Offline AntsGodzilla - Posted October 26 2024 - 2:44 PM

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Update?


 

And many Carnivorous plants such as: Dionea muscipula (fly trap), Sarracenia x 'Fiona' ( American Pitcher plant), Nepenthese ventrata (Tropical Pitcher plant), and Pinguicula agnata x emarginata (Butterwort) (show off your plants here)

Godzilla thread

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores it's provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. Proverbs 6: 6-8

 


#3 Offline bmb1bee - Posted October 26 2024 - 3:10 PM

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I was going to wait until eggs appeared for another update. They are alive and well, but I haven't gotten brood from them yet. I'm afraid they might not lay until next year. I have plans to move them to a custom formicarium of sorts.


Edited by bmb1bee, December 2 2024 - 9:59 AM.

  • rptraut and AntsGodzilla like this

"Float like a butterfly sting like a bee, his eyes can't hit what the eyes can't see."
- Muhammad Ali

Check out my shop and parasitic Lasius journal! Discord user is bmb1bee if you'd like to chat.

Also check out my YouTube channel: @bmb1bee






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