AntTx's Camponotus sansabeanus journal
4/18/25-6/17/25
On 4/18/25-4/25/25, I caught 50+ Camponotus sansabeanus queens (45 light variant, 5 dark variant) after tons of rock flipping after their nuptial flight. I found all of them around cedar trees under rocks. It seems they prefer shade over sun on their rocks. It probably took 12 or more hours to catch them all. These are probably my favorite Camponotus species because of their size and how easy and fun they are to catch. I've kept this species in the past but haven't had success so I'm trying again.
(Some of the queens in their tubes)
5/3/25 - Day 15
Many queens have their first batches of eggs, here are some pictures of light variant and dark variant queens.
(Light variant queen)
(Dark variant queen)
5/24/25 - Day 36
First cocoons/pupae are here, workers will be arriving soon. I sold most of the queens and decided to keep 4 for myself.
(Cocoons with fat queen)
6/8/25 - 6/17/25 - Day 51-60
The first workers have arrived! 
I've decided to just name them Queen A, Queen B, etc. (Any name suggestions would be appreciated!) As their first meal I gave them each a mealworms and some Sunburst Ant Nectar in a test tube feeding dish I 3D printed.
(Queen C's first worker, the first worker out of all the queens)
(Queen A and her workers)
(Queen B and her workers)
(Queen C and her workers)
(Queen D and her workers)
(The last 4 photos were only taken 10 minutes after I fed them their first meal and every colony besides Queen D had drunk it all)
Queen C's workers absolutely housed down their mealworm and Sunburst Ant Nectar.
(Queen C's workers eating)
I will be updating this journal when they get to their first nests or something interesting happens.
Thanks for reading my journal entry! I hope this helps anyone who is also interested in this species!
