11 replies to this topic

[Vendayn]

It seems a month or so ago there must have been a tiny Pogonomyrmex californicus flight, as there were two brand new colonies in the area I get them, along a canal. The Argentine ants never seem to bother them there, for some reason. Very small colonies (only two), and very small workers (which is normal in the first eclosed workers of a colony).

 

I got one queen and 7 or 8 workers, so its a really new colony. I put them in Drew's formicarium he sold me ages ago (it isn't in new condition though like it was when I got it, dad accidentally damaged it when he was rushing to clean the garage due to a day notice of garage inspections. In any case, it still works well enough, just doesn't look as nice. Also, I had to superglue it back onto the ytong, as I and he didn't have any idea where the screws ended up. Probably buried in a pile of boxes that we'll never look through till we move lol. I won't be able to clean it as easily, but not a big deal. If its like my last colony, they'll outgrow it quick anyway (I had one colony produce 200+ brood inside his formicarium (in only two weeks!), so it works really well for this species). I did however add a bit of sand into it, I did that last time with success, as I know Pogonomyrmex love sand/substrate.

 

I hope I get the same success as last time, if I do, I'll probably need to put them in something bigger in 1-2 months as they'll outgrow the formicarium really quick. But, they are an awesome species, nice and big too once they get more of a mature colony.

Edited by Vendayn, September 17 2016 - 9:03 PM.

[Vendayn]

Seems kind of late in the year for them to fly (sometime 1-2 months ago, they eclose fast from egg to pupae. It only takes my single queens 3-5 weeks to get her first workers). But, it has been pretty hot and dry. I found a queen of P. californicus (bicolor variety, these are a mix of the all red ones and bicolor) in February or March one year. It was out in the Salton Sea (southeast of Palm Springs) barely Spring, 50 degrees with probably a 30 degree wind chill (it was super cold and windy), and for one minute the wind stopped and sun came out. There, I found a single Pogonomyrmex californicus queen (she must have overwintered, and then the colonies had a very late tiny mating flight) that gave me my best ant colony ever. They grew to over 5,000 ants in 6 months and then died by being crushed to death by sand. But before that, it was the least expected time of year and weather to find a queen.

 

We'll see what happens with this colony. They number 5 healthy workers and the queen. They are sure an awesome species for a formicarium. Big and very active. Plus they don't need to hibernate, which is nice. The all red variety seem to hibernate more than the bicolor or the hybrid of bicolor and all red variety.

[Mannomorth]

Nice updates Sure am a bit jealous about the many different species you can get there over the big blue sea.

 

Would love some pictures btw

[Vendayn]

Might take pictures soon, but I keep waiting until I see brood. However, it looks like they are semi-hibernating, even with the warmth of the garage+lamp on them. It isn't a heat lamp, but I've put it really close and it does give off some heat. Garage is probably 70-75 or so, and the lamp probably adds 5 degrees. Plus it would be a bit warmer in the actual formicarium..

 

A lot of colonies around here don't have any brood at all anymore (at least toward the surface), not just Pogonomyrmex, but native Solenopsis colonies don't either (Solenopsis invicta do). But the Pogonomyrmex don't fully hibernate because they are still active and getting food and stuff, but not producing brood. Weird. I guess they are stockpiling come Spring time! Not like bears that stockpile before Winter.

Edited by Vendayn, November 30 2015 - 9:48 PM.

[Vendayn]

This is mostly so I remember when I fed them. Since I'm away for Christmas...

Three termite alates fed to the colony on December 23rd of 2015.

Should help the queen lay eggs, since termite alates are one of the best food for ants.

[Vendayn]

My colony is a bit more active. They are starting to collect seeds and crushed nuts now. Maybe the queen will start producing brood. I do keep them a bit warm with the light, plus garage is pretty warm.

[Vendayn]

The queen died a while ago, don't know why. She never laid any eggs or did much. Maybe it was too cool for them, cause she died before I got the heater.

[Vendayn]

I found a possible queen, a bunch of workers and a lot of brood. She came from a smaller colony of them. Pretty sure she is the queen, colony was small, and I couldn't dig deeper or anywhere else that had more workers/brood. However, I know queens of Pogonomyrmex can sometimes take on a worker role. But, she has no wings and was foraging for food along with the workers. So not entirely positive. I don't usually see fertile queens foraging with the workers. Still, there are TONS of alates (both male and female) in all the surrounding colonies, so its very possible she is an actual queen. Especially since I pretty much got all the workers/brood from the nest, and couldn't find anything else.

 

Nearby were a bunch of Argentine ants conducting raids, but they weren't getting into any of the colonies. The Pogonomyrmex here seem pretty good at defending themselves (though still lose when under very heavy assault by Argentine ants), but there is going to be a new source of irrigation near them so the Argentine ants will get stronger. Argentine ants seem to be able to travel pretty far from a water source.

 

The only strange thing is, the Argentine ants often raid by the tens to even hundreds of thousands, and often living right next to Pogonomyrmex californicus colonies. And every year the same colonies survive somehow, so maybe they've adapted to Argentine ants or something. Sometimes a few or a couple colonies get defeated, but most colonies survive. Really surprising when I see a colony of Pogonomyrmex next to a home of easily many hundreds of thousands of Argentine ants, and they still live.

 

For the colony that I got. I put them in Drew's formicarium (the older two chamber design, that my Acromyrmex versicolor started in). I also included a bunch of sand from where they were living, and added sand to both containers.

Edited by Vendayn, May 28 2016 - 5:48 PM.

[dspdrew]

Where did you find these?

[Vendayn]

I decided to keep them. I won't be getting any more queens or colonies from where they are though, since the area is so fragile. A lot of Argentine ants. And, taking too many will ruin the area for Pogonomyrmex.

Edited by Vendayn, May 30 2016 - 6:22 PM.

[Vendayn]

My colony now has a total of three queens. Tomorrow I'll be going out again and attempt to get more. My goal is 8 or 9 queens in total, but might get more if there are lots out.

[Vendayn]

Well, this colony has long been gone. But, they always accepted all the queens. So that was really unique. However, the colony ended up dying for some reason. I never have luck with Pogonomyrmex found along the coast, the ones in the desert seem a lot hardier.