15 replies to this topic

[PTAntFan]

Foogoo was awesome enough to hook me up with a dozen queens from his amazing catch of 153 this summer.  So, here is their journal.

 

I have found these ants to be VERY difficult to keep successfully. Despite their proliferation around my area, the ones I've found have all tended to be a little bit crazy, unwilling to chill and rear. But I have come to the conclusion that they really dislike artificial nests and REALLY want to dig and dig deep.  We know this also from the many scientific observations that have been done and the amazing tunnels they make.

 

So, I am going to try to set them all up in less artificial formicariums.  I won't be able to give them perfect setups, but the best I can.  I am also on tight timeline as I have a 10 day trip coming up.

 

Here is the second setup.  I'll show the first one later.  It is a recreation of an acrylic model I had made years ago, this time in glass derived from this vase:

 

<Inserting an update on safety>

Drilling glass is dangerous in more than one way.  I bought a glass drilling bit and use it with my power drill.  I also wear safety glasses and something to cover my breathing.  Inhaling glass particulate is really dangerous.  Using water on the glass while drilling is highly recommended.

 

The vase turned upside down provides a great outer column for nesting and an inner column to promote visibility. Although the inner column in this particular model is a bit too thin I figured it was worth a try anyway since it was premade.

 

I just needed to drill the holes for moisture capillary action:

 

 

The side of a cylinder is HARD to drill without scratching:

 

In go the cotton 'fingers':

 

Capillary action underway!

 

Gotta have move in capability now and expansion later:

 

And voila!  Colony #2 has started their move in:

 

Interesting to note, FooGoo kept them in test tubes of two queens each.  So far, one queen is digging while the other is watching over the eggs.  I'm not sure if they are cooperating or one queen doesn't have eggs and is moving in to lay some while the other is staying behind.  Time will tell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by PTAntFan, July 14 2016 - 8:08 AM.

[Foogoo]

Great pictures! Hopefully they'll do well in the dirt setup. I think 2 is the ideal number for these queens. I tried a few with 3 and up to 5 queens and they all killed each other until it was down to a pair.

[sgheaton]

I tried to find a vase like this but am thinking I'm going to have to resort to putting a tinier cylinder within a bigger one....

[sgheaton]

Shoppin around for supplies, Walmart has a "makeshift" style of this kinda vase. Thinking about trying one for multiple reasons but hydration is my hold up. It's final resting place wouldn't have a water source so I'd have to manually add or refill the "water trough" which I believe you're doing here through the cotton fingers(?)

 

Have you had any issues with this design yet? Have you been putting your feeders  in through the top? Is the side port used to access an outworld foraging area?  ..The..I dunno 5 inch wide top, you puttin' a screen overtop or goo on the glass? I love the professional clean lab look of glass that I'd like to not use it if possible... Probably going to make some sort of screen top if I can... 

 

I guess can you provide an update on this set up!! I'd appreciate it with pictures! And I really like Pogonomyrmex and if this set up works I'm going to go try the same......

[PTAntFan]

Glad to have a fellow venturer with me on this.  It's not a flawless design, but I think those Pogonomyrmex have to dig and dig a lot.  Lemme see about your questions.

 

Yes, I manually refill a basin of water that the vase sits in.  That particular model fits exactly well inside some glass petri dishes I have, so that works pretty well when I am home and can keep pace with the dehydration.  While I am out of town I am using a much larger container.  The issue with larger containers is they inevitably lead to deposits on the outer glass.  That's due in part to the hard nature of the water in Burbank, but I am sure any water would have some.

 

Otherwise as far as moisture goes, this appears to work well for capillary action while not completely filling the soil.  There's a lower water "table" if you will, that the ants can use as they like.  Of course, I may come home Thursday night and find a disaster waiting for me, but I don't expect that.  I've done this now with Zoo Med Excavator as substrate and most recently with a sand mixture of roughly 1:1 fine and coarse sand. I do prewater from the top down, but that is mostly because I've never been patient enough to see if the cap action fills to the top.  I think it would.

 

Feeding from top currently while just have two founding queens working cooperatively (Taber 1998).  However, the intent of the side port is both for foraging connection and possibly expansion, emigration.

 

I do have a thin circle of Fluon at the top.  I don't like it either, but the workers will eventually be better climbers than the queens, which are not very accomplished, and  I'll need an answer for it.  A cleanly finished white cap with mesh might look nicer.

 

Writing from Grand Cayman till Thursday.  Then I can update with current pics.

[sgheaton]

Love the Grand Cayman....though they really did ruin Stingray City. "Back in my day..." Well....long story short it is now too touristy but still.....It's the equivalent of a hog lot in water. Love me some snorklin' action. TAKE A CAN OF SPRAY CHEESE!!!!!!!!!

I'll just wait for some picture updates as that should explain a lot. And to figure out some sort of.......cap...mesh....screen thing.......

 

Thanks and enjoy your trip!

Edited by sgheaton, July 12 2016 - 5:52 AM.

[PTAntFan]

Off topic but we went with Stingray Sailing, only us and 6 others on the boat for a total of 11.  Got there between cruise ship mayhem.  Only one other boat at the sandbar.  Was pretty awesome.

[sgheaton]

that's just it! I've been twice. The first time was amazing because NO ONE ELSE WAS THERE. It's the best time then. ...second time was like everyone and their damn dog was there so it...didn't....yeaahhhh........ Sounds like its a matter of timing. Awesome!!!

[Foogoo]

I'm still not sure if P. californicus are pleometric founders. I found literature citing P. occidentalis only. Almost all of my queens with 2+ queens have slaughtered each other down to 1, yet some of my pairs are still living in harmony. 

Edited by Foogoo, July 12 2016 - 1:49 PM.

[XZero38]

I'm still not sure if P. californicus are polygynous founders. I found literature citing P. occidentalis only. Almost all of my queens with 2+ queens have slaughtered each other down to 1, yet some of my pairs are still living in harmony. 

Then I'm doing it wrong, haha!

All my P. occidentalis queens are in their own containers.

[Foogoo]

Based on my observations, I think it's a similar situation to Myrmecocystus and Veromessor where it's be documented in research that some queens will get along and start a colony cooperatively while others will fight, but they don't necessarily need to found pleometrically. 

 

I tried keeping 5 P. californicus together and for the first week or two they had a fabulously huge pile of eggs and got along. Something must have snapped and it became a slaughterfest with queen parts scattered everywhere. 

 

Edit: Here's a good reference.

Edited by Foogoo, July 12 2016 - 1:50 PM.

[sgheaton]

So I'm sure your pictures will explain this more about your whole set up. Are these..."tube tanks" your everything? (Founding chamber, foraging area, tunnel network, etc)? The drill hole that's 8" up the side, the tube off to the side allows access to anything. I figure if I recreated this and set up a queen+test tube afixed to that whole....she's going to ditch the tube and go straight to diggin'. That's fine. I'd say encouraged. The tube is essentially "IT". As long as IT is ok, you can attach whatever you are needing to that hole.  ..........so what would happen if you did two-three tubes in tandem this way? In your current pictures you are taking the tube and pushing it int he whole and calling it good? Any sealant? 

 

Edit -- I'm thinkin that a small layer of hydrostone poured in first underneath the sand to help wick it up and into the sand would help.

Edited by sgheaton, July 13 2016 - 11:59 AM.

[XZero38]

So I'm sure your pictures will explain this more about your whole set up. Are these..."tube tanks" your everything? (Founding chamber, foraging area, tunnel network, etc)? The drill hole that's 8" up the side, the tube off to the side allows access to anything. I figure if I recreated this and set up a queen+test tube afixed to that whole....she's going to ditch the tube and go straight to diggin'. That's fine. I'd say encouraged. The tube is essentially "IT". As long as IT is ok, you can attach whatever you are needing to that hole.  ..........so what would happen if you did two-three tubes in tandem this way? In your current pictures you are taking the tube and pushing it int he whole and calling it good? Any sealant? 

 

Edit -- I'm thinkin that a small layer of hydrostone poured in first underneath the sand to help wick it up and into the sand would help.

the only thing is that hydrostone has the erosion problem

[PTAntFan]

Unless a wicking problem presents itself later I see no need for hydrostone here.

 

And yes, this setup will ideally be "it."  However, as I suspected, the first inhabitants have closed up their entrance and tunneled in away from the glass because the inner column is too small in diameter.  So currently, I have no visibility to their progress.  Perhaps with colony growth that will change, but for right now, this design will need modifications to be ideal.

[sgheaton]

How are these doing, PT? I've managed to capture (most likely) two Pogonomyrmex queens so I might end up doing the same set up for one. I really am scared to drill a bigger hole though for them. the 1/8 holes were scary enough.

So far with the exact same set up for my tetra I haven't had any problems with watering or the like. Its been sufficiently hydrated (it isn't soaking up anymore right now) and the queen seems content. Has a good chamber and egg pile going. 

[PTAntFan]

That's great news. Glad to hear it's going well. I am out of town again. Busy time of year for me. Before I left though my harvesters had sealed their entrance and I could see no activity at all. When I return Friday it'll either be the same or maybe there'll be some workers. I know they had eggs when they moved in!