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Dspdrew's Pogonomyrmex californicus (bicolor) Journal [160] (Discontinued)

pogonomyrmex californicus dspdrew journal mojave desert california harvester ants

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132 replies to this topic

#41 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted December 28 2014 - 10:21 PM

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Do you use a heat lamp or mat generally because now its getting quite cold.

LAnt, I happen to be in the Mojave Desert right now. Last night, it dipped into the twenties, and this afternoon, I saw Pogonomyrmex californicus bicolor foraging, and actually got a video which I will be uploading soon. Point is, desert species are not affected by cold, but they still may grow slower.



#42 Offline LAnt - Posted December 28 2014 - 11:39 PM

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And to all those people outside southern california, cold is 50°. Last winter was nicer; I went to the beach on Christmas, only 80/90 degrees F.

Edited by LAnt, December 28 2014 - 11:41 PM.


#43 Offline dspdrew - Posted December 29 2014 - 7:36 AM

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Here's what happens when you give Pogonomyrmex liquid feeders. They will try to bury it, and won't stop until all the liquid is gone.

 


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#44 Offline dspdrew - Posted December 30 2014 - 1:57 PM

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  • LocationSanta Ana, CA
Update 12-30-2014
 
So far one colony has already moved into their new nest, and the other has started working on theirs.
 
This colony is working on their nest.
 
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This colony has actually moved into their nest already. I saw them carrying brood, workers, and even the queen into the new nest, so it's pretty clear they've moved in.
 
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They dug out so much dirt, I had to take some of it out before they ended up stacking it higher than the sides of the out world.
 
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Here is one of the workers carrying the queen into the new nest.
 

 
 
Here is one of the workers carrying another worker into the new nest.
 

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#45 Offline dspdrew - Posted January 27 2015 - 6:06 PM

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  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Update 1-27-2015
 
All three of my test tube/foraging container colonies have finally laid new clusters of eggs. :) I saw new eggs a while back in my two dirt nest colonies, so they seem to have been producing all along.


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#46 Offline BugFinder - Posted January 27 2015 - 6:10 PM

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Here's what happens when you give Pogonomyrmex liquid feeders. They will try to bury it, and won't stop until all the liquid is gone.

 

 

Thanks alot for sharing that.  I guess I won't try to use the liquid feeder I just bought, lol.


“If an ant carries an object a hundred times its weight, you can carry burdens many times your size.”  ― Matshona Dhliwayo

 

My Journals:

Pogonomyrmex subdentatus

Camponotus Vicinus

Camponotus sansabeanus

Tetramorium (sp)

Pogonomyrmex Californicus

My Ant Goals!


#47 Offline dspdrew - Posted March 6 2015 - 7:59 PM

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  • LocationSanta Ana, CA
Update 3-6-2015
 
First of all I sold my smallest test tube/foraging container colony. Now I have two of those left, and the two large colonies living in the ant farm boxes I made for them.
 
All the colonies are doing great, and producing. The two colonies in the ant farm boxes are exploding in size. I really can't count them because of the visibility in those things, but I can tell there is probably over 200 workers in each one. I can also tell they have a huge amount of brood, and I usually also notice a huge clump of eggs being carried around by one of the workers under ground.
 
My small test tube/foraging container colony
 
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My large test tube/foraging container colony
 
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Ant farm box colonies
 
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If you look closely you can see almost every tunnel is packed with brood. Mostly pupae along the top one.
 
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This is how I have the lighting set up. These are track lights I can aim any direction I want. The 20 watt halogen bulbs heat the surface up to about 110 degrees.
 
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#48 Offline Chromerust - Posted March 6 2015 - 8:55 PM

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Which colony got the big brood boost from me?

#49 Offline dspdrew - Posted March 6 2015 - 9:32 PM

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The big one in the test tube.



#50 Offline Jonathan21700 - Posted March 7 2015 - 2:07 PM

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Amazing! :)



#51 Offline dspdrew - Posted May 24 2015 - 9:05 PM

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#52 Offline dspdrew - Posted May 25 2015 - 12:30 AM

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  • LocationSanta Ana, CA
Update 5-25-2015
 
I sold both colonies I had left in test tubes, leaving me with just the two large colonies in the ant farm boxes. Both of those colonies are doing great, and both have a very large amount of brood.
 
I'm in the process of moving one of the colonies into a two foot wide, inch and a half thick, 50 pound ant farm that was given to me by Retroman in a trade.
 
I cleaned it all out, and put in new substrate. I had to do this in layers to keep it from pushing on the glass too much, wetting it down little by little as I went. As long as the dirt is wet (not liquid mud!), it holds itself up pretty well and doesn't push too much on the glass. I also used a c-clamp to hold it as well.
 
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I made a few modifications to it. Instead of the black construction paper and velcro covers/shades he had on it, I made some out of black foam board, and attached it with magnets. I added a larger board to the very bottom of the base, to stable it even more in case of an earthquake or something. I would NOT want this thing to fall over; that would be really bad. I also drilled two 3/8 inch holes in one side. One hole is at the surface of the dirt, and the other is at the very bottom.
 
Gluing the magnets on.
 
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Here it is all setup and ready for use.
 
With the cover/shade on.
 
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With the cover/shade off.
 
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I set it all up with the ant farm box attached via a 3/8 inch OD piece of vinyl tubing. I setup an 80 watt bulb shining on the surface of the ant farm, and a bright florescent light shining on the sides of the ant farm box. I also put a fan on top of it to create a little bit of air movement, and vibration to help convince the ants to move. Also, there is a heating pad underneath the ant farm box to help dry it out faster.
 
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Within 10 minutes, they were already digging a new nest in the far back corner of the ant farm. I hope I catch them when they're moving all of their hundreds of brood and the queen into their new nest; it should be interesting to see.
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#53 Offline Lamarr - Posted May 25 2015 - 1:50 AM

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Fantastic looking dirt setup. What I can only imagine it as most ant keeper's dream, at least mine anyway. Keep us update with their new nest.


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#54 Offline Wamdar - Posted May 25 2015 - 4:53 AM

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Lamarr said it best, Ant keepers' dream!! Great stuff


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#55 Offline Jonathan21700 - Posted May 25 2015 - 12:10 PM

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 That move will be interesting!



#56 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted May 25 2015 - 12:23 PM

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That one ant farm does look a lot like mine drew.



#57 Offline kellakk - Posted May 25 2015 - 8:45 PM

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That's really nice, I'm envious. :) How do you hydrate it?


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Current Species:
Camponotus fragilis

Novomessor cockerelli

Pogonomyrmex montanus

Pogonomyrmex rugosus

Manica bradleyi

 

 


#58 Offline dspdrew - Posted May 26 2015 - 5:29 AM

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  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Just pour some water into it a couple times a month apparently.



#59 Offline cpman - Posted May 26 2015 - 6:20 PM

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I'd love to have a large nest like that. These ants are looking good and will probably do great in there. Good luck with them!

Drew: if I were you, I'd put a Veromessor colony in something like that. I've heard they can get pretty big. Also a large colony of Liometopum would look great in a display on your wall or something, if you could get a colony to that size.
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#60 Offline dspdrew - Posted May 26 2015 - 8:00 PM

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Yeah, I used to want to have a large colony of Liometopum occidentale since they are also diurnal, but I would rather go with Camponotus leavigatus if possible. They would both live in wood and have forest out worlds.







Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: pogonomyrmex californicus, dspdrew, journal, mojave desert, california, harvester ants

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