5 replies to this topic

[spider_creations]

Okay so I was looking at my Acromyrmex setups and there fungus and I see one of the setups has lost about 4-3 queens and there is 3 left, is 5gat natural causes? I saw mold but then that's gone but I looked and saw a dead queens with that same/similar fungus on her as they culture. Is it that she died and still had her pellet so it grew after she died? Should I remove the body? Should I change the setup?

[dspdrew]

Does the mold on the queen look like yellow stalks with balls on the end?

[spider_creations]

Does the mold on the queen look like yellow stalks with balls on the end?

No not at all it just looks like the fungus they culture, weird

[Vendayn]

Seeing that your a beginner (judging by your August post), I don't really recommend keeping a very difficult ant species. Not being rude or anything, but while Acromyrmex versicolor are easier than the larger Atta, they are still a hard species to keep. Mine probably wouldn't even be successful without Drew's formicarium I bought, since its specifically designed for fungus growers. The fungus needs humidity and the right temp (I keep mine at 75-80 degrees at all time). Humidity, honestly not sure what its at.

 

If you do want to keep trying them (which I can understand, they ARE awesome), I recommend buying a bag of peat and using it as substrate. My colony made a dome/tunnel made of peat moss in the entrance to the fungus container. They dig in it a lot too. Peat moss retains moisture really well and my colony loves it.

Edited by Vendayn, September 14 2016 - 3:31 PM.

[Batspiderfish]

I wouldn't assume that the queen is being consumed by the same fungus just because they look similar to the naked eye.

[spider_creations]

Seeing that your a beginner (judging by your August post), I don't really recommend keeping a very difficult ant species. Not being rude or anything, but while Acromyrmex versicolor are easier than the larger Atta, they are still a hard species to keep. Mine probably wouldn't even be successful without Drew's formicarium I bought, since its specifically designed for fungus growers. The fungus needs humidity and the right temp (I keep mine at 75-80 degrees at all time). Humidity, honestly not sure what its at.

If you do want to keep trying them (which I can understand, they ARE awesome), I recommend buying a bag of peat and using it as substrate. My colony made a dome/tunnel made of peat moss in the entrance to the fungus container. They dig in it a lot too. Peat moss retains moisture really well and my colony loves it.

I like taking on challenges and the weird fungus growth on the queen was in one setup but the rest are doing better than expected one colony has a nice fungus garden and the rest have smaller ones and some setups don't have fungus but I'll transplant fungus to them once it gets bigger. I have been taking photos of the fungus up close but I am to busy (lazy) to transfer the photos, I'll get around to it though

Edited by spider_creations, September 14 2016 - 4:16 PM.