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Proud of my Aphaenogaster colony

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10 replies to this topic

#1 Offline Loops117 - Posted November 3 2016 - 7:05 AM

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Hey guys. Just wanted to share this with everyone.

 

Some of you may already know that I believe out of all the species of ants I have, my Aphaenogaster picea colony is the smartest. At first I thought they were extremely boring until I gave them space and stuff to do. I realized I paired them with the wrong outworld so they didn’t have the same materials they would naturally so when I switched them to a forest theme outworld, they loved it.

They’ve shown the most efficient way of hunting and foraging of all my species among other unique traits they have.

Well, lately they’ve surprised me again. My Aphaenogaster picea colony figured out a way to make their home seem more “homely”. I gave all of my ants test tubes in preparation for hibernation and most have access to dead moss. My Aphaenos have moved the dead moss to a test tube and started growing it. They then harvested the newly grown moss and started moving it to their nest cavities.

I love that they figured out they can grow their own bedding!


  • Crystals, T.C. and Solenoqueen like this

#2 Offline CallMeCraven - Posted November 3 2016 - 8:11 AM

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Ants always amaze me. The more I learn the more I am shocked that we are the dominant species  :lol: . Sounds like you have any extra smart colony of ants. You should train them to do some tricks, like jump through hoops :D.


Current Colony:

 

4x Camponotus (hyatti?)

 

 

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Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left.

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#3 Offline Loops117 - Posted November 3 2016 - 8:24 AM

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They already leap onto their prey. My other species grab their food and subdue it. My Aphaenos jump on the backs of fruit flies and wrangle them up. Usually the first colony to take down all of their prey and bring it to their brood. I have a video of them wrangling up their prey somewere.



#4 Offline T.C. - Posted November 3 2016 - 8:32 AM

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You got any pictures of this setup?


“If I am killed for simply living, let death be kinder than man.” -Althea Davis

#5 Offline Loops117 - Posted November 3 2016 - 8:49 AM

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Not at the moment. They're in preparation for hibernation. I have some from the day after i hooked up the test tube.



#6 Offline Goldsystem - Posted November 3 2016 - 9:23 PM

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Sounds really cool :D

#7 Offline Crystals - Posted November 4 2016 - 6:06 AM

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I have such behavior with Myrmica occasionally.

Aphaenogaster and Myrmica seem to be different than most other species I have kept. From what I have seen, Aphaenogaster seem a bit smarter and more focused, while Myrmica are a bit slower and more goofy. I once watched a Myrmica colony try to get a piece of mealworm into an opening quarter the worms size for two hours...  :D  The Aphaeogaster quickly figured out that it wasn't about to fit and called reinforcements for butchering outside the nest entrance.


"Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astound the rest." -- Samuel Clemens

 

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My Colonies


#8 Offline Loops117 - Posted November 4 2016 - 7:25 AM

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I have such behavior with Myrmica occasionally.

Aphaenogaster and Myrmica seem to be different than most other species I have kept. From what I have seen, Aphaenogaster seem a bit smarter and more focused, while Myrmica are a bit slower and more goofy. I once watched a Myrmica colony try to get a piece of mealworm into an opening quarter the worms size for two hours...  :D  The Aphaeogaster quickly figured out that it wasn't about to fit and called reinforcements for butchering outside the nest entrance.

 

See, that's why I'm talking about. This species just seems so much more advanced then my other species.



#9 Offline XZero38 - Posted November 4 2016 - 8:42 AM

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Super ants



#10 Offline Solenoqueen - Posted November 4 2016 - 7:50 PM

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Can you show the wrangling video, I would take some delight in my day by watching that pelicular activity.


:>


#11 Offline Xtremeanting - Posted November 6 2016 - 9:47 AM

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that's really cool that they figured out how to grow there own bedding ants are really fascinating!







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