2110 replies to this topic

[Chickalo]

Much Lasius brevicornis for me.  What's Lasius neoniger?  Obviously my town ignores its existence, for Lasius brevicornis rules the streets (in terms of Lasius obviously my town is flooded by Tetramorium).  I'm putting the caught queens together hopefully to found, but this isn't my journal haha.  It's like a warzone out there, Camponotus pennsylvanicus majors getting eaten alive from Lasius colonies already swarming from flights.  There's Tetramorium workers hunting down and eating fallen males, queens running around without gasters, its crazy.  Forgot to mention that there are parasites running among (us) them, maybe hoping to sneak into a colony whilst they fly.  I caught either latipes or interjectus I think, didn't get a good look at the front legs.  Didn't bother catching the claviger and aphidicola.

Edited by Chickalo, September 13 2021 - 2:57 PM.

[ConcordAntman]

I just did my last protein feeding a day ago and will put my colonies down for diapause in a few days. It’s been a disappointing season. I’m thankful to have my 3 colonies survive but didn’t really see much in terms of flights this year. Rainy and cool capped off by a 14 day stretch of 95-100 degree heat (given conditions elsewhere, I really can’t complain). Still enjoying my charges and hoping they wake up healthy and renewed for 2022. Wishing a good diapause to you all!

[ANTdrew]

Good luck!

[Chickalo]

Hey everyone,

 

I created this project on iNaturalist, in which I made it so select people's observations appear (honestly don't trust everyone ngl).  If you want to be part of it either by messaging on this thread os PMing me.  It's honestly like an updated version of A Field Guide to the ants of New England.  As you may or may not know, the book is pretty outdated.  This, more or less, serves as a list of the species updated whenever a new, confirmed species is found. 

 

If you do want to you should either A.  Live in any of the New England states, B.  Go there for some time every once in a while, or C.  Have been there or are going there soon and have made observations soon.

 

Link:  https://www.inatural...ab=observations

 

edit: clarity and grammar

Edited by Chickalo, November 15 2021 - 7:54 AM.

[ConcordAntman]

I just did a diapause check on my colonies. They went down in early October. At their mid-November check, all seemed well. I set the cooler to 48 degrees (down from 50). They seemed pretty well sedated with just a few workers rousing as I freshened their water supply and added Sunburst (man that stuff really lasts!). We’ll see what another month brings. So far, so good!

Edited by ConcordAntman, December 22 2021 - 6:27 AM.

[ConcordAntman]

I’m planning on bringing my colonies out in the next 10 days. When are you ending diapause?

[noebl1]

I've ended in March typically, I have one colony likely to keep in a bit longer that I am giving to a friend locally, and take the other one out soon. The third which is P. occidentalis decided it didn't want to go into diapause this year like the others.

[ANTdrew]

I will wake up my Pheidole bicarinata and Nylanderia vivdula this week.

[ConcordAntman]

My Dubias and crickets arrived so today marked the beginning of the 2022 anting season. I brought their cooler up from 48 to 52 degrees over the past few days. After 5-6 days, they’re back in the book closet under the lights, fed, watered, and warmed. I hadn’t seen m C. pennsylvanicus queen for months, I just couldn’t find her in the scrum. Looks like I had a partial die off but there are 3 chambers of active workers so we’ll see. My C. americanus are still hanging in (thanks Aakant), and my C. novaeboracensis made it through with a small egg pile and all her nanitics. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a good start and a hearty season!

[ANTdrew]

I hope you find a new genus this year!

[Antkeeper014]

Just wanted to report, Prenolepis had their first flights yesterday. Only males from what I saw

[ConcordAntman]

My colonies have been out a few days short of a month and they’ve managed to eat their way through most of my first shipment of Dubias and crickets. I booked my second order yesterday for next week. My formicaria are coming up on 4 years old and my test tubes are the plastic AntsCanada starter variety. Wear and tear combined with the ant’s excretions, makes photography difficult. My C. pennsylvanicus colony will be 4 years old in May. For most of last season, I couldn’t find where the queen was sequestered but I’ve caught a few glimpses of her recently at feedings. She seems healthy and still prolific. 
 

My C. novaeboracensis queen is sitting on a good sized brood pile. I’ve been able to nurture her through losing nearly all her nanitics. Hopefully by the end of the season she’ll have enough workers to be able to move her into a formicarium. 
 

 

 

My C. americanus continue to be a small colony. There was a single large larva that I suspect was a trophic egg that was eaten by the colony. She seems to be my least productive queen. I’ve had this colony since 2019 and though they continue to survive, I haven’t yet found the key for getting them to flourish. 

 

 

[ANTdrew]

Some of my favorite colonies on here. I bet you could power-feed the C. penns to alates this year. Nice work, Antman!

[ConcordAntman]

Any hope for my C. americanus?

[ANTdrew]

Any hope for my C. americanus?

They sound trickier than even C. castaneus, so I don’t know.

[noebl1]

Sounds like the colonies are doing great Concordantman!!!

C. americanus can be really tricky. Have you tried dilute urine/uric acid for them? There's a theory by a scientist that studied Camponotus they need some uric acid for the symbiotic bacteria in their gut to survive. People have been testing it out with inconclusive results.

[ConcordAntman]

If I recall, you gave me the link to the group on Discord in 2019 or 2020. I tried a concoction from rehydrated bird droppings for a few weeks but I didn’t notice any changes in my colonies growth. They just seem to be chugging along. 

[ConcordAntman]

I finally was able to move my C. novaeboracensis out of the test tube she’d been in for nearly 2 years. That tube looked pretty gross but gentle light exposure didn’t do the trick. Ended up using my wife’s hair dryer on low about a foot from the test tube to encourage them to change location. A clean tube sure makes shooting pictures easier. 

 

 

 

 

Two pupae, several larvae and eggs, she’s busy building up her colony. If I’m lucky, I hope to be able to move them to a permanent formicarium before diapause. I’m feeding my colonies every day or two, 2-3 crickets and a Dubia with unrestricted Sunburst for my C. pennsylvanicus and C. americanus.They all seem to tear through the protein, even the C. novaeboracensis with only 4 workers.

 

 

 

Only the C. americanus don’t seem big fans of the Sunburst but the protein seems to be paying off. I’m amazed at their persistence in moving food to the nest. So much for keeping food in the outworld.

 

 

 

 

The monster larva from a week ago has been eaten but the daily feeds have the C. americanus queen laying. They always manage to sequester the eggs in a hard to capture niche. I’ll keep this regimen up. Hopefully I’ll reach 30-50 before diapause.

 

Edited by ConcordAntman, April 16 2022 - 6:57 AM.

[Chickalo]

How did you get the Sunburst™ into solid form??

[ConcordAntman]

How did you get the Sunburst™ into solid form??

It’s not solid, I just keep 5 ml on-demand liquid feeders in my C. pennsylvanicus and C. americanus outworlds. The C. pennsylvanicus  have 1or 2 workers at it several times a day but the C. americanus are rarely there. I have noted that Sunburst does crystalize in my C. americanus colony so I end up washing and refilling the feeder every few weeks. It never lasts that long for my C. pennsylvanicus so I’m regularly refilling that one.