54 replies to this topic

[CozmoDog]

So I caught 2 Camponotus sanctus queens this april, sadly both died and so did my hope for raising a camponotus sanctus colony this year, I thought that I wouldn't be able to find new queens until next year, but today I was incredibly happy because a friend of mine stumbled upon a flight and managed to catch 5 queens. I put 4 queens in test tubes unfortunately I did not have a test tube for the fifth queen I placed her inside a small plastic box with holes on the top and a pretty big cotton piece that I soaked, my question will she be able to survive in there until tuesday ? Then I will be able to buy more test tubes.

Edited by CozmoDog, October 5 2017 - 1:37 AM.

[zlez93]

yes just keep it hydrated..

[Jonathan21700]

Interesting, can you please post pictures of the queens?

[CozmoDog]

Here is a small update. all queens are in test tubes and all have layed eggs sadly I checked today and I forgot to take pictures, I plan on posting some pictures when I check on them again but I don't want to bother them too much.

Edited by CozmoDog, July 28 2017 - 3:51 AM.

[CozmoDog]

I decided to take some pictures after all, not the best because I didn't want to bother them too much and one of the queens is hidden under the towel I have under the test tubes, it has been a week since I put them in test tubes and all 5 have a small pile of eggs, one queen the third one in the first picture and the one in the third picture has the most eggs I think 5-8 I would say maybe more. I do hope all queens survive and start with their colonies, I haven't seen any signs that suggest otherwise. All queens are calm and are tending the eggs, there is one queen however that I think does tend to her eggs but she has them a bit scattered instead of a nice pile like the rest .

Here are the pictures sadly they are pretty bad but I will try to improve for the next time ! 

Edit: Is there a way to change the topic name I think I want to make this into a Camponotus sanctus journal.

 

Edited by CozmoDog, May 12 2017 - 3:39 AM.

[Nathant2131]

Edit the first post, click full editor, and you can change the title that way.

[CozmoDog]

Thank you very much !! can one of the moderators also move my post if possible then ? 

[Jonathan21700]

Beautiful species! I wish you luck!

[CozmoDog]

Thanks ! It is kinda sad that camponotus take so long to get going but I'm so excited for the nanitics in 2 months.

[Jonathan21700]

I think in the more southern species (as this one) you can get the first workers in less than that. For example my C. vagus got their first workers in about a month.

Edited by Jonathan21700, May 12 2017 - 1:01 PM.

[CozmoDog]

I hope so man I'm beyond happy to have found 5 queens of this species, I will post an update and some better pictures when the queens get some larvae in a week or two.

[CozmoDog]

Here are some more pictures of a newly caught queen, 

[CozmoDog]

Here is a small update:

Sadly the newly caught queen has died, together with a queen that had layed eggs I took the dead queens eggs and gave them to the most promising looking queen, I think she accepted them but I'm not sure I don't see any dead eggs anywhere in the test tube. My queen count is down to 4 and I'm starting to get a bit worried 20 days after they layed eggs and still no larvae, some eggs do seem larger but I'm not sure. Summer is a bit later than usual here it's hovering around 19-23 degrees so maybe that is why the eggs are not developing yet.

[T.C.]

Give them a drop of maple syrup. Or a small dead spider. It will better their chances.

[CozmoDog]

You think I should feed them in their claustral stage? Will they accept food though?

[Jonathan21700]

I always feed newly caught Camponotus queens whit sugar water and it seems to work very well.

They calm down this way and start laying eggs.

[CozmoDog]

I decided to take your advice and fed them some tiny drops of honey( decided on honey because I know this species loves it to death and can use it as some protein) all 4 queens seemed interested and especially the queen I gave the eggs to one of the queens unfortunately decided to stick 4-5 eggs to the honey I hope she can get them off and cleaned, fingers crossed.

[123LordOfAnts123]

I never offer pure honey anymore without diluting it with water, it's a sticky death trap for small colonies, hard to clean, and ants can have trouble ingesting any due to its viscosity.

[CozmoDog]

Update: all 4 queens drunk the honey to the last drop they seem more lively too and the queen that had placed her eggs on the honey managed to reclaim them.

[CozmoDog]

Update: I'm happy to tell you guys that 2 of the 4 queens have larvae. It is finally getting hotter here and I think that is the reason, no point in taking pictures with a bad camera though, they are literally tiny, I'm guessing in 2 weeks we will have bigger larvae.

Edit: I think all 4 queens now have larvae, one of my queens has 8 larvae and 5-6 eggs which is awesome expect pictures in about a weeks time.

Edited by CozmoDog, June 6 2017 - 5:13 AM.