112 replies to this topic

[Martialis]

I knew there was something seedy about that ant farm, and now I know I was right!

[NanceUSMC]

Looks like you need to mow!

[StopSpazzing]

haha love these comments.

[Leo]

update?

[dspdrew]

Update 12-14-2017
 
I'm now moving a colony of Pogonomyrmex maricopa into the giant ant farm. I'm pretty sure the P. tenuispinus queen that was in there is dead. I still have a couple queens alive in a few of the small Dirt Boxes, but I don't see any brood though.

[dspdrew]

Update 2-16-2018
 
The last of the remaining queens finally died.

[dspdrew]

Update 6-10-2018
 
I was given another colony of these in another giant ant farm by Retroman. I've had it for about two weeks now sitting with a heating pad under the side where they were all nesting because he insists that that is what makes them produce really well.
 

 
 
It's kind of hard to see through the glass of this one, so I was looking very closely last night and I couldn't spot any ants or any movement at all, so I'm not sure what's happening. I guess I'll just give it some time and maybe they will pop up somewhere.

[sgheaton]

Hooray! My favorite set up!! I'm most excited to watch this one develop

[Solenoqueen]

Oh boy. Here it goes. Good luck this time.

[YsTheAnt]

Update?

[dspdrew]

Update 6-9-2019
 
Well the colony in the big ant farm finally emerged to forage, and have been quite a bit ever since.
 

 
 
I have taken Ken's advise and kept a heating pad under the right side of the setup, and as shown in this picture, they have produced quite a bit of brood right where it is.
 

 
 
It's interesting how this species does not make it obvious where their nest entrance is. They carry everything as far away from the entrance as they can when they dig. This seems to be true in captivity and in the wild. There is never a mound of dirt around their nest entrance.
 

 
 
As you can see from the pictures, it's very difficult to see in this thing because the glass is in pretty bad condition, so I really have no idea how large the colony is. All I know is I can definitely count about 100 workers, but I know there is probably far more.

[dspdrew]

Update 8-4-2021
 
The remaining colony I had in one of the giant ant farms, just seemed to get smaller and smaller, until I rarely saw an ant anywhere. It's pretty safe to say they're all gone now.

 

My friend did catch a few new queens this season and he will be giving me some.

[dspdrew]

Update 12-14-2021
 
I never ended up picking any of these queens up this year. Right at the time they flew I had too many car problems to deal with.