62 replies to this topic

[Gregory2455]

Okay... I am absoltely confused. I looked at the colony today, and well, they have two pupating larvae. Which means, these two went from eggs to pupae within twelve days. Is this even possible? They were given a heating cable recently, is it possible the extra heat gives their brood growth this much of a boost?

[Gregory2455]

Oh, and it was yesterday I discovered the lone queen had three eggs, now she has ten, and two large larvae. This growth rate of the brood is not normal right? It has gotta be the extra heat. Right?

[dspdrew]

That's crazy fast. I had a Pogonomyrmex californicus colony go from eggs to workers in just three weeks (http://www.formicult...-6-2015/?p=2672), so we'll see if you beat my record.

[Miles]

I see this frequently in my Formica cf. fusca colonies. Ridiculously fast larval development.

[Gregory2455]

Okay then, I thought my ants were just magic of some sort.  

[kellakk]

They have a magic bag that they like to hide brood in to freak you out.  They also hide the magic bag inside the magic bag.

[Ra3MaN]

 

 

...these two went from eggs to pupae within twelve days.

 

 

... from eggs to workers in just three weeks...

 

Do you find the ants that spawn that quickly are smaller, or similar in size to those of the same species?

[dspdrew]

Mine weren't noticeably smaller than others.

[dean_k]

Okay... I am absoltely confused. I looked at the colony today, and well, they have two pupating larvae. Which means, these two went from eggs to pupae within twelve days. Is this even possible? They were given a heating cable recently, is it possible the extra heat gives their brood growth this much of a boost?

 

If they are any similar to Subsericea, yeah that's entirely possible. Once an egg turned into a larva, turning into a pupa was surprisingly swift.

 

Same with Larius as well, the longest period was pupa to eclosing. Egg to pupa usually took a week to a week half.

 

Myrmica, however, takes forever from egg to pupa.

Edited by dean_k, March 18 2015 - 7:03 AM.

[ToeNhi]

Greg, how long do you leave the heating cable on for?

 

Yesterday I saw the first worker for my lone Formica fusca. That's almost two months since I saw the first eggs.  So I looked at my second F. fusca colony that had several workers. That colony has a lot of pupae. they bring them out to the corner where the heating pad sits under. The heating pad is on a timer, so only provides 6 hours of heat a day. I'm wondering if I should keep it on 24/7 to speed up brood production.

[dean_k]

As far as I know, ant's metabolism is depended on heat.

 

So, heat may speed up brood development but worker's life span is going to be reduced. By how much, I have no idea.

 

In contrast, winter ant workers (P. Imparis) are known to live up to a year and their metabolism is slow due to being active in low temp.

[Gregory2455]

I had the heat for a week or two I think, just about the same time I was seeing eggs for the first time since winter started in most of my colonies.

[Gregory2455]

Update: 4/7/2015

The colony got its first worker of the year, and its fifth in overall population, with another one close behind.

This is to be Colony #1 from now on.

 

The "dud" queen got her first worker today as well, with three more close behind. This is about eight months into captivity that she finally gets workers.

This will be Colony #2 from now on.

 

Here she is proudly standing over her first nanitic.

Its also about time for a test tube change after the other three pupae eclose.

[AntLover101]

Wow, this is a very interesting story, especially colony 2. I will keep an eye on this. Good Luck!

[Ants4fun]

Update?

[BugFinder]

How did you end up seeing/catching queens in SF...  I mean ants, not people, lol.

[Gregory2455]

How did you end up seeing/catching queens in SF...  I mean ants, not people, lol.

Sorry, I mean I caught them on a trip to San Francisco. The Tetramorium I actually found around the city, but these were either caught on the way there or on the way back outside the city.

Also just a quick update- both colonies lost two workers each, but are going to get more soon.

Edited by Gregory2455, May 2 2015 - 11:34 AM.

[Mdrogun]

Update?

[Gregory2455]

Nothing is really happening. Both colonies have two workers and no brood after a few workers and all the brood died in the summer heat. These ants are really sensitive to heat.

[dspdrew]

Stick them in a dirt box and see what happens.