81 replies to this topic

[drtrmiller]

There is currently a little war going on between my Pheidole tysoni and Lasius neoniger colonies.  I left them both open (on purpose) and sitting next to each other in a dish lined with Fluon, and hours later I went to see the Pheidole streaming into the Lasius foraging area.  

 

I don't see any dead or injured Lasius, but do see a few dead Pheidole workers that Lasius is attempting to feed to their larvae.  The Lasius, also, were in a state of alarm at the intrusion to their foraging area.  

 

I'll be looking for interesting things to show on the Ant Cam, as this interaction progresses.  I do not intend to allow the colonies to kill or harm each other, but it is interesting to observe the competition and interaction.

Edited by drtrmiller, June 1 2015 - 7:56 PM.

[Mathiacus]

This is deliciously evil.

[drtrmiller]

Well, it was something.  Until my computer went crazy and stopped working.  There's always something else to fix.

 

Edit: Yup. May be down for a while.  Computer running this is being stubborn.

Edited by drtrmiller, May 15 2015 - 8:58 PM.

[drtrmiller]

Super special thanks to Drew for helping me get the computer running the ant cam fixed!

 

If you're linking the video directly somewhere, I recommend using the http://www.byformica.com/antcam link, since the video URL will always be up-to-date there.  Otherwise, whenever it glitches out for too long, the broadcast ends and I must get a new URL.

Edited by drtrmiller, May 18 2015 - 12:15 AM.

[drtrmiller]

The ant cam is back.  Go to http://byformica.com/antcam to grab the latest YouTube URL.

 

I put these 3 Solenopsis invicta queens in a GroTube XL 15 days ago to see how they'd do—and it appears their first nanitics will arrive very soon.

 

The hydration system is just one of the things that makes this formicarium rock.  These ants do well when it is fairly damp, and the GroTube XL allows me to make the ground nice and damp, without being soggy, since their developing brood need lots of moisture.

Edited by drtrmiller, June 1 2015 - 8:00 PM.

[drtrmiller]

Looks like a number of nanitics will eclose soon.

 

I'd like to remind folks that these Solenopsis invicta queens were placed in a GroTube XL on May 15, so 3 weeks ago.  I had intended to boost the queens, but it appears that wasn't necessary.  The temperature ranged from 78-84 F, and the brood development would have been even faster if the temperature had been slightly higher.

 

Soon, I'll need to extract all but one queen and separate each into their own habitat, to avoid them killing one another.

 

http://byformica.com/antcam

[drtrmiller]

I'm broadcasting my Lasius neoniger moving from one GroTube XL to another, live in HD at http://byformica.com/antcam

[dermy]

Watching it right now, really cool looking new nest I hope they like it!

 

How long where they in the current one?

Edited by dermy, June 7 2015 - 1:12 PM.

[drtrmiller]

They've been in the current one for 2 months, but parts of it were experimental and so I'm going to refurbish their current one for some Solenopsis invicta.

 

 

 

Looks like it took them about 20 minutes to move the entire colony.  A 60 watt reptile UV incandescent bulb was positioned about 8 inches from one side of the old nest to help facilitate the move.  Ants are very sensitive to UV versus visible light, since UV naturally comes from the sun.

 

A few stragglers remain in the connecting tube between the old and new nests, but they'll move out pretty soon.

Edited by drtrmiller, June 7 2015 - 1:46 PM.

[AntsTexas]

cool ant cam, i like watching it

[GDVP]

I've been watching this on and off for the past few days and it's amazing!

[Roachant]

Trying to watch, but all I see is a blurry image, I think the camera fell or something.

[drtrmiller]

Down right now. I'll fix it.

 

Fixed:

 

I'm sticking it on these fire ants, despite the current condensation.  The first nanitics will eclose in a day or two, as a few pupae already have some color.

 

Edit 2: I'll clean off the acrylic.

Edited by drtrmiller, June 10 2015 - 3:46 PM.

[Roachant]

Nice! What camera are you using?

[drtrmiller]

Any DSLR will do. I prefer Canon.  Then there are a lot of computer and software workarounds to get the live preview image to display as video for a YouTube stream.

[dspdrew]

Any DSLR will do. I prefer Canon.  Then there are a lot of computer and software workarounds to get the live preview image to display as video for a YouTube stream.

 

I've seen some of those. I was going to try that myself one of these days.

[drtrmiller]

The first Solenopsis invicta nanitics eclosed today, after exactly 4 weeks in the GroTube XL.  I watered the nest with 1-2 ml of water every 2-4 days.  Otherwise, I performed no other type of maintenance or feeding.  In contrast, the queens I placed test tubes are still a few days away from pupae eclosing, and all have a smaller number of brood.

 

This is the first try, and the first success, I've had rearing a fully claustral queen in a GroTube, and I think it proves the GroTube format is ideal for either dry or wet-loving species.

 

Yesterday, I separated the 3 queens, placing each in a respective GroTube XL, and divided the 50+ pupae they collectively reared between them.

 

And now begins my study in developing a synthetic food that can sustain this species, where previous attempts have failed.

 

I'll begin a journal on these ants a little later on, and the ant diet research will be published to byFormica.com.

 

http://www.byformica.com/antcam

Edited by drtrmiller, June 11 2015 - 4:05 PM.

[drtrmiller]

http://www.byformica.com/antcam

 

A few hours ago, I hooked up the GroTube XL containing the fledgling Solenopsis invicta colony to a GlassBox arena, and added a pinch of dirt.  The ants may now be observed bringing in particles of substrate from the arena, and barricading the entrances of their nest.

 

This behavior is what can be expected when ants are founded in the GroTube XL.  Placing small amounts of substrate to barricade entrances and shape the nest topography is a natural behavior and reduces stress on the ants.  As the colony population increases, the boundary of the nest will also increase, ensuring that space utilization is always well maintained.

Edited by drtrmiller, June 14 2015 - 2:21 AM.

[drtrmiller]

About 12 hours ago, I connected a Lasius GroTube XL (100 ants) to a foraging area dominated by a young Solenopsis invicta colony (25 ants), also in a GroTube XL, established May 15 of this year.  After a quick introduction and assessment of each other's strengths, the two established boundaries and fortified entrances—it was really interesting.

 

I'm going to keep them like this for a while to observe the behavior.  Unfortunately, I don't have the computer, hardware, or internet resources or capacity to stream more than one view at once—it would be really nifty to have three cams going, one on each nest, and one on the foraging area.

 

http://byformica.com/antcam

Edited by drtrmiller, June 23 2015 - 12:34 PM.

[Lamarr]

It sounds fascinating to observe interspecies interaction in captive. Are there any casualties so far? You should upload a video to the YouTube of your foraging area.