1787 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

Overview of my Strobe ant colony

https://www.instagra.../p/B-33JtYgHV9/

 

Pheidole antipodum Colony 2 feeding time - I'll repost both on Youtube later

https://www.instagra.../p/B-37UDHgGu0/

[CoolColJ]

Funny story - I went to tease my local Camponotus nigriceps colony at a nearby bush trail, and spotted a winged ant 1 feet below.
Then saw more and some Polyrachis with a silver bum.
They look to be getting ready to fly. Was around 4 pm in Sydney, north side. Might be Polyrachis daemeli
Then a few spider ant workers (Leptomyrmex) walked by, and then saw a R.metallica drag a semi dead Poly alate away
 
https://www.instagra.../p/B_RysQnAGkp/

Edited by CoolColJ, April 22 2020 - 1:35 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Awesome colonies! How do you keep the strobe ants’ formicarium so clean?

[CoolColJ]

Awesome colonies! How do you keep the strobe ants’ formicarium so clean?

I don't do anything fancy, just clean ants I guess

[CoolColJ]

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - heat cable
40+ workers, 2 majors, a few medial, lots of brood

 

Sold these girls....

 

They were definitely on my wishlist of ants, but they are big, and I have no room for them as they are starting to explode.

Plus they are just like any other Camponotus species....

click


 

[VoidElecent]

Those Ph. antipodum are awesome. Such a satisfying journal.

[CoolColJ]

Those Ph. antipodum are awesome. Such a satisfying journal.

Thanks

 

They are fun to watch!

Quirky and lots of personality.

 

 

---

 

Might be getting some desert species trap jaws next... one of the  genus around here I haven't experienced yet....

 

I like to play and tease a local Myrmecia nigrocinta colony near my house, they are quite docile and curious when not alarmed.

So I haven't felt the need to have a colony of these.

Edited by CoolColJ, April 25 2020 - 8:13 AM.

[Vendayn]

Wow! That Camponotus colony is huge! Must be tens of thousands of them! Never seen such a big colony of that species. Nice colony, hope they keep growing

[CoolColJ]

Wow! That Camponotus colony is huge! Must be tens of thousands of them! Never seen such a big colony of that species. Nice colony, hope they keep growing

The Strobe ants? They are not Camponotus

[CoolColJ]

Lots of Iridomyrmex queens at the BBall courts today.

 

I captured one on the way back to my car as I keep my capture tubes there.

And spotted another digging a claustral chamber when I was stretching near my car

[jushi]

This by far is one of the coolest ant journals I have ever seen. Strobe ants are absolutely my favorite ants out there. Lucky you can legally keep them

[CoolColJ]

Lots of Iridomyrmex queens at the BBall courts today.

 

I captured one on the way back to my car as I keep my capture tubes there.

And spotted another digging a claustral chamber when I was stretching near my car

 

 

One has a nice clump of eggs, the other nothing

Both are exposed to light in a test tube on top of a heat cable.

It's almost winter so you an never tell if they will wait till spring to start laying

 

---

 

At the same BBall court today more activity.

A few Iridomyrmex alates, and lots of Notoncus alates/drones buzzing around
 

I captured one couple, Notoncus alate with drone attached to her, and cupped them in my hands till I got back to my car where i keep my capture tubes

 

So a few hours later they are still attached together, drone alive, both with wings....

[Antkid12]

Awesome! 

[NickAnter]

I don't think that is a good sign. I caught some Lasius like that and they died.

[AntsDakota]

Perhaps he's stuck.........     

[CoolColJ]

Yeah it appears so.... 1 day on and both are still stuck together!

No way of getting him off without damaging the alate I think

 

I was too lazy so I released the Iridomyrmex queen that has not laid any eggs and put them in her test tube...

[CoolColJ]

Welp the Notoncus couple passed away...

[CoolColJ]

 

 

 

So my black and orange Melophorus queen died ages ago, but I kept the 1 major, 2 medial and 3 workers around in the same nest.
Only water and honey, but today I see a clump of eggs and some larvae! I haven't given them any protein so maybe I should... someone is laying the eggs

so 11 larvae, 1 cocoon, and probably a few eggs there.....coocon is quite big....

So I gave them a roach head and they dragged it onto the larvae and pile all the larvae onto it. The larvae seem to feed themselves much like Myrmecia and Rhytidoponera

 

click

 

could the major be the one laying the eggs...? I mean she is almost the same size as the queen, and has ocelli

 

 

 

So the cocoons have eclsoed and I see a few winged drones in the nest

 

The ya re still pumping out the eggs and larvae though

 

 

new batch of brood is up, lots of cocoons. All of different sizes.... so 1 looks like major sized, a few medium and a few small...possibly some minor workers here

The drones are still alive and well, about 5 of them

 

 

 

I need to take a photo of them now that it is winter and they are all clustered together motionless

 

population is at 13. There appears to be different sized drones

[CoolColJ]

Winter 10th June 2020

Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 3

Heat cable
Queen 4 - 20mm test tube

So this infertile queen finally passed away sometime last week.
She had moved to the entrance cotton last week and remained motionless since.
I thought she was alive as she wasn't lying on her back in a death pose.
Turns out she slung onto the cotton, but dead...

RIP

She had access to honey and the occasional roach bit, so either they eventually die or she refused to eat.
Once all her donated workers died, it was only a mattetr of time, and so she died after a few months after the last worker passed away.
I guess she needs workers to feed her.
She had been laying and eating her eggs by the looks of it.

So I now just have the 2 colonies of these, both doing well.
And still quite active in winter, even though they come from the desert!

Queen 10, former member of dual queen - simple tub and tubes
400+? workers and some majors of all sizes - massive brood pile

These girls seem to have way more brood than the other colony in a "proper" nest"
They don't seem to mind the bare tube and tube setup, and being exposed to light all the time.

the main test tube has long dried out, but the queen and all the brood remains here.
They have created one hell of a test tube entrance of cotton, bits of styrofoam and other bits, with tunnels inside by the looks of it!
They have also tunneled and shaped the dried out cotton on the other end into a brood chamber of sorts

Queen remains in the main part of the test tube tube with lots of workers sitting on her Carebara style

I put in a second and third test tube of water, and 25% of the workers are in one, and a few in the third.

[CoolColJ]

Winter 23rd June 2020

Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable

She had 3 or so eggs/small larvae a few weeks back, but she must have eaten them as of last week I couldn't find them
Sigh they take so long to grow as well!

On the bright side her test tube was getting dry, so it was an easy task to scoop her out and put her in a new one....