47 replies to this topic

[Jamiesname]

Nothing spectacular to report at this time, but I did want to note that the colony survived my attempt at killing mold in their outworld. I thought the worst of the damage to the colony was over the following day, but they weren't improving past a certain point. The entire colony was lethargic and seemed like they could go either way. They wouldn't run around in a panic when I opened the nest, they just sat there hardly moving. Normally all hell breaks loose when I open it. They weren't tending the brood either, just letting it lay wherever. After about two more days of this they seemed to be more active and making improvements. They must have had a bad hangover or something. I did find four more dead bodies at that time also, and none since then.

It's been about a week and a half now and they're almost back to normal. The only difference now is that they don't seem to be eating much, unless they do it when I'm not around. Their behavior is back to normal now when I open the nest too, so that's good.

All in all I consider myself fortunate, and don't recommend trying to kill mold with alcohol when your ants may come in contact with it. And to boot, I really don't think it had any effect on the mold anyways fyi.

I'll post updated pics in a couple more days. I think the L. Latipes outnumber the L. Neoniger now. I need to get a good pic so I can count them.

Edited by Jamiesname, May 28 2018 - 1:59 PM.

[Joehostile85]

Very impressive. I love seeing the orange workers mixed in with the host workers. I’m currently working on Lasius claviger colonies myself and came here to see how others are doing with parasitic colonies.

[Jamiesname]

Very impressive. I love seeing the orange workers mixed in with the host workers. I’m currently working on Lasius claviger colonies myself and came here to see how others are doing with parasitic colonies.

Welcome to the forum. There's a ton of info in here for you to sift through, and a lot of knowledgeable people that are always happy to help!

[Jamiesname]

Just took this pic today. Still not much going on. The queen did finally lay a batch of eggs; the first eggs since the alcohol incident. I'm relieved because all of the youngest brood is in its late larvae stage, or beyond. Until now I was afraid that the alcohol did permanent damage to her. Looks like I'm out of the woods and very lucky. I definitely won't be doing that again.


I was a little shaky taking the pic, so it's a little blurry. I'd take a better one, but I don't want to disturb them again. As you can see (or maybe you can't). The L. Latipes now officially outnumber the L. Neoniger.

Edited by Jamiesname, May 7 2018 - 2:28 PM.

[Jamiesname]

My queen has finally laid her first substantial cluster of eggs since the alcohol incident. Things seem to be 100% back to normal now, but they were at a stand still for a couple weeks - after the first initial improvements the colony made.

I also finally picked up a macro lense for my phone and took a few pics. It definitely makes a difference. I wish I would have gotten it sooner. Now I need to work on my lighting to get the most out of it. Anyways, here they are. . .

The new pile of eggs is to the upper left side of the pic.








These are just a couple pics of another parasitic species, Aphaenogaster Tennesseensis (thanks Canadian Anter for the ID), that I'm raising.

The queen can be seen in the center right of the pic. She's quite small, almost the same size as her workers. The wider mesosoma and gaster give her away.



There's a nice size clutch of eggs right under the queen. You can see them a little better in this pic.

Edited by Jamiesname, May 28 2018 - 1:55 PM.

[Jamiesname]

I've been so busy simply taking care of ants and working on my Lasius Interjectus that I haven't had time to post an update on these.

There's not much excitement going on, the colony is growing - slowly. The alcohol incident really set them back, they were growing like wildfire until then. Thankfully, however, like I said in my last post, I'm out of the woods regarding that. As you can see in the pic there's a nice size pile of eggs, a small pile of pupae and a few larvae getting ready to pupate. That's really about it. I'll post again in a few more weeks.



On this one, there were more workers running around outside the nest than inside so I tried to get a decent amount in the pic.

Edited by Jamiesname, July 11 2018 - 1:26 PM.

[Jaraii]

Just read through to todays update, it looks awesome.  I especially love the golden color of the parasitic species, and I'm glad they seem to have pulled through the alcohol incident.  With that last picture though, it made me what kind of nest you're using, did you make that?

[Zxirl]

This is such an interesting journal. I caught a Lasius interjectus queen earlier this season, but didn't have enough time to invest in learning how to raise parasitic queens. However, this journal makes me want to start reading up on caring for them so that I am ready next time I find another queen.

[Jamiesname]

Just read through to todays update, it looks awesome. I especially love the golden color of the parasitic species, and I'm glad they seem to have pulled through the alcohol incident. With that last picture though, it made me what kind of nest you're using, did you make that?

It's an Inception Chamber from Tarheel Ants. I like it a lot, but my only complaint is that the outworld molds quickly. This doesn't seem to bother the ants in the least bit, but it bothers me . I'm constantly scraping the mold and vacuuming it out. If I didn't start making my own formicariums, it wouldn't stop me from buying another one though.

https://tarheelants....-chamber-3-inch

This is such an interesting journal. I caught a Lasius interjectus queen earlier this season, but didn't have enough time to invest in learning how to raise parasitic queens. However, this journal makes me want to start reading up on caring for them so that I am ready next time I find another queen.

I remember, I was so jealous that all of you guys were posting Id requests for L. Interjectus. I wanted to find one so bad, I was even willing to buy one from someone in Michigan but nobody had any for sale. I ended up getting lucky and finding a bunch right after a flight though. Hopefully those go as smoothly as this one.

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to read all of this. I enjoy logging all of this stuff, but the real gratification comes from knowing that people are learning from my successes and failures. I get so much from this site and its users, it feels good to give back even a little.

Edited by Jamiesname, July 11 2018 - 6:04 PM.

[Jamiesname]

Still no major developments. I did take a couple blurry pics through the formicarium lid of the egg pile. The queen has been busy laying and she's building a rather large pile of eggs.

[Kaelwizard]

I caught a L. latipes queen but it unfortunately escaped the test tube. I wish you good luck with your colony!

[Ikerrilove]

I hope your colony does well, I may give it a try next year since they were all over the place here the last week. I just started so if I have a good Lasius colony next year I may try. Please keep updating, these guys are amazing.

[Jamiesname]

I hope your colony does well, I may give it a try next year since they were all over the place here the last week. I just started so if I have a good Lasius colony next year I may try. Please keep updating, these guys are amazing.

Thank you, and will do!

I think you should give it a go. There's so much more gratification to be had with parasitic ants in my opinion. Other ants, you throw them in a test tube and wait, and wait. . . and wait some more for the first workers. With a parasitic queen you need spend the first week or so making sure everybody is getting along, then the next 4-6 weeks are all anticipation hoping that she lays, and when she does your even more excited because the odds are low, lower than other claustral queens. Overall, I'd be willing to bet that you'd find it much more rewarding.

[Jamiesname]

I put these girls in hibernation about a week ago, I just forgot to post that little detail at the time. I'll update again in approximately sixty days when I take them out.

[Kaelwizard]

I caught a L. latipes queen but it unfortunately escaped the test tube. I wish you good luck with your colony!

It was actually L. murphyi

[Jamiesname]

I put this colony into hibernation on November 1st. I plan on pulling them back out on Feburary 1st. I learned a lot this past year regarding this colony so this upcoming year should go much better.

[kingz2015]

So how did you introduce your parasitic queen exactly?

[Jamiesname]

So how did you introduce your parasitic queen exactly?

All the info is in the third (or fourth) post on this thread. If you still need more information let me know what I can elaborate on and I'd be happy to help.

[Jamiesname]

Late Entry:


I pulled these girls out of diapause early on Feb. 10th to see if I can jump start their growth after last years blunder. Hope it works out. I'll post again as soon as something of note happens.

[Jamiesname]

I figured that it was about time to check on this colony since both of my L. Interjectus queen's laid their first batch of eggs for this season. Even though they seemed to have recovered from the alcohol incident, I've been worried that their recovery has only been partial. Upon opening the lid to their nest, much to my delight, I instantly noticed one of the workers running around with a batch of eggs. I'm going to leave them alone for a while, but I will eventually get a picture to post.

In the meantime, check out my L. Interjectus journal if you haven't already.

http://www.formicult...jectus-journal/