Dinomyrmex gigas

[occultus]

Today I received my Camponotus gigas queens that I got sent from a friend in Malaysia. The parcel arrived in excellent condition and only took 5 days to get here.

I got three Queens from him but one of them died during transit and the remaining two are happy, alive and healthy

These Queens are stunning! One of them still has her wings but she has started laying eggs already and she literally laid an egg in front of me as soon as I opened up her box

I shall name the winged Queen Iris after the Greek Goddess and the other shall be known as Hera( just so you know which Queen that I'm referring to).


Here's the Identical nesting box's that they will be housed in. Once again it not for looks, only practicality is considered for a Queen to produce her first workers.

Once they establishes a colonies I will rehouse them into an antstore 60x30x30cm tank filled with soil, plants and a perfectly sized log that stretches the length of the enclosure.
Camponotus gigas 16/10/15 by che hawkins, on Flickr
Camponotus gigas 16/10/15 by che hawkins, on Flickr
Camponotus gigas 16/10/15 by che hawkins, on Flickr

For a nest site I have placed a flower pot similar to what my Paraponera clavata nests inside. They may also choose to nest behind a strip of cork bark that is wedged near the side of the tub and I would be better able to observe the queens progress.
Camponotus gigas 16/10/15 by che hawkins, on Flickr
They may also dig out a chamber in the coco fiber substrate should they wish it.

Enough chit chat, now time for the ants!

Camponotus gigas 16/10/15 by che hawkins, on Flickr
Queen Hera

Camponotus gigas 16/10/15 by che hawkins, on Flickr
Queen Iris




Camponotus gigas 16/10/15 by che hawkins, on Flickr
Can you see the larvae sized egg?

[Deleted]

She is huge!

Fantastic pictures and vid!

[Thebugman]

Good luck with these, never seen a journal on them before. I have seen them for sale for an extortionate price, hope everything goes well!

[Deleted]

What a whoppa! How many farthings did they set you back?

[occultus]

Thanks guys, I'm going to keep the queens in complete darkness until workers are born. Feeding will be done in complete darkness using a red head lamp to minimize stress levels. Ants and most insects and arachnids are blind to the colour red.

Cost me £300 for these queens, it was a bit of a gamble though because of how easily they can perish in transit.

[Deleted]

Still sounds like a bargain to me! Good luck!

[antdoctor]

on the left side of the gaster , is it normal that she has a yellowish line? it looks like a wound. There is nothing on the opposite side

[Kyle]

They look wonderful, hope they do well for you, as I've never seen anyone keep these before.

Kyle

[Wood~Ant]

There are what I call big UN's and whoppers, but the gigas queens are big whoppers that's for sure. Love the containers with the air vents, where did you find them for sale Che?

[occultus]

Oct 16, 2015 22:13:16 GMT Wood~Ant said:

There are what I call big UN's and whoppers, but the gigas queens are big whoppers that's for sure. Love the containers with the air vents, where did you find them for sale Che?

I picked the containers up on eBay for 14.99 each www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171385413961?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT they're designed to house Tarantulas and praying mantids but I thought it would be perfect for a beginner Queen.
You can find cheaper ones around though, or you could purchase the vents separately and use your own tubs from a local pound stretcher.

[Wood~Ant]

Knowing how big a bullet ant queen is, as I posted a photo some time ago of one on the forum, would you say the gigas queens are bigger than your Paraponera queen?

[Deleted]

Holy heck they are huge

[Zarbi]

I have read that C. gigas is the biggest ant species on the planet, even bigger than this (see photo here).

[occultus]

Oct 17, 2015 7:50:23 GMT Wood~Ant said:

Knowing how big a bullet ant queen is, as I posted a photo some time ago of one on the forum, would you say the gigas queens are bigger than your Paraponera queen?

Hmm it's a close one to call. I'd say that the Camponotus.gigas queens are just slightly longer my Paraponera.clavata queen.
The C.gigas queens are the clear winners in terms of mass. They look around 2-3 times more chunkier than P.clavata.

Queen Iris(winged queen) looks a little larger than Queen Hera. It could just be that her wings are creating the illusion of size though.

They'd make for a good fight(Tyranosaurus vs Spinosaurus). Two ant Titans from opposite sides of the planet
Paroponera clavata: Slim, agile, great eye sight and a lethal sting.
Camponotus gigas: Thick, Bulky, large Jaws and sprays formic acid.
I'd never actually allow a fight to take place

P.S I love that Bullet ant photo that you posted, I even use it as my desktop background.

[occultus]

Oct 17, 2015 15:05:17 GMT Zarbi said:

I have read that C. gigas is the biggest ant species on the planet, even bigger than this (see photo here).

Technically just technically, the driver ant queen (Dorylus) takes the prize as the biggest ant on Earth being 5cm long.
Although Camponotus gigas do average out bigger if you consider that her workers and majors are the larger than any other species.