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Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 4, 2016 20:18:16 GMT
Good news: Worker Two is nearly ready to leave her pupal stage by the look of it, with a third worker not far behind. The last of the first-generation larvae has also pupated. Also, the new larvae are less than two weeks old and have already grown quite a bit.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 6, 2016 15:25:41 GMT
The second worker is being welcomed into the colony as I type this.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 7, 2016 12:58:07 GMT
And then there were three.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 11, 2016 15:28:53 GMT
I'm having a bit of trouble with feeding this colony. Although the workers and queen readily accept honey, the queen won't let the larvae eat anything. I've tried them on a variety of insect prey recently and each time, the larvae begin to stir and stretch their heads towards it to feed. Then the queen comes running, snatches it off them and dumps it at the far end of the test tube...any idea why this could be?
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Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 13, 2016 19:24:45 GMT
The colony has resumed eating. The brood grows in size and number. A few of the second-generation larvae are rapidly approaching the pupation size and the fourth worker will be here at some point next week.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 17, 2016 13:40:59 GMT
Introducing Worker 4! 5 is only days away from eclosing at this rate.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 27, 2016 12:30:27 GMT
All five workers came over for a drink of honey just now. It almost seems to be a drug to the ants, they instantly calm down. You could probably stroke them and they wouldn't react...although the sting wouldn't be worth it. The second generation larvae are beginning to pupate and indeed, there is a pupa already! The queen soon came running over when she caught the glorious scent of honey and barged between her daughters. "Get out of the way! Your mother demands tribute!"
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 5, 2016 18:22:54 GMT
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 6, 2016 19:10:48 GMT
Today's course is three dead fruit flies. There's certainly nothing wrong with the larvae's sense of smell. They were all bending their heads around to face the fruit flies (Which were being tenderised by the workers). They're getting rather big now and the two pupae are already starting to slowly change colour. And here's the queen coming to investigate the food.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 17, 2016 19:29:26 GMT
Worker Six eclosed a few days ago and the seventh worker should be here next week. The larvae grow fat and the queen continues to lay eggs. The workers have spent a lot of time ripping pieces of cotton wool...I think they want to escape the test tube.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 23, 2016 23:11:43 GMT
I don't know if you noticed on the last photo but the queen's gaster has started to swell quite a bit recently. I guess her body is starting to make the transition from warrior princess to walking egg factory. Indeed, I watched her lay a few eggs today. I got tired of the limitations imposed by the test tube just as the colony has. They had this tendency to tear pieces of cotton off the bung and litter it all over the place which I had to try and clear out each time I fed the colony...which is difficult when you have seven angry workers and their mother charging at you with jaws agape. Therefore, I put a thin layer of damp sand and a few pebbles in a little tank (The same size my Pheidole pallidula live in) and removed the bung. The workers immediately went exploring and the queen spent a lot of time walking around outside. They have dragged two crickets into the test tube. The Manica workers are surprisingly clumsy climbers so I'm not too concerned about them getting out, but I applied a thin layer of vaseline just in case.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 30, 2016 21:52:31 GMT
This bluebottle has plagued me all day, darting hither and thither just within the corner of my vision and buzzing like a chainsaw next to my ear. It even landed on my lunch! I made sure to leave the door and windows open but it refused to leave, so I was in a pretty bad mood by the time I finally captured the little beast hours later. It chose its fate and will now fuel the Crimson Army. Observe what happens to those who cross me!
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 12, 2016 20:57:39 GMT
Apologies for the lack of updates. There are currently 10-15 almost full-sized larvae and two pupae. One larva is beginning its transformation now. The worker count has dropped from 7 to 6, I haven't seen any evidence of her remains. Maybe she escaped? If she did, I haven't seen her.
I can see two eggs today, it looks as though the queen is slowing down a bit.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 25, 2016 15:05:13 GMT
Winter is coming. A thin layer of frost glitters on the roofs of houses in Portsmouth, the neon signs of fast food shops compete fiercely with the newly lit Christmas lights and children around the world compile enormous lists of what they want for that special day... ...And I discover that my Manica rubida queen, despite the season, has seen fit to lay a big ball of eggs! There's 8 workers at the moment and two more pupae steadily darkening as they mature. Here's the eggs, which were being vigorously licked by the queen: Sorry about the blurry images, the test tube glass is a bit dirty.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 26, 2016 13:56:28 GMT
I discovered a nanitic worker from my fledgling Lasius niger colony (Queen caught this Summer) in the Manica's set up today! She was literally about to enter the test tube when I caught her...poor girl would've been stung into oblivion.
I've had no escape attempts from the Manica, interestingly enough. They rarely make any attempt to scale the sides and they never go up further than a centimetre or so before changing their minds. I'm not complaining, but something tells me that they'll running on my floor next year.
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