djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Jul 17, 2016 21:36:23 GMT
22nd June 2016 So after some time away from ant keeping I've got back into the swing of things and ordered a colony of Messor Barbarus from Anthouse along with an acrylic formicarium. I actually received not one but three colonies! As it is I've chosen a colony to place into the formicarium, which I am pleased with in terms of quality and size. There are only 8 workers along with the queen and several larvae and pupae, so they take up just a small amount of space at the moment. I intend to sell the remaining colonies at some point as while I am extremely happy to get so many ants I do not have space for them currently! The ants have been given a small amount of chicken and I have covered the formicarium with a black cloth to allow them to settle in.
17th July 2016 I've decided to place this journal so far up onto this forum, I'm hoping that this colony will work out better than my last Messor Barbarus ants. So far there are lots of signs of that! There are now 22 workers, with much more brood on the way. There is also a very large larva which could be a major as it dwarfs all of the workers. The ants have been taking seeds of all kinds, along with crickets, waxworms, bloodworms on one occasion, egg, chicken and their favourite... ham! As soon as they find a piece maybe half of the workers will swarm over the ham, and a couple of times the queen has even come out of the nest to give them a hand dragging it back in! I plan to upload some pictures of this colony soon.
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Jul 18, 2016 11:16:48 GMT
Here's the Barbarus set up. They're all inside happily munching on an old cricket carcass, when a fresh piece of wax worm is being ignored. And here's the whole set along with my other colonies!
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Jul 25, 2016 13:53:57 GMT
25th July 2016
This little colony continues to grow, up to around 30 now. The ants have been eating plenty of cricket and the queen has laid a nice batch of eggs as a result. These ants also really love ham! The queen even runs out to the foraging area too to help the workers drag the ham back in. No majors yet, although there is a nice big larvae which looks promising. I have never seen a Messor Barbarus major in person, so I will be very pleased when I see one in my own colony.
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Aug 8, 2016 22:06:14 GMT
8th August 2016 This colony is the one that I feel is doing the best currently. No more workers have been welcomed into the colony for a week or so, but with over a dozen pupae in the nest (including 2 majors), this colony may be on the cusp of a growth spurt. In the next couple of weeks numbers should get to around 50, and already these ants have been more and more active in foraging. View of the Queen's chamber and brood (most of the colony is busy with a mealworm in another chamber):
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Oct 3, 2016 23:30:08 GMT
4th October 2016
Wow! These ants have grown an awful lot over the past couple of months. There must be at least 100 workers in the nest, and the ants are still eating a lot even though activity has slown down a lot due to colder weather lately. There is a large amount of brood too - a whole chamber full! I think these ants will definitely need a new home in the spring.
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djant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Likes: 25
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Post by djant on Apr 15, 2017 1:29:40 GMT
15th April 2017 Well it has been a long time since an update! The ants were quiet during hibernation. They have woken up recently, and the queen has begun laying. The larvae that were kept over the winter have also begun to pupate. There is still roughly 100 workers present with several majors, however in the last 2-3 weeks around 8 small workers have died. These are the first casualties this colony has suffered in nearly a year of keeping them, and as the dead ants have been very small workers I suppose these ants may have died due to age and may just be the first generation nanitics. The ants have not yet had a great appetite like they did in the summer, but that may change once the latest batch of eggs hatch and there are hungry larvae to feed.
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