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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 25, 2017 11:02:16 GMT
I've ordered a single queen of this beautiful looking Asian species from Detritus Ant, a new ant seller I've recently heard of. Considering this species is usually far more expensive and hard to get hold of, I thought it would be worth a go. Detritus Ant has been very helpful in my correspondence with him, answering all my questions and asking if I'd like any equipment (Such as a pipette or some escape-proof powder) sent with the queen. She is being posted today so hopefully she'll arrive before very long. For those of you who haven't seen what this species looks like, here is a photo (Not mine): As you can see they are quite hairy, a bit like Meranoplus. I love the bright red markings they have. Here is the queen I'm being sent, apparently she's got eggs of her own. Hopefully she does well! I'll update again when she arrives.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 25, 2017 12:29:18 GMT
I look forward to following this journal, as hopefully she will raise her eggs and end up with daughters like this.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 25, 2017 16:25:19 GMT
Here's another photo of her prior to being put in the box, she's got some eggs. I just hope she handles the journey okay.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 28, 2017 12:11:50 GMT
She's here, arriving at the same time as my Formica rufibarbis! I'm astonished by her size, she's about the same size as my Camponotus herculeanus queen if not slightly larger. She has four eggs which she carries around constantly (Although she did set them down for a few minutes whilst she drank some honey). The photos aren't quite as good as I'd like because although she's calm, she was a bit surprised at the sudden brightness and walked around a lot. To make sure she stays calm, observation will be kept to a minimum. I'm in love with the xiangban queen already, she's got some lovely colouration!
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jan 31, 2018 18:53:03 GMT
Regrettably, my queen has died for causes unknown. She would occasionally lay eggs and soon eat them after, so she never got a colony going. That concludes this journal.
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