Dreamer's Prenolepis Nitens (Snow colony)
Oct 30, 2017 22:55:24 GMT
Wood~Ant and tatufmetuf like this
Post by dreamer on Oct 30, 2017 22:55:24 GMT
October 2017
I eventually found a species of ants that are European and don't hibernate over winter. Prenolepis Nitens, almost identical to Prenolepis Imparis (American). They have been documented as being active above ground in freezing temperatures. Apparently they hibernate in summer. Perfect.
By some miracle, I found a queen with 3-5 workers for sale online.
October 27th
My tiny new colony arrived, with 6 workers. Here is a great shot of them in the test tube. The species are known as 'Winter ants' and also as 'False Honey Pot ants', you can see some of the workers (3) have distended gasters, not filled with sweet honey, but actually just fat.
I looked carefully with a magnifying glass, but there did not appear to be any brood. The workers are 2-3mm, so bigger than my L.Niger nanitics. The repletes (I'm going to call them that, but it may not be technically accurate as they are not honey pot ants) walk with a shuffle as they are weighed down at the back, they seem to pause every other step to put their gaster on the ground.
October 29th
The test tube had about a third covered in black mould, so I decided to connect them to a new test tube and shine a bright light on the test tube. They didn't like the light and got quite active under it, but although two workers went in (non-repletes) to explore the new test tube and enjoyed some protein jelly, the colony did not move.
I had a second formicarium+outworld that had been weeks in the post from Ants Russia, which just arrived, so I decided to put some white sand-loam in that and see if the colony would move in there. After a day they began to move!
This was particularly exciting for me as a new ant keeper, because none of my other colonies had ever moved under light. The workers explored the tube, went into the nest and outworld then came back. All of a sudden they all set off queen started to move last. Again no sign of any brood or any workers carrying anything. Then a couple of inches in she turned around and went back with general confusion for the rest of the colony running backward and forward. This happened a coulple of times and then I decided to take the test tube off the end and seal it with cotton wool.
After a couple more hours the queen had ended up at the end of the tube almost in the new nest with one worker and everyone else was back at the other end of the tube sat under the bright light. Eventually after a couple more hours of general confusion with ants seemingly 'lost' in what was quite a long tube and me moving the light to different places only 2 workers were left and the rest were sat at the end about to enter the new nest. After another while of waiting I decided to nudge the last 2 workers down the tube with a pipe cleaner and gently pushed the colony out of the tube and into the entrance of the nest.
It really wasn't my ideal solution as they had looked like they were going to move on their own, but with them stalling at the end of the tube I wasn't sure my pipe cleaner was a solid seal, so I didn't want to leave it in over night. Neither did it quite work to cut the tube incase the small end piece they were all in flew off with the force of the cut (the tubes are quite solid). I guess I found I prefer a natural approach and I appreciate sellers who use a small test tube that will fit in the smaller outworld/nest combinations.
Anyway, as you can see they moved deeper into the nest into the corner of the chamber I'd not filled with white sand.
They really do seem to be sensitive to even red light as this worker got very active when I removed the cover I'd had over them and came as close to my red light as he could get before returning back to the other chamber. I think I'm going to leave them for a week now in peace. They have sand, water, honey and protein jelly, so we'll see what happens. I'm not sure I'll be able to see any eggs that the queen lays as the floor of the nest is white and so is the sand. I've also read that they don't lay many eggs in winter and the brood grown in summer during hibernation. We'll find out.
5th November
I left the colony to settle and be in peace for about a week. I've not see them venture out at all and when looking in on them they seem pretty shy and content in their corner. I'm keeping them at a steady 19*C, so cool, but not cold. I'll drop them down to about 10*C in a couple of weeks when I put the others into hibernation and see if they prefer that.
They seem to be very light sensitive, much more so even than L.Niger, so when light is shone on them (even red) they try and hide away.
No sign that they have left the little corner of the nest or that the Snow queen has laid any eggs. It may be my imagination, but I think the repletes are a little smaller. I've given them honey and sugar water and I'll try them with fruit flies this week. I guess they may wait until they are hungry though until they go out and forage.
12th November
These guys don't seem to have moved much or done anything, they are at 17-18*C now and pretty constant. They haven't found the fruit fly at the nest entrance. They seem just to want to stay at the most humid point right next to the wet sponge in the formicarium. No sign of eggs.
Here's a better shot of the queen:
And one of the workers:
November 18th
No change, again no sign of foraging, so I put a drop of honey water by the next entrance - about 8cm away, down the only tunnel that's not blocked. They are kept constantly in darkness at around 18-19*C, except the outworld, which has normal day/night cycles.
November 25th
Still no sign that they aren't spending all their time huddled up next to the hydration, but I'm not sure if it is because they need high humidity or not. They maybe too warm (18*C) so they may become more active when I drop the temperature for hibernation.
December 3rd
As usual, no change. They seem to be very sensitive to humidity and to light. Even with the red light they instantly move around once I have a look in, good for photos, but not much else. Also they seem to really like high humidity as they hug the wall next to the wet foam and today when I filled the foam up with water a bit leaked through underneath into the sand and they immediately all stopped to drink the water, like this:
They were all against the wall when I took off the black cover and so there are clearly no brood at all. I'm still not sure if they are in hibernation. I guess we'll see as I lower the temperature over the next week. I'll be taking the temperature down to 12*C, so we'll see what happens - will they become more active or less? I've put a fruit fly in the entrance way now so we maybe able to tell if they venture outside, but all signs seem to indicate they haven't, not even to the water that they seemed to be so hungry for today.
Some trophallaxis:
December 30th
The colony has been in hibernation for the last 3 weeks, although they may have been in hibernation since they arrived as they have not ventured out at all to my knowledge. They are currently at about 10-12*C. They still hugging the wall where the humidity is highest and I've made sure they have water in the outworld.
And that was going to be the end of my update, until I zoomed in on this photo to edit it. It looks like the queen could be carrying some eggs:
With the white sand it's hard to tell, but here is a second photo a few seconds later:
I'll keep a look out over the next few weeks and I'll probably bring them out of hibernation toward the end of February. Expect an update then
4th March
Despite the snow this week I am starting to bring my colonies out of hibernation by slowly increasing the temperature by 0.5*C per day. It will be a couple of weeks.
14th April
Today I saw one of the workers come out of the nest for the first time into the outworld where there is water, honey water and fruit flies. There appear only to be 4 workers left out of the original 6. They have definitely come out of hibernation and I'm hoping this is the start of them being more adventurous
28th April
Sad news, I think the worker I saw was coming out due to desparation. Looking in on the colony today all the workers seem to be dead. It seems like they either got too hot on the heat mat or ran out of water (but there is water in the outworld so I'm not sure about that). I have taken the formicarium apart and removed the queen with the workers to a small well hydrated test tube, which is not on the heat mat. The queen is definitely alive and I've given her some honey water (right up in her face), but I'm pretty worried that she won't survive on her own
I'm just hoping she will eat and lay some eggs to start over.
May 4th
No change, the queen is still alive and is very close to a thorax size drop of honey water, so I think she should be able to drink that.
May 9th
The queen has not died, but it's hard to tell if she's had any honey water. She doesn't seem to have eaten any of the fruitfly or salvaged any of her workers. I do not want to disturb her too much now, I want to leave her to settle, so I'm going to cover her up and put her in a quiet corner off the heat mat and see where she is in a few weeks. Let's hope she has some more eggs up her sleave ;-)
I eventually found a species of ants that are European and don't hibernate over winter. Prenolepis Nitens, almost identical to Prenolepis Imparis (American). They have been documented as being active above ground in freezing temperatures. Apparently they hibernate in summer. Perfect.
By some miracle, I found a queen with 3-5 workers for sale online.
October 27th
My tiny new colony arrived, with 6 workers. Here is a great shot of them in the test tube. The species are known as 'Winter ants' and also as 'False Honey Pot ants', you can see some of the workers (3) have distended gasters, not filled with sweet honey, but actually just fat.
I looked carefully with a magnifying glass, but there did not appear to be any brood. The workers are 2-3mm, so bigger than my L.Niger nanitics. The repletes (I'm going to call them that, but it may not be technically accurate as they are not honey pot ants) walk with a shuffle as they are weighed down at the back, they seem to pause every other step to put their gaster on the ground.
October 29th
The test tube had about a third covered in black mould, so I decided to connect them to a new test tube and shine a bright light on the test tube. They didn't like the light and got quite active under it, but although two workers went in (non-repletes) to explore the new test tube and enjoyed some protein jelly, the colony did not move.
I had a second formicarium+outworld that had been weeks in the post from Ants Russia, which just arrived, so I decided to put some white sand-loam in that and see if the colony would move in there. After a day they began to move!
This was particularly exciting for me as a new ant keeper, because none of my other colonies had ever moved under light. The workers explored the tube, went into the nest and outworld then came back. All of a sudden they all set off queen started to move last. Again no sign of any brood or any workers carrying anything. Then a couple of inches in she turned around and went back with general confusion for the rest of the colony running backward and forward. This happened a coulple of times and then I decided to take the test tube off the end and seal it with cotton wool.
After a couple more hours the queen had ended up at the end of the tube almost in the new nest with one worker and everyone else was back at the other end of the tube sat under the bright light. Eventually after a couple more hours of general confusion with ants seemingly 'lost' in what was quite a long tube and me moving the light to different places only 2 workers were left and the rest were sat at the end about to enter the new nest. After another while of waiting I decided to nudge the last 2 workers down the tube with a pipe cleaner and gently pushed the colony out of the tube and into the entrance of the nest.
It really wasn't my ideal solution as they had looked like they were going to move on their own, but with them stalling at the end of the tube I wasn't sure my pipe cleaner was a solid seal, so I didn't want to leave it in over night. Neither did it quite work to cut the tube incase the small end piece they were all in flew off with the force of the cut (the tubes are quite solid). I guess I found I prefer a natural approach and I appreciate sellers who use a small test tube that will fit in the smaller outworld/nest combinations.
Anyway, as you can see they moved deeper into the nest into the corner of the chamber I'd not filled with white sand.
They really do seem to be sensitive to even red light as this worker got very active when I removed the cover I'd had over them and came as close to my red light as he could get before returning back to the other chamber. I think I'm going to leave them for a week now in peace. They have sand, water, honey and protein jelly, so we'll see what happens. I'm not sure I'll be able to see any eggs that the queen lays as the floor of the nest is white and so is the sand. I've also read that they don't lay many eggs in winter and the brood grown in summer during hibernation. We'll find out.
5th November
I left the colony to settle and be in peace for about a week. I've not see them venture out at all and when looking in on them they seem pretty shy and content in their corner. I'm keeping them at a steady 19*C, so cool, but not cold. I'll drop them down to about 10*C in a couple of weeks when I put the others into hibernation and see if they prefer that.
They seem to be very light sensitive, much more so even than L.Niger, so when light is shone on them (even red) they try and hide away.
No sign that they have left the little corner of the nest or that the Snow queen has laid any eggs. It may be my imagination, but I think the repletes are a little smaller. I've given them honey and sugar water and I'll try them with fruit flies this week. I guess they may wait until they are hungry though until they go out and forage.
12th November
These guys don't seem to have moved much or done anything, they are at 17-18*C now and pretty constant. They haven't found the fruit fly at the nest entrance. They seem just to want to stay at the most humid point right next to the wet sponge in the formicarium. No sign of eggs.
Here's a better shot of the queen:
And one of the workers:
November 18th
No change, again no sign of foraging, so I put a drop of honey water by the next entrance - about 8cm away, down the only tunnel that's not blocked. They are kept constantly in darkness at around 18-19*C, except the outworld, which has normal day/night cycles.
November 25th
Still no sign that they aren't spending all their time huddled up next to the hydration, but I'm not sure if it is because they need high humidity or not. They maybe too warm (18*C) so they may become more active when I drop the temperature for hibernation.
December 3rd
As usual, no change. They seem to be very sensitive to humidity and to light. Even with the red light they instantly move around once I have a look in, good for photos, but not much else. Also they seem to really like high humidity as they hug the wall next to the wet foam and today when I filled the foam up with water a bit leaked through underneath into the sand and they immediately all stopped to drink the water, like this:
They were all against the wall when I took off the black cover and so there are clearly no brood at all. I'm still not sure if they are in hibernation. I guess we'll see as I lower the temperature over the next week. I'll be taking the temperature down to 12*C, so we'll see what happens - will they become more active or less? I've put a fruit fly in the entrance way now so we maybe able to tell if they venture outside, but all signs seem to indicate they haven't, not even to the water that they seemed to be so hungry for today.
Some trophallaxis:
December 30th
The colony has been in hibernation for the last 3 weeks, although they may have been in hibernation since they arrived as they have not ventured out at all to my knowledge. They are currently at about 10-12*C. They still hugging the wall where the humidity is highest and I've made sure they have water in the outworld.
And that was going to be the end of my update, until I zoomed in on this photo to edit it. It looks like the queen could be carrying some eggs:
With the white sand it's hard to tell, but here is a second photo a few seconds later:
I'll keep a look out over the next few weeks and I'll probably bring them out of hibernation toward the end of February. Expect an update then
4th March
Despite the snow this week I am starting to bring my colonies out of hibernation by slowly increasing the temperature by 0.5*C per day. It will be a couple of weeks.
14th April
Today I saw one of the workers come out of the nest for the first time into the outworld where there is water, honey water and fruit flies. There appear only to be 4 workers left out of the original 6. They have definitely come out of hibernation and I'm hoping this is the start of them being more adventurous
28th April
Sad news, I think the worker I saw was coming out due to desparation. Looking in on the colony today all the workers seem to be dead. It seems like they either got too hot on the heat mat or ran out of water (but there is water in the outworld so I'm not sure about that). I have taken the formicarium apart and removed the queen with the workers to a small well hydrated test tube, which is not on the heat mat. The queen is definitely alive and I've given her some honey water (right up in her face), but I'm pretty worried that she won't survive on her own
I'm just hoping she will eat and lay some eggs to start over.
May 4th
No change, the queen is still alive and is very close to a thorax size drop of honey water, so I think she should be able to drink that.
May 9th
The queen has not died, but it's hard to tell if she's had any honey water. She doesn't seem to have eaten any of the fruitfly or salvaged any of her workers. I do not want to disturb her too much now, I want to leave her to settle, so I'm going to cover her up and put her in a quiet corner off the heat mat and see where she is in a few weeks. Let's hope she has some more eggs up her sleave ;-)
May 24th
Sadly despite having food and looking well fed Snow Queen died 
She must have given up with the loss of her workers. She suddenly got covered in a lot of unusually coloured neon green mould:
She must have given up with the loss of her workers. She suddenly got covered in a lot of unusually coloured neon green mould:Deceased
