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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 6, 2018 17:04:33 GMT
Having been an avid reader of Wood's C. singularis journal, I decided to bite the bullet and order a small colony from British Ants (I waited until the price was lowered a bit first). They've arrived safe and sound and to be quite frank, I am astonished. I knew this species was very large, but bloody Hell! There is a monstrous queen, an equally enormous major and four workers. No brood that I can see. I'm in love with their velvety red heads and shiny black eyes. Only one of the workers came forward to drink the honey I offered her. At first she arced her gaster when I opened the test tube and I waited for her to relax before continuing. I understand that these ants can spray formic acid when provoked. She had quite the appetite. The worker transferring honey to another worker through trophallaxis: I was completely unprepared when the major made her appearance. I've shrugged off super-major bites from Messor barbarus but this girl actually scares me a little. Her head is as large as the queen's and she is just as long. Does that make her a super-major or a standard one? I offered the colony a freshly killed cricket and was unable to even photograph their reaction before the major grabbed the whole thing and ran off with it to the queen. This is the only photo I could get of the queen since she refused to come out into the open. What a magnificent creature. Naturally, I'm going to have to get them a big formicarium to live in. I imagine they'll be okay in the test tube for the time being however, since there's plenty of room and the colony will take time to expand. As always, please feel free to leave comments here.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Mar 6, 2018 19:06:29 GMT
This species has silver white hairs on their legs, and yes they are big; but do fine in a large acrylic nest with 1.5 cm chambers. I call mine plum heads as the colour reminds me of a ripe plum.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 7, 2018 18:35:13 GMT
I noticed earlier that the queen's right mandible appears to be shorter than the other, as though it's been partly broken off. I wonder how that could have happened? You can see it in the photo of her above. It doesn't seem to be hindering her in any way though.
It turns out the singularis love their honey water and drank far more than I expected them to. When the workers were too full to have any more, the major drank the entire droplet over the course of several minutes and her gaster isn't even distended from it. Because this species is so big you can actually see the liquid being transferred between the worker's jaws when they are feeding each other. The cricket from last night is hardly recognisable, which hopefully means the queen has been feeding on it?
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 14, 2018 15:59:35 GMT
So far there have been no eggs laid, which is unfortunate, but hopefully the queen will start soon enough? I have ordered a 1.5cm deep acrylic formicarium for this colony to live in, which will hopefully arrive early next week.
The workers have been chewing up the cotton and kitchen roll in the test tube, suggesting they want to move out.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 19, 2018 18:33:45 GMT
Today the nest I ordered for this colony turned up. It's quite big! I was able to move them into it with a minimum of fuss by gently tapping them out of the test tube and into the foraging box since there's still no eggs. In about 20 minutes the workers decided that they liked the nest, so they tried getting the queen's attention by repeatedly and insistently nipping at the end of her gaster and feet and once she finally turned around, they tugged her into the nest by her jaws. She is stubborn and would stop inside each chamber on the way, having to be pulled along by her jaws or legs until she eventually arrived at the chamber they have chosen for her. The major was the last ant to enter the nest, eventually getting the same treatment the queen did by the workers. All of these ants seem to have good eyesight, as they will rear up aggressively with jaws open if I move too quickly near the formicarium. The nest is deep enough to accommodate the queen and major's height comfortably. Still, their enormous heads can barely fit through the passages! Maybe once they've settled down, the queen will finally think about laying eggs?
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Post by Wood~Ant on Mar 19, 2018 23:10:54 GMT
Are the nest chambers 1 cm or 1.5 cms?
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 20, 2018 0:08:17 GMT
Are the nest chambers 1 cm or 1.5 cms? 1.5cm. This is the nest I have, I did originally want the smaller size version (Which was out of stock at the time), but considering the size of these ants I think this is for the best.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Mar 20, 2018 10:38:27 GMT
Are the nest chambers 1 cm or 1.5 cms? 1.5cm. This is the nest I have, I did originally want the smaller size version (Which was out of stock at the time), but considering the size of these ants I think this is for the best. Yes, it is only 20 cms square (8 inches) so not too big; and the 1.5 cm depth is perfect for these large ants. My own nest is 8" x 12" and they do tend to use most of it, as you can see from the way the chambers get dirty. Link to post of dirty nest.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 26, 2018 15:04:03 GMT
This colony still seems to be doing okay. Usually one of the workers stays in the foraging box or explores the other, unused half of the formicarium. They've been taking sugar water and yesterday ate a small cricket. Still, the queen has not laid any eggs. I hope she starts soon because I'm anxious to see this colony start to grow.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 28, 2018 17:08:23 GMT
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Post by Jenny on Mar 29, 2018 5:45:26 GMT
The "peekaboo" photo is brilliant Jake, just caught her at the right moment The camera captures this species well with them being big and having long legs!
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 2, 2018 15:07:17 GMT
Still no sign of eggs, which I find a bit worrying. Don't these ants start laying eggs around the beginning of March? I moved a heat source near the formicarium in case that helped, but they simply moved to the other side instead.
They will almost entirely eat small insects like crickets and fruit flies. I was surprised to be able to hear a small clicking sound when the major snapped at one earlier.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Apr 2, 2018 22:11:51 GMT
I have never used a heat mat for my own colony, as they seem fine with just a room temperature of 17 to 21 Celsius for the queen to lay eggs. True some did become winged males, but those laid in April produced workers. Mine tend to eat more when late April arrives, and eggs hatch into larvae during May.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 7, 2018 9:13:52 GMT
Look at what I woke up to this morning! The singularis queen has rewarded me for my patience by laying her first egg of the year, hopefully the first of many.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 7, 2018 14:09:22 GMT
There are now two eggs! They are kept in the chamber adjoining the queen's, where a worker stands vigil over her unborn siblings. I wonder how many there will be by tonight? I'm not sure how long it'll take them to develop into workers at room temperature, but as the regular workers alone are bigger than my C. herculeanus queen, I imagine it'll take a long time.
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