|
Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 7, 2018 12:38:30 GMT
At 38 workers, this is now officially my largest Camponotus colony! Good to hear. You won't regret having this species, as they are a lovely medium sized ant, a bit mischievous but not nasty or rebellious, and I have had some good results keeping these over several years now. I love them, and they're a great ant species for any ant keepers collection.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 15, 2018 12:54:13 GMT
There's now 47 workers and the brood pile is still steadily growing! I counted about 45 cocoons.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 17, 2018 20:07:52 GMT
I've done a head count just now and there's fifty workers, a milestone I thought would take weeks longer to reach.
|
|
|
Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 18, 2018 7:33:19 GMT
I've done a head count just now and there's fifty workers, a milestone I thought would take weeks longer to reach. I find them to be one the fastest growing exotic species in the genus, and you could easily achieve 100 by the end of this year.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 20, 2018 12:48:00 GMT
I didn't actually realise this colony had any major brood until I saw the newly eclosed third major today!
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 25, 2018 16:42:01 GMT
There's lots of eggs in the brood pile at the moment.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 29, 2018 10:48:21 GMT
The worker count has risen to at least 60 now.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 2, 2018 12:30:03 GMT
Today's peek of the colony. Sorry about the condensation.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 4, 2018 8:20:15 GMT
Just now when doing my usual head count (Well, estimate since there's so many now) of the workers, I noticed at least 10 were missing. I then moved the formicarium and discovered the AWOL workers huddled up in the corner of my ant unit! They've been safely returned to the colony. Not quite sure how they got out, since the nest connection port is blocked off with cotton. Maybe I didn't quite put the lid on properly since these girls are quite small for the genus and could easily squeeze through gaps.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 15, 2018 15:28:53 GMT
I estimate that there's at least 85 workers now. It's pretty much impossible for me to accurately count them anymore since they move around a lot. I've noticed some larger workers which aren't quite as large as the majors have been eclosing lately. Medias? Two or three new majors have also been born. There haven't been any more escapes, so it was definitely my fault with the lid.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 10, 2018 23:18:10 GMT
There's now over 100 workers. It appears that I've got a new major (Left middle chamber) who's a bit bigger than the others. One of the queens has also got fatter than the other, for some reason. Sorry about the condensation.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 11, 2018 13:26:53 GMT
Here's the workers gorging on sugar water. The worker on the right had tripped and fell into the droplet just as I took that photo!
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 16, 2018 21:14:10 GMT
Here's the two queens. As you can see, the one on top has become significantly fatter than the other. And here's a few of the largest majors next to the queens. Possible super majors? Wood~Ant What do you think?
|
|
|
Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 17, 2018 6:46:51 GMT
Yes, the 2 large headed workers are super major caste. 4069d64f1fc348f27b3ecbe1f915d4f9
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 21, 2018 11:01:46 GMT
Just found the queen who's been putting on weight is now dead. How could that possibly have happened?
|
|