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Post by TenebrousNova on May 27, 2018 11:50:28 GMT
I just saw a fedtschenkoi colony come up for sale on a Facebook group I'm part of, it seems ever since I've seen your journal they've been creeping up here and there a lot. Hah, I was keeping them before they became popular!
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Post by TenebrousNova on May 28, 2018 1:00:04 GMT
Thought I'd take some pictures of these girls, since they're a very photogenic species. Here's the queen in her nest: Workers engaged in trophallaxis: And majors doing the same:
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 28, 2018 6:39:38 GMT
Wow, I really have got something to look forward to. Lovely photos TenebrousNova
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 1, 2018 17:48:51 GMT
Sadly, a major died last night of what I believe to be natural causes, dropping the worker population to 29. It isn't all bad news though, as one of the larvae has pupated and the queen has laid a third egg, the first she's laid since she arrived. The eggs are surprisingly large, I have to say.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 2, 2018 14:05:28 GMT
There's now five eggs! Looks like the queen is nice and settled in her new nest.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 3, 2018 16:02:23 GMT
When I checked the colony today I figured everything was as it had been yesterday, until the queen moved with another five newly laid eggs stuck to her gaster, making ten! I could only get a photo of the first five eggs since the workers stand protectively over them most of the time. Workers attacking a cricket:
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 8, 2018 22:56:23 GMT
As you can see on the right, a second larva has just started to spin her cocoon! Sorry about the poor photo quality, there's some mild condensation in the nest. The queen has ventured further into the nest and settled in one of the deeper chambers with the larger two larvae, which I believe will be majors. I don't think the queen has laid any more eggs yet, but hopefully she'll surprise me with more. The workers have stopped taking honey for the time being, but I suspect that's because they drank so much of it last week.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 9, 2018 12:46:06 GMT
Looks like the queen has laid a few more eggs. I can see at least 12 of them. Edit, 7:37pm: And now there's fourteen!
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 10, 2018 0:59:14 GMT
I've just spent half an hour watching the C. fedtschenkoi go about their business. They've taken some sugar water and are now chewing up yet another cricket. When I was removing the remains of their old cricket, I was accosted by a worker who snapped at my fingers with her gaster aimed threateningly as though trying to spray me with formic acid. They're remarkably aggressive! The workers in my larger C. herculeanus colony by comparison will run straight back to the nest if something's amiss. The queen certainly seems to like her new favourite chamber. After a while of napping she woke up and got fed by a few attending workers whilst being groomed at the same time. I was about to stop watching when she suddenly curled her gaster around and laid what must be her 5th or 6th egg today! She's clearly been making use of all that protein I've been plying her colony with.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 11, 2018 13:55:21 GMT
Today I can count at least twenty eggs. I haven't seen any indication of any hatching so far, but I'll keep an eye on them.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jun 11, 2018 14:55:27 GMT
Today I can count at least twenty eggs. I haven't seen any indication of any hatching so far, but I'll keep an eye on them. Well done, I'm still waiting for my queen to lay her first egg.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 11, 2018 15:17:57 GMT
Today I can count at least twenty eggs. I haven't seen any indication of any hatching so far, but I'll keep an eye on them. Well done, I'm still waiting for my queen to lay her first egg. I know how you feel, my singularis queen hasn't produced a single viable egg and my sanguinea queen still hasn't started laying.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 14, 2018 11:06:53 GMT
There's currently at least twenty eggs, three larvae (Two of them majors, I think) and three cocoons. They're still accepting crickets although if I can find a fly, I'll give them one of those so they have some variety.
Incidentally, you might've noticed on the previous page that the queen's gaster seems to have a tiny bit of exoskeleton that's "peeled" slightly on her right side. It doesn't seem to be causing her any problems though. I was watching a worker grooming around the area earlier and the queen didn't seem to be in discomfort.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 23, 2018 16:36:01 GMT
There hasn't been any signs of new eggs lately, nor have any of them hatched. They look perfectly alright though, so perhaps it's just a matter of time. One of the larvae is currently spinning a cocoon, which should've been the fourth but one of them vanished a while ago and there isn't an extra worker. I hope it wasn't eaten.
The workers are still readily accepting sugar water but they've stopped taking interest in crickets for the moment. I guess it's because the two larvae they have will pupate soon and there haven't been any hatchlings yet. I'll keep an eye on them.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 25, 2018 18:55:47 GMT
It seems that the queen has got back to egg laying because I can now see another 5 eggs next to her, in addition to the 20 or so on the main pile. Still no signs of them hatching, but fingers crossed that they will soon!
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