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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 27, 2018 16:43:32 GMT
Here's the egg pile today. I think there's about thirty now! And here's the queen having some quiet time in the adjoining chamber, where she usually stays. You can see the flap of loose exoskeleton on her gaster by her hind leg. It almost looks like a little dent. Still, it doesn't seem to trouble her at all.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jun 27, 2018 17:26:09 GMT
Now I am envious, I am hoping mine will lay eggs by the time I get home in 3 days, but I still think she is unmated and I will be disappointed. I am glad your colony is doing so well.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 27, 2018 17:29:18 GMT
Now I am envious, I am hoping mine will lay eggs by the time I get home in 3 days, but I still think she is unmated and I will be disappointed. I am glad your colony is doing so well. Fingers crossed, maybe she's left a surprise for you when you get home! I seriously hope your colony does well, it would help us learn more about C. fedtschenkoi.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 28, 2018 12:30:19 GMT
For some reason they've half eaten another cocoon. I don't know why they'd do that.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 1, 2018 9:32:44 GMT
So, I had mentioned on Wood's own journal just now that my fedtschenkoi's eggs haven't hatched a month after being laid. I just checked the colony to be greeted by the delightful sight of a newly hatched larva on the pile, so it could be said I now have egg on my face.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 2, 2018 13:50:41 GMT
Another three larvae have hatched overnight!
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 10, 2018 13:18:34 GMT
To my surprise, the queen has suddenly laid lots more eggs. I counted about 60 in total! The new larvae are growing fairly quickly, even though the colony doesn't seem interested in insects at the moment.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 10, 2018 17:08:25 GMT
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 12, 2018 13:16:37 GMT
There are now three cocoons. One of them is starting to look darker to me so hopefully there will be a new worker soon. The count has fallen to 28 because a worker died recently.
They will happily take sugar water but lately they've been rejecting insects and dumping them untouched in the corner of their foraging box. You'd think they'd be interested since the queen's been laying eggs and a growing number of them have hatched now. Still, my Camponotus mitis went through a similar phase so they should regain interest at some point.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 13, 2018 12:50:04 GMT
Now that this worker has eclosed, the colony is back up to 29 workers.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 15, 2018 10:57:39 GMT
Despite the workers refusing any insects still, the larvae seem to be growing quickly!
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 16, 2018 15:32:19 GMT
I think from now on I'll follow Wood's example and put this colony on the windowsill in the evening, when the sunlight falls on it. Maybe it'll make a difference, since the eggs of his colony have hatched much faster than mine.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 18, 2018 12:53:06 GMT
There are now three pupae and the queen still seems to be laying eggs.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 20, 2018 10:03:45 GMT
Despite the growing amount of larvae, there's still loads of eggs. I counted nearly 60, although I'm pretty terrible at counting the eggs to be honest so it may not be accurate. I still haven't been able to coax the workers to take insects. I did try wiggling it around in front of them with the tweezers to mimic prey running around, but after attacking the cricket for longer than usual they dumped it in the corner like they have been.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 21, 2018 12:57:40 GMT
A worker has died, so the colony is back down to 28. Still, I'm not too concerned at this point. One of the cocoons has been darkening lately and the larvae are getting very big now.
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