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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 9, 2018 8:55:33 GMT
Foraging activity is still very low, which concerns me. I'm honestly tempted to dig into the nest and see if the queen is still alive, but what if that makes things worse? Still, I haven't seen any more signs of the parasitic mites.
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shane
Ant Photographer
Ant Species Image Gatherer
Posts: 1,738
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Post by shane on Jul 9, 2018 16:16:42 GMT
Foraging activity is still very low, which concerns me. I'm honestly tempted to dig into the nest and see if the queen is still alive, but what if that makes things worse? Still, I haven't seen any more signs of the parasitic mites. There some good news and bad news about parasitic mites. One is that they will eat any left overs in nest what ants leave behind but the bad news is that ants can clean them self from them in nest and also will eat them. I don't know if they will go for larvae's but there will feast on any scraps left over by ants,
I put some in my Polyrhachis dives arena and there feasting on scraps in nest, My dives though will attack them
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 10, 2018 20:48:42 GMT
About 21 workers including a super major came out foraging earlier and took three crickets into the nest. I suspect that the mites took a big toll on the colony and killed a lot of workers, but hopefully they'll come back from this since they're still feeding. It takes this species around 26 days to mature from the egg to adult stage, so maybe the number of workers will start coming back up over the following weeks.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 13, 2018 18:17:56 GMT
Today when I checked the colony, I found several workers wandering around the nest entrance looking for food. I gave them a bit of millet and two locusts. Suddenly there were over 50 workers and three super majors pulling it into the nest! Some of the workers still had their callow colours, so it looks like they're recovering well.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 21, 2018 17:46:06 GMT
Here they are eating a cricket.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 19, 2018 15:10:37 GMT
I've turned the temperature up to 30C since the heatwave is over and it's definitely increased the colony's activity and appetite. About 50-60 minors came charging out and dragged several small crickets into their nest. They even accepted seeds and millet, something I know they eat but haven't observed them doing before. I did sadly see a dead major on the surface, but hopefully many more will be born to replace her.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 19, 2018 15:56:44 GMT
Love the new photos, I didn't know that they would eat seeds, it's surprising what some ant species will eat.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 10, 2018 14:40:25 GMT
Guess who just ordered not one, but two more colonies! When they arrive I might try and introduce a few workers from one colony to the other, to see if it's possible to merge them into one. I'm happy to keep them separately if it doesn't work out, I look forward to their arrival.
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Post by Jenny on Sept 10, 2018 16:23:32 GMT
I think you must have won the lottery and not told us An early Xmas present? Good luck with that lot, you're going to need it
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 10, 2018 17:26:55 GMT
I think you must have won the lottery and not told us An early Xmas present? Good luck with that lot, you're going to need it Haha, I wish. I've been saving up for this. The colonies will be posted on the 18th and arrive on the 19th. I don't know how I'll be able to wait until then...
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 14, 2018 8:28:53 GMT
Do you plan to make separate journals for each colony, or name each colony and post about them on this journal? It would be nice if the 2 new colonies were related and could mix to form a colony of 2 queens. Try just mixing a few workers from each first to see if they accept each other, and be wary if you mix the 2 queens that they don't fight or that their workers don't attack the queen of the other colony.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 14, 2018 12:24:09 GMT
Do you plan to make separate journals for each colony, or name each colony and post about them on this journal? It would be nice if the 2 new colonies were related and could mix to form a colony of 2 queens. Try just mixing a few workers from each first to see if they accept each other, and be wary if you mix the 2 queens that they don't fight or that their workers don't attack the queen of the other colony. The colonies will be named and posted about on this journal. Ideally the colonies will merge. I've read one piece of advice saying that if you introduce a major or super major from one colony to the other, if she's accepted the minors will direct her to the nest and ride on her back. My current colony's majors stayed well at the back of the test tube with their queen, so I'll probably have to try with minors instead and see how they react. If none of the colonies are compatible I'll keep them separately, perhaps keeping one in a similar soil tank and get another of those bestantsuk formicariums for the other, which holds humidity well and should offer a chance to watch them properly if there isn't too much condensation. Whatever happens, hopefully we can all learn something from this.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 18, 2018 10:29:46 GMT
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 18, 2018 11:36:41 GMT
It looks like both colonies will need a bigger nest sooner rather than later, as those test tubes are pretty much full of ants and eggs.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 18, 2018 17:32:27 GMT
After lots of deliberation and triple checking, I introduced the larger colony to the outworld and they immediately swarmed over everything. No turning back now! They're also attacking a cricket: After a while, I opened the test tube of the smaller colony and let several workers run onto my hand, then I closed it and put those workers in the outworld with the other colony. No aggressive responses at all from either party; the workers briefly check each other and go about their way. Later I tried again with another group of workers with the same results. From this, I believe the two colonies are compatible (Or the queens are sisters). Later I think I'll put the smaller colony's test tube in with them and see how they get on. I'll be sure to get more photos of course! None of the workers have yet followed the tube to the formicarium, but I'm sure they will in their own time.
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