|
Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 18, 2018 18:43:48 GMT
I went for it. I opened the second colony's test tube and placed it in the outworld. It wasn't long before a group of workers approached the test tube and were met by minors curiously standing at the entrance. The two groups immediately started mingling! Workers from the larger colony walked into the test tube to have a look around, with no sign of aggression. It appears that so far I've been successful. Here's the two colonies meeting: Additionally, dozens of workers have now entered the formicarium and are thoroughly exploring it. I hope I'm around to witness and photograph the queens eventually moving in, but knowing my luck they'll wait until I'm asleep.
|
|
|
Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 18, 2018 23:42:26 GMT
Loving the photos of the new ant colonies mixing, even the grains of sand are in sharp focus. It's looking like the two queens are from the same nest and are probably related sisters, as the workers apparently have the same colony scent if they're showing no aggressive hostilities to each other.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 19, 2018 9:20:42 GMT
Thanks Wood! Chris told me the queens were collected from the same area so I think I agree about them possibly being sisters. This morning I've found they've lost interest in the formicarium despite it being warmer and more humid, opting instead to dig this suspiciously queen sized hole in a corner of the outworld. Oh, hi! The other queen has stayed put in her test tube, but the queen of what was formerly the smaller colony has been on the move. She now headed back to her own one. After spending several minutes in there, she then headed back to the hole. And then back...I'm sure you can see where this is going? She's made several repeated visits to the other queen's test tube before heading back to the excavation. I'm not sure why she's doing all of this, I can merely trust that they know what's best for themselves. You can tell the queen's about to move because the worker activity where she is suddenly boils over. Here's the nest they're making. Hardly what I had in mind for them and I'm kicking myself internally for adding too much sand, but whatever makes them happy I guess. Hope you enjoyed this update.
|
|
|
Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 19, 2018 10:16:03 GMT
Any chance of a video, as I'm sure that your camera will do it TenebrousNova and upload it to YouTube.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 22, 2018 11:44:09 GMT
I might consider making a video at a later date.
The colony seems to have mostly settled in the nest they've dug in the outworld and the test tubes are mostly buried and full of sand at this point. There's a group of workers eating a locust I gave them and it'll be a while until they've finished it. I'd rather not disturb them until then, because the moment you open the lid a seething horde of angry workers will come running out of the nest.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 26, 2018 13:40:53 GMT
Today, I've found one of the Carebara queens in the tubing to the formicarium! You can see her face in this photo: I'm hoping she doesn't change her mind, so I'm keeping the nest and tubing covered up for now. I believe they've been laying more eggs and I did catch a glimpse of what I think was a major pupa yesterday.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 2, 2018 14:39:50 GMT
The queens are still staying at the far end of the tube. For some reason the colony prefers to live inside that than to go all the way into the formicarium. Perhaps they feel it's too spacious for them at the moment? I can see that the brood pile has grown a little and I can definitely see some larger larvae. Here's the workers attacking a juicy fly I caught for them.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 7, 2018 23:31:24 GMT
Not the best photos, but one of the queens has finally moved into the formicarium. I can't see the other right now but she's not in their outworld nest, so perhaps she's still hiding in the tubing. They've brought some sand into the formicarium to make themselves more comfortable. I can see two masses of eggs at the moment. Here's a peek of their chambers in the outworld. They're eating a cricket in that photo.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 9, 2018 16:30:03 GMT
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 10, 2018 13:52:23 GMT
Here's one of the queens with her growing pile of larvae. Again, sorry about the condensation. I was only able to photograph the other queen's gaster since she's still shy. I'm assuming those white objects are larvae ready to pupate?
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 13, 2018 13:43:27 GMT
Yesterday I managed to get a photo of a major larva, which I'm pleased to see. Each Carebara queen needs over a hundred workers just to keep her fed, probably due to the size disparity between her and her minor daughters. I suspect the majors play an important role in stockpiling food and helping to feed the queens. There's only several of the smallest major caste in the colony and they rarely venture out of the nest, so it'll be nice to see more of them. Perhaps even some super majors later, the largest of which can closely rival the queens in size. Yesterday the more shy of the two queens had moved back into their excavation in the outworld, but by the evening had gone back in again. This time, curiously, she was sat next to the other queen. That's the first time I've seen them doing that. I guess sometimes they prefer to have their own space? My own forming theory is that since these colonies can have up to 16 queens, they normally live in satellite colonies apart from each other. Or perhaps I'm just reading too much into their behaviour so far and it's merely coincidence they haven't spent time together until now. If anyone has possible answers, I'd be delighted to hear them! Just above the bottom queen's head you can also see a big ball of eggs:
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 23, 2018 12:39:24 GMT
I had a small die off of workers because I forgot to top up the humidity in the nest a few days ago- a slip up I'm determined not to make again. There's still loads of workers though and there will be many more if the brood pile is anything to go by. Here's one of the queens, you can see a major larva above her and a major pupa below. And this time with her sister in the photo:
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 9, 2018 15:13:42 GMT
Unfortunately, one of the two queens has died. I have no idea if the others turned on her or if she was simply ill. There was also another die off of workers, I really hope they can recover. I think a soil tank would've been far better for them but after the mite incident with my last colony, I was too afraid to risk it again...
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 21, 2018 1:54:02 GMT
I'm very sorry to report that the remaining queen has died and few workers are remaining, which brings this journal to a close. I think I was right before and that trying to keep this species in that particular formicarium was a bad idea considering they didn't live nearly as long as the colony I kept in a soil set up, which retained humidity better. I made a dumb mistake and paid for it.
On a reflective note, Carebara diversa has definitely been one of the most fascinating species I've had the fortune to try keeping and a joy to observe. Perhaps one day in the future when I'm better prepared, I will try again. Who knows, maybe somebody else will see this journal and think about giving them a try?
|
|
|
Post by Wood~Ant on Nov 21, 2018 8:41:43 GMT
Sorry to hear that sad news. I would recommend using the formicarium you bought for less exotic ants such as Camponotus species or something similar which is easier. I have only ever seen Carebara do well in big soil based tanks. A lot of ant keeping is learning by experience, and what some keepers find easy to keep, others fail with. I have found this over the years I've kept ants, and have found that ants I thought would be easy turned out a failure, while the ants I believed would be difficult turned out to be easier and thrive in captivity. So never give up hope, and perhaps try again later. You might find the formicarium is better for keeping a species like Camponotus habereri, as my colony has been great for keeping in acrylic nests.
|
|