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Post by Ant on Sept 20, 2007 19:24:20 GMT
This journal will be about my tetramorium. Any one may reply to this journal at any time.
6/25/07: I have caught a lot of tetramorium this year and I am going to try and experiment a little. I have 2 tubes of 1 queen each, one boosted, I have 2 tubes of 2 queens each, one boosted, and I have 2 tubes with 3 queens each, one boosted. I am going to keep there progress on here to see which will be the healthiest colony of the six.
6/27/07: I woke up to see 2 workers in both the doubled boosted and the triple boosted. The single boosted only has pupae and none of them had laid eggs. All of the other non-boosted queens had eggs. I will not be able to update until July 5 as I will be in Florida.
7:14pm: I check again and the single boosted and she had a worker, and the other boosted one had 3.
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Post by Ant on Oct 14, 2007 16:37:04 GMT
I don't know how to mark my journal as updated, would it be ok to just post "new update" every time I update it?
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Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 14, 2007 16:49:02 GMT
I don't know how to mark my journal as updated, would it be ok to just post "new update" every time I update it? You could always underline the word or date like this  Sunday 14th October or Updated TodayJust use the tag and insert what you want others to read  |
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Post by Ant on Oct 14, 2007 16:52:52 GMT
does editing mark forums new? I thought it didn't because I didn't notice it moving to the top of the list.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 14, 2007 16:56:20 GMT
does editing mark forums new? I thought it didn't because I didn't notice it moving to the top of the list. When you add a new post, it updates the thread by adding a "New" marker for other members, so the answer is YES; but it will not move above a staff post which has been stickied. Make a new post instead of editing the old one if you want to make it show up |
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Post by Ant on Oct 14, 2007 18:54:58 GMT
ok
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Post by Ant on Oct 21, 2007 2:43:07 GMT
7/6/07: All queens survived. The triple and double non-boosted queens look like they have some small larvae and a lot of eggs. The single a small pile of eggs. The boosted queens all have about ten or so workers caring for the remaining of boosted brood and a large pile of eggs.
7/13/07: All the boosted have a steady number of workers and the boosted with 2 queens has the most larvae and 3 queens is in second. The non-boosted queens all have larvae and the 3 queens have the most brood, the 2 queens and in second, and the single queens in last. All colonies/queens have last in-star larvae.
7/21/07: I believe all tubes have pupae now laid by the queens but in is hard to tell if they are big larvae or not. It seems the amount of brood is determined by the groups amount of queens.
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Post by Ant on Oct 21, 2007 2:44:07 GMT
9/20/07: This journal will now only focus on the most successful colony, the boosted 2 queens. The colony only has one queen left and I have boosted them a total of 3 times so far and they are adjusted to light. I have moved them to a dirt set up, one of those plastic beverage holders. sense they are now fine in shade they have placed the pupae on the side of the container so I can see them! the queen is hidden now but, she is laying eggs as a worker walk be with a bundle. I guess the population at 1 queen, 100 workers of many sizes and twice as many brood. I am seeing allot of callows below ground to. They have also dug across the bin to the other side and placed a second brood chamber there as well! I gave one colony to my life science teacher as well. Any advice on keeping them happy? The back brood chamber.  Front of the nest.  Front brood chamber, they don't care about light any more after their life in an uncovered tube in a shady room.  The whole set up.  The top.  9/23/07: The pupae number has steadily dropped and the larva are growing to descent sizes. There is always 5-6 workers coming in and out on warm days. 9/27/07: The colony is growing and now there is always 9 or so workers out and about, about 4 digging out the nest and the rest are looking for food. Any one know how often I should add water? I am going to add water today. I have a lamp that seems to keep the entire set up warmer then the rest of my room so I am going to keep that on as long as I can each day so they don't freeze this winter. |
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Post by Ant on Oct 21, 2007 2:44:33 GMT
10/4/07: The colony has finally made a chamber visible at the bottom of the tank. They will take any kind of protein except spiders. The meal worms are working great and there are always about 19-25 ants on only half of one. The colony is now about 150 ants or more, I am extremely happy with them!
10/14/07:I believe the population has grown to about 180 after the last of the boosted pupae enclosed. They are still foraging great and stopped digging. They dug all over the tank with the inner chambers holding the queen. They have five entrances across the set up. This has been the most successful colony I have ever had. Also I have noticed only 5 workers died this year, is that common or just only a first year thing because there were no old workers in the nest.
10/20/07: I felt bad when I looked down to see what looked like a thorax from the queen. I picked it up and wiped the dirt away, I was relieved to find it was the head of a super worm the colony ate. I feed them an entire super worm today and there was about 80 workers on it. It is looking like they won't have a problem making it thourgh the winter with all the workers they have.
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Post by Ant on Nov 2, 2007 19:03:26 GMT
11/2/07: The colony has slowed down and are not so active anymore. I only see them eating a bit of food or in the tunnels. I think they are going to hibernate anyway this year. My other colonies are still foraging for food so at least I have something to look at.  |
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Post by Ant on Feb 16, 2008 3:13:53 GMT
2/15/08: Today, I saw 4 or 5 workers out and about, but because me not being able to keep the set up wet I will try and covince them to move into a test tube.
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