Quah
Ant Photographer
Outstanding Ant Photographer
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Country: Malaysia
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Post by Quah on Dec 7, 2009 5:27:51 GMT
The temperature here is usually in the high 80s and low 90s fahenheit (30 to 32 celsius). It seldom dip below 80 (30 deg. celsius) even on rainy and cold days. I recently came across another Pheidologeton species and have upload the photos of the alate gyne and male into my blog sites (bottom of the page) at termitesandants.blogspot.com/2009/09/asia-army-ants-pheidologetons.htmlThis species is much smaller than Pheidologeton diversus but the gyne is about the same length because it has the longest and largest gaster of the all Pheidologoten species that I have encountered so far.
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Quah
Ant Photographer
Outstanding Ant Photographer
Posts: 226
Country: Malaysia
Likes: 10
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Post by Quah on Dec 7, 2009 5:29:13 GMT
Here is the Pheidologeton nest in three 2" by 3/4" by 1/2" containers before I move them into a much bigger container.
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Quah
Ant Photographer
Outstanding Ant Photographer
Posts: 226
Country: Malaysia
Likes: 10
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Post by Quah on Dec 7, 2009 5:30:31 GMT
One of the nest's containers packed to the brim with brood.
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Quah
Ant Photographer
Outstanding Ant Photographer
Posts: 226
Country: Malaysia
Likes: 10
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Post by Quah on Dec 7, 2009 5:31:03 GMT
The new containter full view.
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Quah
Ant Photographer
Outstanding Ant Photographer
Posts: 226
Country: Malaysia
Likes: 10
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Post by Quah on Dec 7, 2009 5:31:49 GMT
The nest viewed from one corner.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Dec 7, 2009 9:30:06 GMT
The new containter full view. Is the yellow stuff just a bit of sponge for moisture, or does it have another function?
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Quah
Ant Photographer
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Posts: 226
Country: Malaysia
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Post by Quah on Dec 8, 2009 13:13:33 GMT
Just a sponge to maintain moisture.
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Quah
Ant Photographer
Outstanding Ant Photographer
Posts: 226
Country: Malaysia
Likes: 10
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Post by Quah on Dec 28, 2009 2:37:00 GMT
This nest has undergone so many unexpected turn of events that it no longer serves as a good tracking record of how long it normally takes for this species to reach nest maturity (release of alates) so I will stop updating this nest and will probably start a new journal on this species with a brand new gyne.
The last set back was the poisoned termites incident. The effect of that lasted until today with many workers failing to survive eclosion in the affected nests. This demonstrated the effectiveness of poison bating as a measure of pest control.
Not sure if any one here have watched the National Geographic episode on the supercolonies of the yellow crazy ant in the Christmas islands, how these ants were decimating the red land crabs population there. Poison baiting successful checked that.
Many common pest ants like Pharoah, Pheidole and Ghost ants which used to be an endemic problem in tropical countries like Malaysia were successfully controlled with poison baiting. It is a fairly cheap solution and highly effective but there are naturally adversed collateral damages. The slow acting poison kills off entire nest whereas chemical spraying mostly affected the foragers leaving the nest to revive once the poison fades. They are particularly effective against social insects as these have what can be termed a 'communal' stomach.
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Post by tyrael on Feb 20, 2010 18:20:33 GMT
I will soon have my own Pheidologeton diversus colony. Is it advisable to put them into a nest of sand/loam? This way they can make their own nest.
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Quah
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Post by Quah on Feb 22, 2010 1:15:11 GMT
Loam would be OK. Here the soil are more often clay and laterite. Pheidologeton are industrious diggers and nest builders I will soon have my own Pheidologeton diversus colony. Is it advisable to put them into a nest of sand/loam? This way they can make their own nest.
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Quah
Ant Photographer
Outstanding Ant Photographer
Posts: 226
Country: Malaysia
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Post by Quah on Jun 11, 2010 1:24:07 GMT
Started a new colony 25 days ago from a dealated gyne. At exactly 24 days 2 workers eclosed.
I hope I will be able to maintain this nest as due to my hectic life (6 to 7 days working starting from 5:30am waking up to 7:30pm reaching home), I barely had time to hunt down enough food for this numerically volumous species. My termite colony use to be able to supply most of the insect feed some nests required but not with a Pheidologeton colony.
Considering whether I should start breeding crickets,
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Quah
Ant Photographer
Outstanding Ant Photographer
Posts: 226
Country: Malaysia
Likes: 10
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Post by Quah on Jun 14, 2010 0:00:31 GMT
The nest now have 15 workers (all minor) and three of these have started foraging for food.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jun 14, 2010 15:30:34 GMT
My apologies for posting on your journal, but I am currently reading about these ants in Mark Moffett's new book Adventures Among Ants which has some great photos and is very interesting to read. He nicknamed them "Marauding Ants" and their hunting tactics are incredible, as he says they mass attack and bite prey to death because they don't have a sting
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Quah
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Posts: 226
Country: Malaysia
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Post by Quah on Jun 15, 2010 1:23:33 GMT
Hi Wood, yes they have a few common names given by various entomologist over the years from marauding ants, harvesting ants to asian army ants. Because of their numbers they can tackle prey many times larger than the tiny minor workers who form the main thrust of any attack. These minor workers while they do forage individually also form 'hunting parties' together with the majors. They seem to be able to synchronise these group forays by some unseen signals (possibly by some scent communication). Their main targets are relatively slow moving prey such as earthworms, caterpillars, small snails, spiders, etc. Because of the size of the colony which can number a few hundred thousands they have a verocious appetite. Though it is true that they do not have a sting, they have a slightly poisonous bite which I suspect is secreted by a gland in their mandibles. Though quite mild they are nontheless able to subdue their prey due to the total volume contributed primary from their numbers. Attached is the photo (not very clear) of my latest nest (at 28 days) in a cheap disposable plastic container. I resorted to using this material as I ran out of the normal transparent ones due to the number of alates I collected the pevious month. Attachments:
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Quah
Ant Photographer
Outstanding Ant Photographer
Posts: 226
Country: Malaysia
Likes: 10
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Post by Quah on Jun 16, 2010 1:18:33 GMT
The nest has slightly over 20 workers now. I opened the lid to feed them last night and immediately one of the workers climb on to my hand and bit me.
Most ants when the nest is new are quite timid and will usually not attack unless you expose the brood but not Pheidologeton. I was no where near the brood but just opening the lid and I got bitten by this very tiny minor worker.
It is getting harder to count them as the numbers increase and they are constantly moving.
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