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Post by Kyle on Jan 29, 2009 22:59:46 GMT
Acromyrmex octospinosus I will be using a mix of soils 1peat and 2 loam (1:2) and will be keeping them at 26oC as advised. Humidity will be at about 60-80% by spraying daily. 29.1.09 ants arrived yesterday (28.1.09) with about 100-150 workers and 2 very nice looking queens with fungus about twice the size of a golf ball. for now I will just let them get used to there surroundings etc etc. They have already dug a chamber about the size of my little finger. 29.1.09 They have moved a lot of the fungus into the chamber that they have been digging which has both queens in. The queens of this species make a quite chirp like a cricket just not as loud which seems to make near by workers rush over to them and begin cleaning them. So far out of the leaves that I have given Daffodils seem to be there favorite as well as mash potato flakes by the way as a picture say a million words I will try to post as many as possible discussion thread: please post anything that you wish to say here queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=3621Thanks
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Post by Kyle on Jan 31, 2009 12:50:46 GMT
31.1.09 they seem to have got settled in now as foraging is increasing day by day. the main nest entrance. the probe is not normaly there just needed to move the lid to get the pic again the main nest entrance with the fungus and both queens in. The chambers again behind the thermostat both the queens have been seen in the chamber on the left but I'm not sure if they are joined yet (the chambers)
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Post by Kyle on Feb 1, 2009 19:56:25 GMT
I found some bramble today which they have not stopped cutting since I gave it to them this morning ;D worker cutting some bramble seconds later she's picked it up and starts taking it back to the nest unfortunately this worker could not get the leaf back to the next due to it being too big to get through the tube, so had to cut it in half. Its really is amazing how quickly they can move even with a leaf.
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Post by Kyle on Feb 2, 2009 22:41:31 GMT
OK as "ant" asked here are a few pictures of my set-up this is where they are nesting. the farm in front is Myrmica rubra This is where I will put the food, by the way PTFE does nothing what so ever they just walk right over it. The nest below it is Pheidole pallidule. This is just to try and give you an idea of how its set out, the small box you see above the main tank is for the rubbish (dead ants, old fungus, ant waste etc etc) which is going to plan so far And yes I know my room is a mess
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Post by Kyle on Feb 5, 2009 22:42:47 GMT
5.2.09 ok I've had these for 1 week and a day fungus garden has grown by at least 50% and eggs production has shot up ;D as well as the amount of food they are taking back to the nest. I can no longer see in to the chamber on the left due to them digging it deeper in and then putting soil against the glass. They are still going for bramble over everything else, but they have not been drinking any form of sugar/honey water, normal water they are always drinking which is always a good sign
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Post by Kyle on Feb 12, 2009 15:57:29 GMT
12.2.09 They have moved all the fungus in to the chamber on the right hand side now, so I can't see any of the fungus or in the nest, but when I was able to look there were quite a few nice sized larvae on the fungus as well as a lot of pupa ;D Also all the plants that were in there have been pulled/cut down and put on the fungus as well as most the leaves I'm putting in now. I would post pics but when I go to take them they run away.
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Post by Kyle on Feb 15, 2009 23:44:35 GMT
15.2.09 They are still very busy workers digging the nest bigger and bigger ;D the mound that I posted before is at least twice that size now, where as on the photo you can see the thermostat now you can only see a small part of it. They seem to love sugar and have been taking grains into the nest for the last 5 mins. This is just to try and give you an idea of how big they are she was on the remains of a leaf as I took it out, then a few seconds later she bit me
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Post by Kyle on Feb 23, 2009 16:39:43 GMT
23.2.09 ok just a quick update. my brother fed them yesterday when I was out but put the leaves through a paper shredder first so they were long strips of leaf. but instead of cutting the strips up into smaller bits they dragged the whole strip in one go also the amount of pupa that I can see now means that I can't see past them ;D But they have stopped taking the potato flakes now and just taking leaves
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Post by Kyle on Mar 4, 2009 23:36:39 GMT
ok just a quick update 4.3.09 after my bro's strange way of feeding them they are back to normal cutting the leaf in to segments. this is where the first chamber use to be, the one on the left is almost filled all the way up, where as the one on the right is where they are nesting. these are the best shots that I could get and yes I know I used auto focus which did not help.
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Post by Kyle on Mar 26, 2009 14:30:04 GMT
I knew I forgot about something lol and this is what it was. 26.3.09 fungus garden must be getting bigger as they are cutting ever time I look, and looking behind the tank (when cleaning) the fungus measures approx 10x6x? cm, so is going well so far . bad news is they have done exactly what I didn't want them to do, which is put there rubbish at the very bottom of the tank but as they get bigger hopefully they should move it
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Post by Kyle on Apr 7, 2009 22:43:15 GMT
Just a few mins back I found this worker with its back legs crossed over or twisted any one have any ideas? sorry not the best pic only used a phone lol
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Post by Wood~Ant on Apr 8, 2009 6:29:53 GMT
Hi Kyle, It may be the work of some internal parasite; but I am more inclined to think this deformity of her rear legs happened during the pupal stage, during her development into an adult ant She will probably get around fine using her 4 other legs, as ants often get by okay after losing limbs. I have even caught worker ants which had lost 1 or 2 legs, and they manage just as well as a cat or dog which has lost one, or even a human for that matter. My apologies for posting this on your journal, but I thought it best to place this information here
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Post by Kyle on Apr 8, 2009 11:44:59 GMT
just thinking tho, if it were a parasite there would most likely infect more than just one worker, and as shes the only one that I've seen most likely deformed, but she still doing all normal duties albeit a bit slower. by the way no problem quick update while I'm here. 8.4.09 still eating lots of rose and not a lot else at the moment, but at least they are eating as for the fruit I've given them... I don't think its even been touched.
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Post by Kyle on Apr 22, 2009 12:24:57 GMT
22.4.09 the fungus must be getting a lot bigger as there are never less the 20 workers between the nest and foraging tank. they are very sensitive to vibration tho, just the smallest tap and they all just stop dead. this was before I put the stick in it (they had trouble getting from the glass to the tube) I've been seeing some tiny mites down in the rubbish chamber, they're not going near the fungus just in the rubbish sorry about the flash on the last pic (it was taken at 03:30)
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Post by Kyle on Jun 9, 2009 14:03:57 GMT
9.6.09 a bit of bad news, my mum has chosen to re-do her garden and sprayed weed killer all over it, so I can no longer get food from her garden and the other day my heat lamp broke so the temperature dropped for just over a day. good news is my next door neighbor (not at my mums house) has moved in and they say they don't really care about there garden ;D so it will overgrow nicely. fungus is getting quite a bit bigger now, in fact it can now be seen on the other side of the tank as well, so it about 12x6x18-19cm, could be bigger in the middle where I can not see but it is certainly getting bigger.
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