[Queen Monsoon] Manica rubida

[TenebrousNova]

Earlier this week I ordered a small colony of Manica rubida from James Lovell. Until certain suppliers started stocking them very little information on them seemed to be available, although Wood's old journal on them was a nice read.

They are meant to resemble a larger Myrmica with twice the attitude and twice the sting, and should be kept in a humid environment. Once I have a soil set up prepared for them, I will mist it about twice a week.

James got back to me just past midnight and the colony should arrive today, so it'll give me something to look forward to- today happens to be the longest college day on my timetable so I won't be there when the postman comes.

Due to the very stormy weather and torrential rains that southern England has been subjected to very recently, and their preferences for humid conditions, I'm naming this colony after the winds that bring heavy rain each year.

I have read that these ladies are ferocious eaters, so feeding them should hopefully not be an issue. I will post again when they arrive, be it today or tomorrow.

[Smudge]

I knew you would get this species you will not be disapointed with them.

[TenebrousNova]

I hope so, Smudge.

They are here! There's about ten larvae, seven workers and a queen who is a lot bigger than I thought she would be. She's slightly smaller than a Messor barbarus. ;D
Included was half a mealworm for their journey, which I see the larvae are bending their heads towards.

Here they are:



They were calm and simply went along their business. Once the coast was clear I removed the cotton, then put in a drop of honey to see what they thought. I had to act quickly; two workers ran for the open end.

They seem to quite enjoy honey.



Shortly after the seventh worker started to partake of these light refreshments, the Manica queen herself came to investigate:



She enjoyed it too.



I think I love this species already. I hope that they do well.

[Wood~Ant]

Yes, the queens of this species are big girls, but if you treat these ants with the respect they deserve you won't get stung. Once they settle into their new home they will behave quite calmly, and certainly less mischievous that many other ant species that I have kept.

Jen loves their rich ruby red colour, and they do like to attack still living prey as long as you immobilize it and just leave it half alive.

[Wood~Ant]

I forgot to mention, the forum banner made by Jenant shows our Ruby Tuesday queen, which is of course a Manica rubida. ;D

[TenebrousNova]

Sept 26, 2012 18:16:57 GMT Wood~Ant said:

Yes, the queens of this species are big girls, but if you treat these ants with the respect they deserve you won't get stung. Once they settle into their new home they will behave quite calmly, and certainly less mischievous that many other ant species that I have kept.

Jen loves their rich ruby red colour, and they do like to attack still living prey as long as you immobilize it and just leave it half alive.

I have given them a small cricket to see if they would take it, and they immediately began to attack it. And Jen is right, their colour is marvelous.

Tomorrow I will see if I can get a lunchbox similar to the one my Lasius niger live in, and I'll let them out of the test tube. I look forward to seeing how they settle in.

And yes, the blood red look of your Ruby Tuesday queen is one of the things that inspired me to try this species.

Looking through the magnifying glass, the larvae of this species have quite apparent looking jaws that I could make out opening and closing. That was interesting.

[Zarbi]

The Manica queen is bigger than a Messor structor queen though, which still makes her large for a myrmicine; but nowhere near the size of an Atta queen. ;D

[TenebrousNova]

They are now beginning to settle down at the bottom of a starter tunnel made with a straw.
Neither queen or workers are panicking at the new open space. The larvae are currently being taken down to the tunnel.

The cricket has gone uneaten, I think next time I should cut it in half so that they know it's edible.

[TenebrousNova]

The larvae have all been placed on the surface. I thought that this was a problem at first, but I think it's for their own safety. The queen and workers seem to be digging.

Nurses/guards:



(Bad) photo of the queen in the middle of the tunnel:



Queen, larva and worker in the bottom chamber:



I misted them earlier, and the workers didn't even flinch. You can see the droplets on these ones.



Worker and larvae next to the hole. Also shown is the cricket I offered them last night. One of the back legs appears to be several centimeters away.

[TenebrousNova]

The starter tunnel seems to be temporary accommodation for the queen, because the workers are digging an entirely new tunnel. This one is thinner than the artificial one, and is growing quickly.

The workers also seem unable or unwilling to escape, because I haven't once seen them attempt to scale the sides.

[TenebrousNova]

This morning when I took the lid off, the queen poked her head out of the artificial tunnel (Which has expanded a bit) before emerging onto the surface. Shame I couldn't get a photo in time, she looked wonderful in the sunlight.

She warily circled a freshly killed fly that I put in, and then made for the newly constructed network of tunnels against the sides where the larvae are now hidden somewhere. With a bit of effort to squeeze in, she is now inside.

Here's a worker having a drink:



Earlier there was a worker wandering on the surface whom I fed directly. I use a small red empty (And clean) pen to apply honey for my ants, and in this case I held it steadily in front of the worker, who drank from it.
When I took it away she stayed in the same position with head up and resting on her gaster in anticipation for more. ;D

Here's one of them nibbling at the fly:



Until now, they have shown no interest in actually eating insect prey. They're tugging and biting at it at the moment:



I'm very much hoping that they'll take it, because it should be enough to advance some of the larvae to the pupa stage.

[TenebrousNova]

They didn't take it, and they haven't taken any other insect or arachnid that I've offered them.
The workers quite happily took some honey yesterday (All seven came out), but they haven't bought anything for the larvae.

The tunnel network is quite extensive and runs all the way along the side. The queen and larvae are deeper where I can't see them though.

[TenebrousNova]

Here's most of their visible tunnels. A few of them go deeper within the container, where presumably the Manica queen and her brood are living.



I tried giving them a small mosquito-like insect earlier. I can't see it anywhere on the surface, so I'll work on the assumption that they have taken it. A spider I offered them a few days ago was not taken, but appeared to be missing a few legs. Not sure if they removed them for the convenience of dragging the spider into a corner, or if they actually ate them.

The workers still seem to be healthy and active.

[TenebrousNova]

I have just succeeded in getting the colony to take two crickets, these ones are much smaller and softer than the usual ones.
They took about a minute to drag the crickets through the tunnels and further into the nest, where they will soon be served to the hungry queen and larvae.

[Wood~Ant]

I think I will have to consider trying my ants on small crickets, and perhaps freezing some, as some ants don't like to tackle live insects and dead ones go mouldy so fast. I don't know how she did it, but 1 of my rubida workers was on the outside of the tank lid yesterday, and I thought I had made it 100% escape proof with fine metal mesh?
It just goes to show you that the ingenuity of ants will find even the tiniest of holes to squeeze out through.