|
Post by adamjames20 on Sept 2, 2013 16:04:10 GMT
Sounds good ,think will make s shelving unit and add even more larger spheres on : )
|
|
Deleted
Hibernating
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2013 11:03:05 GMT
Brilliant update! By any chance have you seen more soldiers in the queen's sphere?
|
|
|
Post by adamjames20 on Sept 5, 2013 7:34:25 GMT
I have seen more hanging around the queen sphere : )
|
|
Deleted
Hibernating
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2013 14:47:29 GMT
Oh that's interesting.
|
|
|
Post by adamjames20 on Sept 16, 2013 7:57:46 GMT
Hey up guys , I thought id do a small update due to a few changes I have done with my Attas and a unusual event has taken place in the colony. My colony are doing great, Nine fungus gardens are being tended, These are packed with brood of various stages which is always a pleasure to see. During a change of leaves I noticed a couple of dead soldiers in the trash pile, This wasn't alarming by itself as ants do die of there age. Later that day I was observing the gardens when I noticed a small pile of workers gathered around a major soldier , it became obvious they were biting and eventually the soldier was killed. This has happened to all my major soldiers . There were only a handful of major soldiers in this colony but now there are none. All were dismembered and dumped on the garbage heap. There are now a few fresh new major soldiers emerging but it is amazing to see these look even larger then the previous. I will have to enquire or do some researching as other then killing of these larger casts the colony is doing great : ) The second thing I noticed about my colony was the temperature around the spheres, Summer is well and truly over in the uk and cold weather is beginning to sweep in, early Saturday morning the temperature around the spheres dropped to 17c , the central heating soon warmed the room back up but that would not do. It was time to get my ants back into a heat box. Adding heat cable Fans to circulate air screwed in place Shelf to hold spheres fitted Acrylic lid and light supports put in place. Fungus gardens moved into new spheres , gardens now lined up and warmed to 26-27 c with plenty room for expansion Well thats if for now folks , will get a video up in the next update. Adam
|
|
|
Post by Black Ant on Sept 16, 2013 8:13:59 GMT
Maybe the colony feels so safe it doesn't need to keep the soldiers? Weird to say the least, but nice to know the extra warmth will keep your colony going strong Adam.
|
|
|
Post by adamjames20 on Sept 16, 2013 11:19:31 GMT
Cheers mate , Spoke to the supplier who I got my ants off , He said they killed of the soldiers because they were expendable and the colony may of been running low on fungus to eat. This happens a lot sometimes when the colony isn't quite ready for these larger cast members.
|
|
|
Post by Jonzii on Sept 16, 2013 16:27:30 GMT
Thanks for the update Adam, glad to see them still doing well. I guess it makes sense for them to get rid of the soldiers as they would be a large drain on the resources, and if they feel safe then they don't need to keep them around.
The harsh reality of nature I suppose.
|
|
|
Post by Joona on Sept 16, 2013 17:35:55 GMT
That looks great mate! Can I just ask where do the ants dump there rubbish and how did you get the spheres to stay on the wood?
Do the soldiers fight back or just accept there fate?
|
|
|
Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 16, 2013 18:45:41 GMT
Evidently the way the colony uses population control for unwanted surplus ants I guess.
|
|
|
Post by adamjames20 on Sept 18, 2013 6:24:23 GMT
The soldiers didn't fight back from what I saw , just accepted there fate , Hey up Joona , the spheres sit on the wood by balancing, there are two small tubes glued either side of every other sphere to keep the line upright and sitting properly. The dump area is next to the feeding area , currently its a wooden platform and the dump is a petri dish with the rubbish placed in it , the ants found this and now add there own rubbish here , will get some pics this week of it mate .
|
|
|
Post by Joona on Oct 10, 2013 19:10:10 GMT
Hi Adam, can I ask just how you took the pictures on your Iphone, I ordered a lense kit but I still cannot get my pics as crystal as yours! Could you link the kit you brought? Mine was only £10, it does make the pics sharper but nothing like yours.
|
|
|
Post by adamjames20 on Oct 11, 2013 6:14:24 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Joona on Oct 11, 2013 9:08:27 GMT
I must be too far away as its the same kit lol, I'll have a play later.
|
|
|
Post by adamjames20 on Nov 13, 2013 10:49:59 GMT
Hello Guys , its been awhile and you will have to forgive my lack of updating as I have been really busy with work , other pets etc due to the weather.
Here's a Quick update on my leaf cutters , sorry no pictures or a video will get some taken in the next few weeks and do a proper update then
The colony is doing exceptionally well , too well in fact as leaves are being consumed at a increasing rate. I stocked up on willow leaves and hawthorn and bagged these all up in time for autumn and the falling of the leaves. The colony so far is still growing in size. The queen is healthy and I see her most days either sitting on top or to the side of the fungus that's in the sphere she resides in.
I have a lot of privet available thanks to my friendly neighbours in the village that use the privet as there hedging but this lasts me a few days until the ants get bored and a swop is needed. Quickly my frozen stock of willow and hawthorn is going down. I may have underestimated the amount I needed.
The colony has another fungus garden that at the moment is taken priority of the rest , it always gets the first leaves and as a result is growing quickly. I have had a few problems with excess condensation which has meant water build up in the connected tubes which has made movement between each sphere hard on the ants. I am going to be working on a solution to this over the coming weeks and think I slight change in design is in order.
I increased the temperature a little in my set up to combat the problem and this worked but as soon as temperature dropped outside the set up so did the temperature around the spheres and this was enough the cause a build up of water again which is over come by cleaning out the tubes. My colony isn't so small anymore and has a healthy amount of major soldiers so would very much like to avoid this process again
Will keep you posted and hope all your colonies are doing great this time of year
Adam
|
|