djant's Messor Barbarus

[djant]

Thursday July 25th 2013
Today I received a small colony of Messor Barbarus from Queen Ant shop. There is the queen, 4 workers, , about 5 pupae, a few larvae and a small batch of eggs. I have fed them a small snippet of chicken, which the queen immediately started devouring. I have kept them dark since then but had a peek later on in the day, to find the chicken gone! I never thought a colony this small would eat so much.

[djant]

Friday July 26th 2013
This morning I found that a new worker was born over night! The queen has not so far laid any more eggs, but I was not expecting this to be honest. I have given them a piece of ham for variety, which they do not seem to like as much as the chicken. I will not disturb them today as darkness is probably the best thing for them right now. There are some seeds in the test tube they were supplied in but they cannot seem to crack them as they are too big. I might give them some small grass seeds tomorrow. Also, two more pupae have started to darken, which hopefully means within a few days the worker count will reach 7. The water in the test tube however is getting quite low, and part of the cotton wool is moldy so I may have to move this colony into the ytong sooner than I would have liked, which could be a problem as my foraging area I made with pva glue is still drying.

[djant]

Saturday July 27th 2013
Hungry Messors! The piece of ham I gave them, which was in itself about half the size of the queen, was gone this morning! Also, I noticed a second tiny batch of eggs, which I hope the queen had laid overnight. It is possible that they were in the tube when they arrived and I didn’t notice, but if she is laying then it is a good sign that she’s settled in and not stressed. One pupa has also darkened a lot overnight, so by the end of the weekend we may have another worker. Today I fed these ants a bit more of a variety of food. I gave them a scrap of chicken, a single linseed - as it is a small, soft seed I hope the queen will be able to crack it, and I also gave them a tiny pinch of oats. So far they have ignored the oats and the seed and gone straight for the chicken! The queen dragged it to the other end of the test tube, presumably to feed the brood. As this is more food than I would expect a colony this size to eat in one day, I will leave the ants for the rest of today and tomorrow and feed them again on Monday. Hopefully there will be another worker, or even a fresh batch of eggs. 

[Wood~Ant]

I know that both my own and Shane's Messor barbs love chicken, and if your queen has laid new eggs it is most probably the protein intake that has helped this. You are doing the right thing by not giving them liquid food (I.e. honey/sugar water) as mine thrive on a staple diet of 87% seeds and 13% meat or dead insects.

Nice journal, hope your colony does really well and grow over time like mine have. 

[djant]

Thanks a lot Woodant! I'll try to upload some pictures next week if I can borrow my sister's camera. Am I right in assuming that Messor Barbarus eat only solid food? I'm sure I read that online somewhere, and also that younger colonies require a higher proportion of protein to seeds than older ones.

[djant]

Monday July 29th 2013
Things are going well, and over the weekend 2 more workers were born, one of which is a media. There is also another pupa which is very dark, so worker number 8 could hatch at any time. The brood seems to be developing well, as there are still around 5 pupae in the colony. The ants made a good go of the chicken I gave them the other day, and most of the oats have disappeared, so I presume they enjoyed those as well. There seems to be some ant bread in the tube near the brood, which is a good sign too. The only problem is that there are no new eggs, but I am not too concerned as the colony may still be settling down. Today I fed them a single cooked grain of rice and a piece of ham. Later in the week I think I’ll buy some insects so this colony has a bit more variation in their protein intake. I am going away for a week on Saturday so I think waxworms or mealworms may be a good choice as they tend to last longer than crickets.

[djant]

Wednesday July 31st 2013
This little colony is now 9 ants stronger, with 7 pupae still remaining and 2 or 3 large larvae. There is also another batch of small larvae. The only bad news is that the queen does not seem to have laid any eggs so far, and also the colony’s food intake has decreased. I have decided to move these ants into their set up, wrapping the test tube in tin foil and putting it in their foraging area. I have placed some finch seeds and a piece of waxworm on a feeding dish for them, and at the moment two little workers are foraging around the tank. Hopefully they will find the food, but I’ll just leave them for now. I think the colony will settle down now that I won’t stressing them every time I take a peek! I will be away from home for a week from Saturday, so I will leave them well stocked up with waxworm and seeds. This will also be a good time for this colony to settle in and maybe move into the ytong without being disturbed.

[djant]

[djant]

Friday August 2nd 2013
The colony seems to be settled in well, with one little worker usually exploring, and sometimes two. They have found the ytong but have not moved yet, although as this colony is so small I expect them to do so once there’s more workers. I spotted a callow ant near the entrance of the test tube, so hopefully the colony has reached 10 workers. When I last placed a piece of waxworm in the foraging area on Wednesday, after the first worker had found it, it recruited 3 others to help. When the ants realised that they could not drag the waxworm on their own, the queen herself made an appearance and dragged the waxworm into the test tube! I had a little peek into the tube earlier today by looking through the side of the glass foraging tank. There was a white mass, which could either be a new batch of eggs or the developing larvae, either way, the brood pile seems to be growing, and there are still several pupae. I will be away for a week, so I have supplied this colony with a test tube of water and another piece of waxworm. They are also well stocked up on seeds. So far they have not found the new water supply or the food. I hope that maybe in a weeks time this colony will be a little more active, or maybe have even moved into the ytong.

[TenebrousNova]

Once your colony has about fifteen workers, it has overcome most of the hurdles that can kill off founding colonies. It sounds like they're doing well!

Your queen's behaviour sounds like my one. When I gave them their first cricket, the queen came charging out of the test tube and helped her workers to pull it over to the brood pile.
Good luck with your colony!

[djant]

Saturday August 10th 2013
While I’ve been away, I was concerned about this colony’s water situation. I decided to remove the tin foil on the test tube to encourage the colony to move into the ytong, while they are currently using as a midden. There are now 10 workers in this colony, one of which is significantly larger than the other and which may be a media. The egg pile has not increased or decreased in size, although there are more larvae now, so I’m certain the queen has been laying some eggs. There is only one pupa remaining, although several of the larvae are very big, with one I’m certain will be at least a media. The ants today have been given both waxworm and some sausage, although they definitely seem to prefer the meat. They seem to have helped themselves to the grass seeds while I’ve been away, as there are some used seeds in their midden. There was some bad news though as I found a dead worker in the foraging area. I think I might encourage this colony to move into a different test tube later with a fresh supply of water, and next week may try them with some crickets as apart from the first serving they do not seem to have touched any more waxworms.

[djant]

Tuesday August 13th 2013
Correction! Upon counting the ants in this colony yesterday I found there to be 13 workers! The brood pile has also increased, with a new batch of eggs and there are now 4-5 fat larvae and 2 pupa which I must have missed on my last viewing. As this colony does not seem to respond well to insect prey, I gave them a piece of chicken. One worker found it in minutes, and ran back excitedly to the nest. Before long, 6 other little workers dragged the chicken across the foraging area and into the test tube. I have placed another test tube wrapped in bin liner in the foraging area with fresh water inside. If the ants realise that there is a dark, secure environment nearby with fresh water, then hopefully they will move to the nest test tube.

[djant]

Monday 19th August 2013
This colony is growing well, with sixteen workers and a large pile of larvae and pupae. One of the larvae is a lot larger than the others and I’m hoping that this could be the first major. Last week the ants also managed to empty the seed dish of grass and other small, easily crackable seeds. I tried them with a cricket on Wednesday, of which they took no notice, except for removing the antennae, and there was the same response last night, when I placed two small crickets near the test tube entrance. They have shown little interest, but still respond well to chicken. Despite placing a new dark test tube with fresh water into the foraging area which I have seen several workers enter, the colony is still living in their original test tube. I am rather concerned about the water situation as the bung is now bone dry and I have not seen any of the workers drinking from the reservoir I have given them, but then again, as it is only a few cm from their test tube entrance and I only view this colony for a few minutes a day, a worker could very easily pop out for a drink anytime I’m not watching.

[Wood~Ant]

Aug 19, 2013 6:20:54 GMT djant said:

Despite placing a new dark test tube with fresh water into the foraging area which I have seen several workers enter, the colony is still living in their original test tube. I am rather concerned about the water situation as the bung is now bone dry and I have not seen any of the workers drinking from the reservoir I have given them, but then again, as it is only a few cm from their test tube entrance and I only view this colony for a few minutes a day, a worker could very easily pop out for a drink anytime I’m not watching.

I wouldn't worry about this, as I have never seen my own Messors drink very often; and when they do it is weeks before they need any more water as they just sip small amounts when I spray the tanks they live in. 

[djant]

Tuesday 27th August 2013
I’ve observed a couple of ants drinking from the test tube this last week, and they have also been much more active in their foraging, perhaps due to the fact that I’ve removed the cover of the test tube to encourage them to move. They’ve started to create little piles of cracked seeds, and the large larvae has now pupated, and is at least double the size of the minor workers. In the past week another worker has elated, although this morning I found two dead workers in the midden. I am not sure what the cause was, although I suppose it could have been old age as the workers were very tiny and could have been some of the original 4. The brood pile is usually obscured by the queen, although I can see a lot of larvae (still no large egg piles though). The ants have eaten a little spongecake over the past week but have been ignoring both meat and insects.