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Post by James O'Neill on Oct 19, 2013 0:18:00 GMT
I just watched the queen lay an egg - second one today! It's making the ball of eggs grow and grow. I do not however know when they will start to hatch. I hope I'm right in thinking that only a happy queen lays. It would mean I'm doing things right! Plenty of foraging from the workers and they seem to be more interested in insects than seeds at the moment.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 19, 2013 7:28:10 GMT
From my experience of keeping this ant species the eggs can take up to 3 weeks to hatch, even if kept at very warm temperatures; but usually 2 weeks is more normal, and egg laying stops as a rule in December and January. A well fed queen is a contented queen, and a contented queen will lay far more eggs at a faster rate than if she were unhappy about something. Whether ants can actually feel happy is debatable, but they do become very lethargic if things are not quite right in the colony and with their nest.
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Post by James O'Neill on Oct 21, 2013 21:23:50 GMT
Hoorah!!! The first tiny larva has hatched and is squatting among the egg ball. This was a cause for celebration. And so I gave them a piece of chicken. 4 workers are chewing it up ravenously and it can only be going towards feeding the little bundle of joy. I hope it develops nice and quickly! Very proud of my queen.
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Post by James O'Neill on Oct 21, 2013 21:47:47 GMT
There are in fact 2 new little larvae The queen is mashing up the chicken now. Excellent.
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Post by James O'Neill on Oct 21, 2013 23:08:15 GMT
Last post for today - I just saw my wonderful queen lay another egg. It's fascinating - she bends her abdomen under her body, licks the end, the egg pops out, and she takes it off and sticks it onto the egg ball. I would say I now have about 20 eggs and 2 larvae. This is fantastic - all that protein I have been giving them has worked! They have done an excellent job of chewing the chicken - much like I would expect them to do so with seeds. It's properly mashed up into a pulp - chickenantbread!
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Post by James O'Neill on Oct 25, 2013 22:06:30 GMT
The queen has laid more eggs in the last few days, though the brood ball does not seem to have gotten bigger. I suspect that the new larvae are eating them. There are about 5 tiny larvae, though the older ones are noticeably bigger by now. They are all being well looked after. I would like to show you a photo but the condensation on the tube makes it difficult to take a pic.
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Post by James O'Neill on Oct 26, 2013 22:35:15 GMT
Here's a picture from earlier - the queen had drank the condensation from the glass so I could take a picture. The 4 workers (1 missing) are very active; not actually taking food in, but clearing a lot of rubbish out into the foraging area. That said, they did take in a small fly and are eating it now. 1 usually stays by the queen at all times, nursing larvae. The oldest larva has grown quickly and is now about 2mm long, much bigger than 5 days ago when it hatched.
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Post by James O'Neill on Oct 29, 2013 22:50:07 GMT
The largest larva is now 3mm long, it is growing so quickly! The next larva is about 1mm and there are still a few tiny ones, as well as the egg ball. The workers have been busy making some antbread. For the moment they have no interest in insect prey but do like to mash up tiny bits of seed.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 30, 2013 8:22:05 GMT
My blue tank colony brood started off life by only eating Ant Bread James, made firstly by the queen and later by her workers; and if it's any encouragement they did not touch any other foods until the colony was into its second year. As you can see from my journals on this, the colony brood grew very fast into hundreds on Ant Bread alone. So I see no reason why yours should not do so.
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Post by James O'Neill on Nov 2, 2013 19:45:27 GMT
There are now about 6 or so larvae which are 1mm or larger. The largest shouldn't be too far off pupating but it was a bit to go yet. There are also still a few eggs. Since last update they have eaten a mosquito. Today the queen has gone to the entrance of the tube, waved her antennae about and gone back in. I saw her do this twice. Is this normal - just having a curious look around - or does it mean something?
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Post by James O'Neill on Nov 6, 2013 20:42:44 GMT
The first larva has become a pupa in the last half hour - the queen was been holding it in her jaws and has now let it go - I suspect it underwent the transformation in her care with her help. It is a minor pupa, and I imagine it will be just a little while until I see my first medias. So that means the larval duration has been 16 days - pretty quick if you ask me! I imagine the pupal stage will not last very long, perhaps 1-2 weeks judging on the pupa which hatched some time ago (but died as a callow) and with a considerable number of larvae now very quickly growing, this colony should be multiplying pretty fast.
I have read so many journals which end with the small colony failing and the queen dying after her workers and brood have done so. I am confident that if I keep doing what I am doing now (feeding and watching, and importantly not disturbing in any way!), this colony will be safe from disaster.
AND the queen has just laid an egg. I'm nearly reluctant to put these guys into full hibernation. I will wait until the end on November, then turn off the heating to give them a rest. Then in January, rev them up again!
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Post by Wood~Ant on Nov 6, 2013 23:36:09 GMT
If you can do, avoid making this colony go into hibernation for its first winter James. I raised all my 7 sisters colonies from single queens with no dormancy; and as you know my Q2 colony is now very large indeed and all from just a single queen who raised her brood as a good mother. A small colony does best if kept warm and active for its first winter.
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Post by James O'Neill on Nov 12, 2013 19:28:07 GMT
Thanks for the advice, Wood. I will keep the heating on then. The second larva has pupated and there another to follow shortly. The first pupa's eyes have also darkened, hopefully it will hatch soon! The rest of the larvae are growing in leaps and bounds, and have been feeding on plenty of seeds and insects. More keep hatching, and more eggs keep being laid, but not in great quantities. I suppose the eggs will be laid en masse when the colony gets a little bigger.
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Post by James O'Neill on Nov 18, 2013 18:56:08 GMT
The first pupa under my care has hatched into a callow! This brings the worker count up to 5, and with another larva pupated today (2 current pupae), this number should quickly rise. The queen has been laying eggs, the larvae have been growing fast, and plenty of food is being consumed, both insect and seeds.
So far, I have recorded that the larval stage for a minor worker took 16 days, and the pupal stage took 12 days. I hope they are all this fast.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Nov 18, 2013 19:30:44 GMT
Good to read that your colony is growing nicely. Do you have any photos of the queen or the callow ants?
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