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Post by Asiletto on Mar 11, 2014 17:34:15 GMT
Queen found with around ten workers in January 2013 inside a gall of Populus nigra.March 2013: April 2013: July 2013: One year old, January 2014: Today (March 2014): The arena is really a mess. I've build a nice nest for them but they don't seem interested, for now they use it as a trash bin.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Mar 11, 2014 18:21:47 GMT
A really lovely colony, as I have never had any success keeping this species. What's the secret to getting a big colony of these ants?
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Post by Asiletto on Mar 11, 2014 23:05:59 GMT
My colony is still small, I've seen colonies way bigger . One friend of mine has a massive colony that produced alates after about three years. Unlike most species these ants don't like humidity. Water must be always present but the nest don't need to be humid. They like warm places, and the first year you may want to not put them in hibernation, so they can develop faster. They eat everything (I feed mine with mealworms, roaches and egg yolk) but they get really crazy for honey, which I give them diluted with water on a piece of cotton, because they die easily on pure honey. The only problem I had for now is when is time to change the nest, it seems they (my colony at least) are somewhat bound to their nest and don't move easily. With the other ants I tempt them with humidity and warmth, but with this species humidity is almost repulsive and warmth is not enough to persuade them. They are slow but stubborn, and they can dig through everything given enough time.
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Post by Black Ant on Mar 12, 2014 10:39:40 GMT
Lovely colony Are all those workers and all that brood just from 1 queen, as I didn't see any queens in the videos?
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Post by Asiletto on Mar 12, 2014 11:21:00 GMT
Yes there is only one queen, I don't know exactly where is she, probably in the covered test tube.
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