Miles' Myrmecocystus Journal (Picture Heavy)
Aug 28, 2014 18:05:53 GMT
Jenny, Wood~Ant, and 4 more like this
Post by Miles on Aug 28, 2014 18:05:53 GMT
Foreword: Please post all comments pertaining to my journal here. I prefer not to use a separate board. As I keep 35 (at the time of writing this) ant species, I do not have a journal for them all. I will be featuring those colonies that I believe the community will find the most interest in.
Do not hesitate to ask questions! I will be happy to answer them. Thank you for reading!
Miles' Myrmecocystus Journal
This journal will detail the life of three Myrmecocytus (otherwise known as honey-pot ants) colonies. The first being Myrmecocystus mexicanus, a colony collected by Dr. Michele Lanan and I out in the flat desert of Portal, Arizona. This occurred as I was a student at the American Museum of Natural History's "Ants of the Southwest" course.
Michele and I located this colony just a few minutes after the group arrived on location and set up our black light. We were walking and saw a small dome nest in the sandy soil. Upon closer inspection, we found what we thought must have been an incipient or second year colony of Myrmecocystus mexicanus, judging from the size of the workers and dome. After an hour or so of anting where Michele found a Myrmecocystus mexicanus dealate queen (I found none - this queen later escaped in the lab when Michele forgot to put the top back on the tube), I was ready to get me some Myrmecocystus. Michele agreed to help me, having interest herself in dissecting the nest of such a small colony.
We set to work, and carved a square around the nest entrance. We excavated down approximately 8 inches in depth, creating a sort of moat around the entrance. We then used our trowels to begin to slice away at the remaining square, until we located the tunnel, which we followed downwards. We reached a handful of chambers, eventually excavating about 18 inches. Unfortunately there were four replete casualties. We quickly learned just how delicate these ants are, having ruptured their abdomens.
The queen was sighted one chamber above her actual collection. Seeing her was a major morale boost, and got my blood pumping. A very exciting moment, indeed. Upon reaching the final chamber, we found more repletes, with a grand colony total of 6. I gave Michele the two intact repletes for gut dissection and analysis. This left me with a colony consisting of one queen, about 50 workers, and approximately 50 cocoons. Note that there was only one larvae found. The night after collection, the colony had a large ball of newly laid eggs. I was able to see the queen lay on half-a-dozen different occasions.
The colony made the trip home with me in a tupperware with a plaster floor and a tube of water (secured to the plaster) with a tight cotton bung. The container was stuffed with tissue paper so that the ants would not be bounced around in-flight.
This colony is now residing in a temporary plaster nest that I made. They have access to a Tar Heel Ants foraging area and have been fed honey, sugar-water, and mealworms. Two repletes have developed since I moved the colony into the nest.
Status as of August 28:
1 queen
2 repletes
75 workers
17 pupae
9 larvae
20-30 eggs
Below are images of this colony in chronological order. Those ants in tubes were in the process of moving into the new formicarium.
The two other colonies this journal will include will be what becomes of two Myrmecocystus queens (not M. mexicanus - smaller, more orange in color) that were collected on the salt flats near Willcox, AZ. New founding chambers were marked by newly excavated soil on the flat surface. I collected about half a dozen of these queens, but gave away all but two (to my slight dissatisfaction). During this time, I also collected a Pogonomyrmex barbatus queen.
Below are images of one of these unidentified Myrmecocystus queens and her eggs.
Do not hesitate to ask questions! I will be happy to answer them. Thank you for reading!
Miles' Myrmecocystus Journal
This journal will detail the life of three Myrmecocytus (otherwise known as honey-pot ants) colonies. The first being Myrmecocystus mexicanus, a colony collected by Dr. Michele Lanan and I out in the flat desert of Portal, Arizona. This occurred as I was a student at the American Museum of Natural History's "Ants of the Southwest" course.
Michele and I located this colony just a few minutes after the group arrived on location and set up our black light. We were walking and saw a small dome nest in the sandy soil. Upon closer inspection, we found what we thought must have been an incipient or second year colony of Myrmecocystus mexicanus, judging from the size of the workers and dome. After an hour or so of anting where Michele found a Myrmecocystus mexicanus dealate queen (I found none - this queen later escaped in the lab when Michele forgot to put the top back on the tube), I was ready to get me some Myrmecocystus. Michele agreed to help me, having interest herself in dissecting the nest of such a small colony.
We set to work, and carved a square around the nest entrance. We excavated down approximately 8 inches in depth, creating a sort of moat around the entrance. We then used our trowels to begin to slice away at the remaining square, until we located the tunnel, which we followed downwards. We reached a handful of chambers, eventually excavating about 18 inches. Unfortunately there were four replete casualties. We quickly learned just how delicate these ants are, having ruptured their abdomens.
The queen was sighted one chamber above her actual collection. Seeing her was a major morale boost, and got my blood pumping. A very exciting moment, indeed. Upon reaching the final chamber, we found more repletes, with a grand colony total of 6. I gave Michele the two intact repletes for gut dissection and analysis. This left me with a colony consisting of one queen, about 50 workers, and approximately 50 cocoons. Note that there was only one larvae found. The night after collection, the colony had a large ball of newly laid eggs. I was able to see the queen lay on half-a-dozen different occasions.
The colony made the trip home with me in a tupperware with a plaster floor and a tube of water (secured to the plaster) with a tight cotton bung. The container was stuffed with tissue paper so that the ants would not be bounced around in-flight.
This colony is now residing in a temporary plaster nest that I made. They have access to a Tar Heel Ants foraging area and have been fed honey, sugar-water, and mealworms. Two repletes have developed since I moved the colony into the nest.
Status as of August 28:
1 queen
2 repletes
75 workers
17 pupae
9 larvae
20-30 eggs
Below are images of this colony in chronological order. Those ants in tubes were in the process of moving into the new formicarium.
_____________________________________
The two other colonies this journal will include will be what becomes of two Myrmecocystus queens (not M. mexicanus - smaller, more orange in color) that were collected on the salt flats near Willcox, AZ. New founding chambers were marked by newly excavated soil on the flat surface. I collected about half a dozen of these queens, but gave away all but two (to my slight dissatisfaction). During this time, I also collected a Pogonomyrmex barbatus queen.
Below are images of one of these unidentified Myrmecocystus queens and her eggs.
