sampinky
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 38
I Like: Marine Biology
Likes: 39
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Post by sampinky on Nov 29, 2014 17:00:36 GMT
On Sunday last week I ordered a colony of Myrmica rubra from Ant Dealer but was not there yesterday to sign for them. Ended up collecting them from the post office this morning so have spent the afternoon sorting out their formicarium.
I ordered a colony of 40-50 workers and 1 queen and have received about 60 workers and a large, healthy looking queen. All were alive after spending the week in the post so am very pleased. Until I buy a Y-tong nest I will be keeping them in a 30/20/20cm glass container I bought from Antstore about 3 years ago. I removed all the soil from this and have placed the test tube in with a cover over it.
As soon as I removed the cotton from the test tube at least 20 ants ran out to investigate. Having explored for about 20 minutes most went back to the tube. I then fed them with a small pool of honey water. They loved this and have now drank it all. I've just fed them an Earthworm I found in my garden and later boiled. So far, despite having noticed it the ants do not seem interested. I had heard that ants rarely eat them but for now I will leave it and hope they change their minds. Please post any comments to my journal on its comments page. Hopefully I am able to upload a few pictures later.
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sampinky
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 38
I Like: Marine Biology
Likes: 39
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Post by sampinky on Dec 1, 2014 22:42:41 GMT
Have been trying various foods over the past few days. So far I've given them: honey water, a woodlouse, two spiders, cake crumbs, apple and small pieces of processed meat. They like honey water and have drank all that I've given them but completely ignored the woodlouse and the first spider. They did enjoy the apple and cake crumbs but I am worrying that they are not getting enough protein for their larvae. Speaking of which after closer examination of the test tube I can see they have at least 40! However they are very difficult to see as the workers are constantly swarming over them. While every time I have checked there have been at least 5 workers foraging most of the colony seems to be in semi-hibernation and most appear to be sleeping whenever I look in the test tube. If I look for too long they do wake up and start rushing around in an aggressive way so definitely not dead! The test tube does not seem to be big enough for them as about 20 workers have chosen to nest outside the tube in two of the corners. Is this due to a lack of space or do they feel threatened enough to build a kind of outpost? Whatever this means I don't think it will last as I have ordered a formicarium from Willow which will hopefully be ready within a few weeks. I hope they don't hibernate completely before then!
Sorry for the poor photos I had to use my phone.
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sampinky
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 38
I Like: Marine Biology
Likes: 39
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Post by sampinky on Dec 7, 2014 22:38:57 GMT
Just a quick update. The colony is doing well and have been eating non stop. They seem to have a love for apple so I always put some in every morning. I've also fed them some small spiders and flies which they seem to enjoy, and always take them into the test tube to presumably feed to the larvae. I don't think I will hibernate them at all this year as they seem very active and I'm unsure of whether they would all survive. The room they are kept in is fairly warm so hopefully all the brood they have will develop. They seem very active these past few days with about 10 workers outside the test tube at a time. I expect that they are looking for a new home as the test tube is quite cramped but hopefully I should have my new Ytong from Willow soon enough
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sampinky
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 38
I Like: Marine Biology
Likes: 39
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Post by sampinky on Dec 20, 2014 22:53:14 GMT
With Christmas nearly here the colony had slowed down considerably. That is, until Wednesday when my new formicarium arrived. After hydrating the nest and applying the anti-escape solution I moved the test tube into the foraging area. The ants then had about 20 workers exploring for the first three hours during which they scouted every millimetre of their new home.
They then proceeded to largely cease activity but, as I left the test tube uncovered there were still workers milling about. On Friday I arrived home early so went to check on them and found several ants carrying larvae into the Ytong. I had a quick peek in and saw that during the morning they had moved about 15 larvae into the lower chambers. They continued the gradual move all evening and had eventually transferred all the larvae from the tube (about 40). I have not seen any eggs but that is normal for this time of year. Anyway the queen and the rest of the workers moved overnight and in the morning I was able to remove the test tube. I prefer to keep the chambers covered but from what I've seen the colony is much larger than it appeared in the test tube.
Most of the ants have moved into the lower chambers but there are at least ten at the entrance to the nest and a further ten in the tubing which connects the formicarium to the feeding area. Sorry for the lack of photos. I intend to upload some after Christmas.
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sampinky
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 38
I Like: Marine Biology
Likes: 39
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Post by sampinky on Dec 26, 2014 22:51:24 GMT
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sampinky
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 38
I Like: Marine Biology
Likes: 39
|
Post by sampinky on Dec 30, 2014 16:29:29 GMT
The Queen really must love me. I woke up today to find several workers carrying small clumps of eggs. I really hope these hatch and don't get eaten. Must have been that fly they had last week. During the day there is little to no activity outside the nest as it is quite cold in my bedroom. However, I got up during the night to find a large group of workers in the feeding area drinking honey water and carrying cake crumbs back to the nest. Really pleased with how well these girls have settled in. I hope to upload some pictures of the egg clumps later.
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sampinky
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 38
I Like: Marine Biology
Likes: 39
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Post by sampinky on Dec 31, 2014 13:01:40 GMT
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sampinky
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 38
I Like: Marine Biology
Likes: 39
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Post by sampinky on Jan 7, 2015 21:05:46 GMT
Some new developments, firstly the colony has been taking in lots of protein this past week. I've been feeding them died mealworms (I soak them in hot water first) and several houseflies. These are all accepted well and the larvae have grown notably larger and fatter. Still no pupae however which I suppose can be attributed to the time of year. Secondly the queen has been laying eggs copiously and the egg masses have grown in size yet again. Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the queen with, (I assume) a freshly laid egg in her jaws. I managed to snap a couple of pictures before she disappeared into the workers. Thirdly, there has been a notable increase in activity during the day with several workers outside the nest at any given time. The days have been slightly warmer over here so that is probably why. Hope all this activity leads to a population increase in the spring! Finally there have been some odd behaviors present. Over the past three days many ants have been wandering outside the nest with larvae in their jaws. They seem to simply run aimlessly with them and I have even seen one left for a full night in the same place, then collected again in the morning. As I speak there are four larvae outside the nest, some with carriers, others left alone. Are these larvae diseased? Or do the ants feel insecure in their nest (I peek in fairly often)? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section on why they are doing this and if there is anything I can do. Here is an egg mass: A worker dragging a fly:
And the queen with her egg:
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sampinky
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 38
I Like: Marine Biology
Likes: 39
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Post by sampinky on Feb 1, 2015 12:07:43 GMT
Been a while since my last update due to the fact that nothing major has happened. There is still a large clump of eggs in the nest, among the numerous larvae but none of the brood appear to be developing really. I've been feeding them dried mealworms every few days but they do not seem particularly interested. This is probably due to the cold weather we have experienced these past few weeks. The queen looks healthy and is fairly active in the nest so nothing really to worry about at the moment.
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sampinky
Honey Pot Ant
Posts: 38
I Like: Marine Biology
Likes: 39
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Post by sampinky on Feb 23, 2015 22:28:29 GMT
Just wanted to let everybody know that the Queen has been laying eggs like mad over the past few months, and even though none developed the masses grew substantially. Now it seems the eggs have begun to hatch! I'd never actually seen larvae in their earliest stages and was surprised by the shape. Anyway really looking forward to the next few months and hopefully we will make up the losses we experienced over the winter, as new ants develop. I promise I will upload pictures of the new larvae as soon as possible and hopefully some time next month the over-wintered brood will pupate.
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