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Post by Thebugman on Jun 4, 2015 20:38:07 GMT
The colony is still growing, nothing much to report other than that.
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Post by Thebugman on Jun 19, 2015 20:04:31 GMT
I ought to get a few more videos of this colony up.The numbers are still increasing, not too far away from 100 now, and they will probably need a larger nest soon, which I may move them into when I get back off of my holidays, as they need more room for all of their seeds. Something strange did happen to this colony a few days ago, when they moved into their drinking tube (which they do when their nest gets too dry) I picked them up and had a look when I noticed the queen wasn't moving, so I tapped the test-tube and this stimulated the workers, but still the queen lied motionless. I began to panick and I though she was dead, I would be devastated if this colony was to die out. I breathed into the tube to see if the Carbon dioxide in my breath would stimulate them, the workers got very angry but yet the queen lied there, almost like she had being put in the fridge and got too cold, and couldn't move. At this point I was convinced she was dead for an unknown reason, but when I placed the tube back in the ants nest I saw a very upset queen charge into her nest, I had no idea why she behaved like this, perhaps a defense mechanism? Or perhaps I rudely interrupted her royal slumber. I have seen the queen since and she must be fine as there are eggs in the colony, and I doubt a sick queen would lay eggs. Hopefully the colony will continue its success.
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Post by Thebugman on Jun 28, 2015 18:16:18 GMT
This colony is becoming evermore hungry, yesterday they ate a wax moth and an adult cricket. Plenty of brood, all is well with the colony.
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Post by Thebugman on Jul 16, 2015 20:50:34 GMT
The colony has now moved into a larger nest, so now they can have more seeds, I will upload a video tomorrow of them in their new nest, and they do look rather small in there. The brood pile of this colony has decreased, I'm hoping that the queen will lay a large batch of eggs before the summer is over, I guess I will have to wait and see!
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Post by Thebugman on Jul 17, 2015 17:43:50 GMT
Here is the video of them having a peek around their new nest: The spacing between the glass and the nest is large enough for the smaller workers to squeeze through, but there is nothing of interest down there so I am hoping they will stay away from there. I also fed them some seeds and a cricket which they are happily eating.
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Post by Thebugman on Jul 22, 2015 21:22:42 GMT
I sighted some eggs in the nest yesterday, hopefully this means that the ants are comfortable in their new home. A couple of workers have died however their should be some new callows in the nest soon. The first video is two majors breaking into a seed, the workers charging around are excited because of the fly I placed in their foraging area. The second video is them feeding on the fly, you cannot actually see the fly but if you look to the left you can see a horde of workers feeding on the fly.
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Post by Thebugman on Jul 31, 2015 19:59:42 GMT
These girls are now homeless. They decided to move out of their nest and begin digging which I was fine with, however the substrate isnt exactly the best for them to be digging in, and soon enough it collapsed, so I have spent most of my day digging through the substrate and collecting worker ants. Most are unharmed thankfully, and they are now in a test-tube in my drawer in the dark to calm down the queen after such a stressful day. Not a lot of brood is in the test-tube, maybe 4 larvae? I think a soil set-up may be the best option for this colony; Woods Messors seem to love them, although I have no experience with them whatsoever. Could anyone advise me on where to buy safe soil? I have no idea what soil is safe and what isn't, I just hope the colony will be ok crammed in a test-tube for a couple of days.
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Post by Thebugman on Aug 5, 2015 20:45:30 GMT
Thankyou to everyone who helped with my problem. These girls are now living in a soil nest. They have been in the soil nest for a couple of days now, and there have not stopped digging yet. There are 3 separate holes, each of which are located in a corner of the tank. Their main hole is located at the front left of the tank, and I can see into their nest slightly, and their tunnels extend from one length of the tank to the other, so building progress is going good. I fed them some seeds, some of which they have dragged into their nest, however their main focus still seems to be on digging. I will try to get a video uploaded tomorrow.
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Post by Thebugman on Aug 11, 2015 17:33:48 GMT
I had a peek under the glass tank today, and I could see several large chambers. There was two large granaries with plenty of seeds in them, I saw a few large pupa and some newly laid eggs, so thankfully the colony has settled in well. Construction has now come to a halt as all three holes are now all connected to one another, and it appears their nest is complete for now. I fed them a cricket earlier today, however it has not yet being discovered.
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Post by Thebugman on Aug 15, 2015 20:56:02 GMT
Foraging continues with this colony, and hopefully it will all of autumn and winter as this species isn't supposed to hibernate, although they did last year. They dragged a small moth into their nest which is good, as it is the first time since the move I have seen them eat protein.
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Post by Thebugman on Aug 20, 2015 20:24:43 GMT
This colony is doing fantastic, I took another look at the bottom of the tank and I saw several pupa, including a super=major, and I must have seen at least 3 clutches of eggs, which equates to around 40 workers. I will try to get a video up soon.
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Post by Thebugman on Aug 30, 2015 20:44:22 GMT
I fed the colony a bluebottle that I managed to swat yesterday. The fly is much larger than the entrance holes to the nest, yet all that remained of the fly today was a wing. I see foraging at all hours of the day for this colony, and the amount of foragers seems to be slowly increasing.
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Post by Thebugman on Sept 6, 2015 22:12:43 GMT
I managed to snatch a live fly out of a spiders jaw, and steal its meal which I fed to this colony, the fly disappeared overnight so I assume it is in their nest. Construction on the nest is slowly increasing again as I see workers with dirt in their mouths coming out of the nest holes. Natural nest don't offer the interest of viewing the colony as good as ytong nest or acrylic nest, but these girls seem to love it and I do enjoy watching them build it. There are also two more flies in my room waiting for the spider, so she may have a meal waiting for her yet!
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Post by Thebugman on Sept 22, 2015 21:31:10 GMT
I have now had this colony for over a year, and they must be well over 100 workers now. There is only a small amount of foragers so I may begin heating there set-up again for the coming colder months, and hopefully they will remain active.
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Post by Thebugman on Nov 28, 2015 19:58:51 GMT
I see half a dozen or so foragers everyday when I look at this colony. They are still active however I may heat them soon with a heat cable or a heat mat over the coming months so hopefully they will not hibernate like they did last year. There is plenty of brood at the bottom of the tank, although I can not see many workers because of the dark soil, so I don't know how many they number. They still take plenty of seeds but I have not seen them eat crickets in a while, so I may let some wax worms pupate as they seem to love the moths.
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