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Post by occultus on Jun 25, 2015 0:13:45 GMT
This colony continues to thrive. After finding a few escaped workers downstairs near my front door I have decided to give them a bigger out world. The walls are completely covered with ptfe and seeing as this species loves to climb I put lots of sticks leaves in there.
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Post by Jenny on Jun 25, 2015 4:57:41 GMT
Enjoyed all your videos Che. A great natural idea The workers are a good size, and yes they do appear to be expert climbers
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Post by occultus on Jul 18, 2015 0:45:46 GMT
I have been trying out my new Nikon D3300 Dslr. I must say that I love it and recommend every antkeeper buy themselves a camera as it gives you more insight into your colonies. I will be saving up for a nice Macro lens in the near future. Here is a video of one of my favourite colonies, Camponotus vagus. They hunt like a pack of wolves descending on an injured deer. My favourite thing about this species is how they attack a prey item with a powerful lunge and then they dodge and move with unbelievable bursts of speed around the prey item and then attack again. They sure would be great boxers
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 18, 2015 7:54:25 GMT
Loved watching the videos, and the aggressive attack of a hunting party of ants never fails to fascinate me. Like you said Che, like a pack of wolves or hyenas the way the ants doggedly go for prey.
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Post by deansyme on Jul 18, 2015 9:45:13 GMT
Should get a colony wood
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Post by elitzchupa on Jul 29, 2015 20:25:32 GMT
Is this your video as the outworld looks different to what you had before. Love how they are also going in and out of the stick.
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Post by occultus on Jul 30, 2015 0:13:25 GMT
Is this your video as the outworld looks different to what you had before. Love how they are also going in and out of the stick. Hi elitzchupa, yes this is still the same outworld. I had to remove a few leaves and twigs because of mold. The ants have stayed true to their genus and have excavated deep inside that stick. Even the Queen has moved in but the eggs and brood remain in the artificial nest. I don't mind not seeing everything inside the nest because I enjoy observing their natural behavior. The floor of their outworld is absolutely covered in ant-made sawdust I have visions of one day building this colony a huge open top outworld with a large tree stump inside for a nest.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 30, 2015 7:37:52 GMT
Living in a small flat restricts me from having the space to create natural nest/foraging sites for my ants, but I do love your ideas for making your ant homes as natural as possible Che.
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Post by elitzchupa on Jul 30, 2015 9:17:43 GMT
Is this your video as the outworld looks different to what you had before. Love how they are also going in and out of the stick. Hi elitzchupa, yes this is still the same outworld. I had to remove a few leaves and twigs because of mold. The ants have stayed true to their genus and have excavated deep inside that stick. Even the Queen has moved in but the eggs and brood remain in the artificial nest. I don't mind not seeing everything inside the nest because I enjoy observing their natural behavior. The floor of their outworld is absolutely covered in ant-made sawdust I have visions of one day building this colony a huge open top outworld with a large tree stump inside for a nest. They actually carved out a nest from a fresh stick? I thought they just moved into crevices and chewed the inside to make more room. Could up take a picture of your whole outworld please, I love natural setups, even watching them enter and exit the stick I find amazing, I must be easily pleased. I may have to move my camponotus cruentatus into a more natural set up to mimic yours
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Post by elitzchupa on Jul 30, 2015 18:25:57 GMT
Do you keep the branch wet or is it pretty dry? Am I correct in that if I placed a branch into my Camponotus cruentatus outworld they may start to construct a nest?
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Post by occultus on Jul 30, 2015 22:04:45 GMT
The branch has been kept dry at all times. They may well choose to start excavating the stick immediately. I believe a semi rotting log/stick would encourage the ants to start excavating sooner. Good luck mate, let us know how it turns out.
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Post by elitzchupa on Jul 30, 2015 22:23:59 GMT
Do you think you could take a picture of your complete outworld? I love the look of that sawdust the ants made next to their nest, so simple yet gives them character. I may have to go down my woods and look for a nice looking branch, let's just hope they aren't occupied by any myrmica which is very easy to find.
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Post by occultus on Aug 2, 2015 23:15:37 GMT
Do you think you could take a picture of your complete outworld? I love the look of that sawdust the ants made next to their nest, so simple yet gives them character. I may have to go down my woods and look for a nice looking branch, let's just hope they aren't occupied by any myrmica which is very easy to find. Here's the outworld overview. Excuse the poor quality, it was captured quickly with my mobile.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 2, 2015 23:28:06 GMT
Does the colony and queen live in the log nest?
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Post by occultus on Aug 3, 2015 17:45:15 GMT
Does the colony and queen live in the log nest? The queen and 70% of the workers live inside the log. All of the larvae are being kept inside the artificial nest. I believe this is because it retains a higher level of humidity which benefit the larvae.
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