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Post by Atomfix on Aug 22, 2013 18:38:04 GMT
22/08/2013 Captured a Yellow Queen Ant, all alone in the wilderness, surrounded by loads of other black (Lasius Niger) ants. I was very excited to capture this lonely Meadow Ant as I already have 2 Lasius Niger farms. I've taken some high quality pictures below, you might notice that I have added some chicken in with the queen also:
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Post by Atomfix on Aug 22, 2013 18:26:02 GMT
Just to let everyone know, on my way from walking home from work, that's all I could see was Queen Ants everywhere! Check outside and see if there's any wondering outside your door, I must have spotted at least 20 just outside my door step!
Good Luck!
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Post by Atomfix on Aug 22, 2013 13:25:42 GMT
22/08/2013
Not a lot to report, the ants have cut down on foraging.
But when I peeled back the black bin liner from behind the glass, where the ants are nesting, I've noticed a ton of pupae waiting to be hatched!
The population is an estimated 25 workers right now and a unknown amount of eggs, larvae and pupae, there's too many! ^_^
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Post by Atomfix on Aug 3, 2013 15:55:33 GMT
03/08/2013
I fed the ants a "Blue Bottle Fly" yesterday and they are trying ever so hard to get it in the nest, they have dismembered the head from the body and took it straight into one of the chambers, now they are trying to get the whole body down the nest which they are having trouble with.
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Post by Atomfix on Jul 31, 2013 22:02:40 GMT
It always gives you a nice feeling when you know the queen is content to move into her nest. Of course I was glad I caught it in time otherwise I'd probably be a little frustrated.... 31/07/2013 Not a lot to report, the ants have been foraging for protein like no tomorrow though! I've been feed them "Pholcidae Spiders" You can find more information about them here Wiki which also contains a picture. I must of put about 5 of them in so far, they take them in without hesitation! I will get new pictures up tomorrow of the tunnels they have been digging up, luckily, they have been digging up against the glass so I can monitor their progress.
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Post by Atomfix on Jul 30, 2013 15:57:19 GMT
Shouldn't you leave the test tube exposed to the light to encourage the queen to move into a tunnel?
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Post by Atomfix on Jul 29, 2013 14:25:44 GMT
As above said, you might start seeing some activity within the next month or so for the queens offspring to develop etc and start foraging for the queen to lay more eggs.
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Post by Atomfix on Jul 29, 2013 12:19:36 GMT
Sorry for the jumpy video, I didn't have time to adjust the video FPS settings. I was rushing to capture the moment the queen moved from the test tube to the new queen chamber.
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Post by Atomfix on Jul 29, 2013 10:51:19 GMT
29/07/2013
The ants have been working non-stop for 3 days on digging out this tunnel, I believe they are making a queens chamber because the workers have moved all the eggs, larvae and the pupae down in that tunnel, but the queen is still in the test tube.
I'll keep you updated.
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Post by Atomfix on Jul 28, 2013 13:30:49 GMT
Very nice set up there. And as above said, try and keep your colony dark, but not all dark, then on the sides, cover it up with black bin liner where the dig mix is, but keeping above exposed to light, this will encourage her to dig. Black bin liner is very good on blocking light, I suggest you try it Good luck by the way!
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Post by Atomfix on Jul 27, 2013 20:55:31 GMT
27/07/2013
Just a quick update, the workers have made a barrier / wall inside the test tube where the Queen is happily laying her eggs, their are also 9 workers dedicating them selves to building tunnels which I find quite odd ( I didn't expect them to start this until they have strengthened their forces ).
I believe there are around 20 workers in total so far.
I've also noticed that there are small nanitics running around then theirs some larger workers, Still, I find this unusual.
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Post by Atomfix on Jul 26, 2013 19:55:38 GMT
26/07/2013 Ants have arrived (Ordered on Wednesday) They are settling in well already, they all attacked the spider which was still twitching with 2 legs.
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