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Post by occultus on Sept 16, 2016 18:48:26 GMT
Its been over a month since I last seen this colony. They moved into a tiny gap near the water pipe that's purposely built to offer water on-demand. The workers are still foraging, but I'm waiting patiently for the colony to reemerge. Last seen on 01/08/16 Camponotus sericeus 01/08/16 by che hawkins, on Flickr
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Post by occultus on Sept 7, 2016 10:05:58 GMT
Nice colony mate, they are going to fill your nest in no time To stop your Pheidole bringing food into the nest and then it turning mouldy, place crickets and other insects onto a long needle and leave them inside the arena. The ants will feed on these "Kebabs skewers" and they won't be able to pull the exoskeletons into the nest. You can even anchor the needles down on a piece of cork etc. I do this for my Polyergus rufescens.
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Post by occultus on Sept 1, 2016 9:27:32 GMT
Could it be caused by the nests or out worlds that your using? Something hidden that is toxic to them. Any air freshener or body sprays etc used near the colonies? Use boiled insects and try them with diluted sugar water.
Only offer them a small out world to start of with to help them feel secure.. Ironically the constant checking on the colonies could be adding stress to them...European Camponotus can be a pain. My vagus develop brilliantly but my cruentatus fail to raise workers.
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Post by occultus on Jul 18, 2016 19:59:48 GMT
The Lasius niger ants had their nuptial flight today in Barry, South Wales.
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Post by occultus on Jul 1, 2016 6:47:36 GMT
I certainly will Wood. I'll upload the profile this evening.
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Post by occultus on Jun 30, 2016 22:16:00 GMT
Taxonomy: - Family: Formicidae - Subfamily: Formicinae - Tribe: Camponotini - Genus: Camponotus - Species: Camponotus fulvopilosus Origin: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa Appearance of the Queen: 17 - 18mm colour: dark red to black, Gaster with a dense golden yellow hair Appearance of the workers: 9 - 19mm color: dark red to black, Gaster with a dense yellow golden pubescence polymorphic (Minor, Media and major workers) Hibernation: Diapause from June/July to August/September Nest building: Soil nests and under flat rocks Nutrition: Honey-/Sugarwater, insects Temperature: 24 - 35°C Humidity: 30 - 60% (Desert climate) Description: Camponotus fulvopilosus is a truly amazing species to keep in captivity. The vibrant yellow hairs on their gasters make them stand out significantly. They feature great eyesight and are very fast moving, comparable to Cataglyphis species in speed. They also are very aggressive and attack prey with no trouble, therefore this is a great species to keep in captivity. Colonies can be very expensive as they are a relatively rare and colourful species which makes them more valuable. 28.06.16I was fortunate enough to privately purchase a colony of Camponotus fulvopilosus from a friend. The Queen was caught in January 2014 which makes the colony two and a half years old. There is estimated around 300 workers. They can move super-fast and sometimes raise their gasters as they run (possibly to prevent burning from the hot desert sand). In my opinion they are one of the best looking ants on earth. The colony had lost their appetite when they arrived but today they have accepted sugar water and a mealworm-beetle. 2016-06-29_04-53-19 by che hawkins, on Flickr 2016-06-30_10-19-29 by che hawkins, on Flickr 2016-06-30_10-21-08 by che hawkins, on Flickr It's amazing that the patterns on the gasters are all different, some are dotted, striped, multi-striped or blank. I can almost identify individual workers.
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Post by occultus on Jun 30, 2016 0:41:03 GMT
The colony now has 19 workers. The test-tube is getting rather claustrophobic. Camponotus sericeus: 19 workers by che hawkins, on Flickr 2016-06-29_09-45-49 by che hawkins, on Flickr Good job I had a custom built nest created by Nardimai. I went for something quite different with this nest. The colour of the nest is black and the arena is also black. My thinking is that the golden gasters and red heads will contrast great with the black decor. The black nest will also offer the ants some comfort and at the same time I can still see all the activity. 2016-06-29_09-47-31 by che hawkins, on Flickr Once the ants settle down, Ill upload a nest overview
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Post by occultus on Jun 17, 2016 0:50:26 GMT
A moth made the mistake of flying into the Camponotus vagus nest. The ants came pouring out to hunt down the intruder.
The moth was completely dismembered after 20 minutes and enjoyed by the larvae.
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Post by occultus on Jun 16, 2016 22:32:18 GMT
My cruentatus colony hasn't been developing. They have only 4 workers and 1 larvae. I really like this species and I want them to succeed. Desperate times means desperate measures: The C.vagus kindly donated 10 cocoons to C.cruentatus. Its going to be interesting to see how this different species adapts to their new tribe.
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Post by occultus on Jun 16, 2016 22:07:40 GMT
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Post by occultus on Jun 16, 2016 22:01:34 GMT
My Camponotus sericeus colony has now reached 12 workers "YAY". I have finally realised that this species can walk straight over PTFE so I've added a lid to their set up. The workers are not very long lived, however the population is starting to grow nicely(plenty of cocoons). Temp stays at 28 Celsius and they adore blue bottle flies.
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Post by occultus on Jun 16, 2016 21:15:29 GMT
Hi all, sorry I've not been on for awhile, it's been crazy busy with college lately. I'm very sad to say, Queen Pandora has died. I tried my best to help her raise a colony but it was never to be. I hoped to even brood boost her one day to give her a helping hand. The closest she got to raising a colony was around Christmas time when she had large piles of brood and semi cocooned worker. She was with me for 1 year and 25 days.
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Post by occultus on Jun 1, 2016 16:28:58 GMT
I just realised that my colony has had their nest port open for the past two weeks..woops
No queens have escaped and the majority of workers look to be still present.
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Post by occultus on Jun 1, 2016 11:15:17 GMT
The Diacamma scalpratum have 10 cocoons. I will have my answer soon (if there's a fertile worker within the nest). I've done a head count..they have 47 workers present. If I miss one of the cocoons hatching, I can count to see if more workers are present.
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Post by occultus on May 20, 2016 10:18:33 GMT
Aren't these the ants which can't feed themselves and need slaves or they die? Good luck with getting a slave brood as you might need to buy a colony of Formica to get slave brood. Or try Dean who got F. lemani pupae for Wood Ant, as they would work. Yes thats right Welsh Ant. The Polyergus absolutely require slaves . I have a colony of Formica fusca arrive yesterday with 60-100 workers. I hope to recreate slave raids when the New Polyergus nest has been completed. Kalytta also offers brood for free, you just pay for postage. Hopefully members of the community can send me brood from time to time. I'd like the colony to contain many varieties of Formica all living within the same colony.
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