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Post by occultus on May 20, 2016 0:13:36 GMT
Taxonomy:- Family: Formicidae - Genus: Polyergus - Species: rufescens - Binomial Nomenclature: Polyergus rufescens - Common name: Amazon ants / Slave-raiders
Origin: Western Europe to Western China Hibernation: October-March 5 - 8°C Appearance of the queen: 8-10mm Appearance of the workers: 7-8mm Foundation:Obligatory slave-maker Food: Insects and sugar/honey water Temperature: Arena: 18 - 28°C Nest part: 21 - 24°C Humidity: 50 - 60% I have been fortunate enough to obtain a colony of the fascinating Polyergus rufescens. They are slave-raider ants and have evolved to perform raids on Formica ant nests. Polyergus ants cannot feed themselves and require slave labour to survive (obligate slaver). The colony contains 700-900 Formica fusca slaves + 100-150 Polyergus rufescens slavers. The queen can be seen at 0:52 Polyergus rufescens colony by che hawkins, on Flickr I'm going to require a constant supply of Formica brood for this colony. If anyone would like to donate me brood from time to time, It would be most appreciated. I will also record the Polyergus ants rushing out to collect the brood that you have sent me
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Post by occultus on May 14, 2016 12:18:06 GMT
A lovely present this morning..Where did that come from!
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Post by occultus on May 11, 2016 20:07:32 GMT
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Post by occultus on May 11, 2016 19:43:59 GMT
This lovely little colony has been given to Nardimai. They were posted out to Finland on Monday. I hope they arrive with him soon and produce a lovely colony for him.
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Post by occultus on May 10, 2016 14:45:14 GMT
Thanks for the answers. I have just found out something very useful to everyone. It's fine to send out insects with the Royal Mail. You need to tell them that the parcel contains live insects and use First class shipping, clearly labeled "Urgent - Living Creatures - Handle With Care" I'll be less anxious next time
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Post by occultus on May 10, 2016 11:51:38 GMT
What do you guys tell the Post office when your sending out ant colonies? I feel very awkward when they ask me what I'm sending in the parcel. Sometimes I say that it's a children's toy but then they ask if it has batteries.
I'm looking for the perfect excuse for the question- what's inside the parcel?
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Post by occultus on May 7, 2016 9:55:45 GMT
Looks like you may soon need a bigger nest with larger chambers? Hopefully the larvae becomes a worker as this will confirm the gamergates present. If that's the case, I'd like to give these girls a large nest
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Post by occultus on May 6, 2016 23:05:33 GMT
Shockingly my Argentine ant colony has over 20 workers and a large pile of eggs I cannot take decent photos because of how small this species is but you might just be able make out a brood pile below: 20160506_193851 by che hawkins, on Flickr They eat everything that they are given.
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Post by occultus on May 6, 2016 23:01:30 GMT
My neglectus colony hasn't been developing as fast as the niger and flavus colonies. I expected more speedy development from this invasive species. I removed the colony from their nest back into a test-tube set up. They already feel more comfortable and the foraging has started again. 20160506_191934 by che hawkins, on Flickr
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Post by occultus on May 6, 2016 22:56:37 GMT
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Post by occultus on May 6, 2016 22:54:44 GMT
Good 'ol' niger. You have to love them, nothing much ever really goes wrong and the number of workers slowly grows 20160506_191154 by che hawkins, on Flickr Lots of the workers were busy eating a cricket during this photo.
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Post by occultus on May 6, 2016 22:51:05 GMT
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Post by occultus on May 6, 2016 22:48:36 GMT
I've decided to get rid of the gravel set up as it was hard to remove the old dead insects. They now live on an oven plate island 20160506_181659 by che hawkins, on Flickr
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Post by occultus on May 6, 2016 22:45:41 GMT
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Post by occultus on May 1, 2016 0:20:38 GMT
The small colony has relocated out into the open. So calm and relaxed, they are never bothered by my presence, even with my finger next to the queen.
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