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Post by occultus on Apr 29, 2016 23:39:01 GMT
Taxonomy:- Family: Formicidae - Subfamily: Dolichoderinae - Genus: Linepithema - Species: humile - Binomial Nomenclature: Linepithema humile Origin: Argentina, South America Hibernation: No Appearance of the queen: 4.2–6.4 millimeters Appearance of the workers: 1.6–2.8 millimeters, light brown Nest building: Moist soil, cracks , under rocks and leaves Food: Honeywater, Insects, sweet foods Temperature: Arena: 21 - 35°C Nestpart: 24 - 28°C Humidity: 60 - 80% (tropical climate) Description:Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) workers are monomorphic, displaying no physical differentiation (Holway et al. 2002a). The workers of this species are small, medium to dark brown ants, reaching 2 to 3mm in length. Body surface is smooth and shiny and lacks hairs on the dorsum of the head and thorax. The petiole is composed of a single, scale-like segment, and sting is absent. Workers are extremely fast moving and industrious, often recruiting in high numbers. Linepithema humile (the Argentine ant) invades sub-tropical and temperate regions and is established on six continents. 30/04/16I have decided to start a journal on my Linepithema humile Queen. I want to observe how fast this species develops. I also want to see if multiple colonies can be created from starting with just one single queen. I caught a Linepithema humile Queen on 28/03/16. I had her identified 11 days ago and she had a small pile of brood. Today I was surprised to see that she now has 10 workers. They are incredibly tiny but I have managed to record them with my camera zoomed to the max. 2016-04-29_11-13-56 by che hawkins, on Flickr The DIY nest. 2016-04-29_11-14-48 by che hawkins, on Flickr
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Post by occultus on Apr 28, 2016 17:19:54 GMT
Are those workers as big as they seem to be in the video. Great video and fab nest, how much was it to buy? PM me if you prefer not to say the price, as I think several other members may want to buy from Nardimai. Hi Wood! Some of the workers are quite large. I'd say this species is around the same size as C. Ligniperdus. I actually part exchanged some ant colonies in exchange for me to test this nest out for Nardimai. The price will be different for every nest because he custom builds them to your specification and you can pick lots of extra upgrades. The heavier the nest though, the more it costs to ship. The nest was packaged perfectly with no damage so feel safe in the shipping If anyone is interested in having a custom nest specific to any species created, please private message Nardimai. He can come up with a design with you so that you have the perfect nest. I hope he has a store someday selling these beauties throughout Europe.
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Post by occultus on Apr 27, 2016 20:47:40 GMT
That video was brilliant Che I enjoyed every minute How long did it take you to put that set up together or did nardimai send it complete ? I loved watching those ants come out of the hole near the end, was that deliberately made? Thank you Jenny! Nardimai actually sent the nest fully constructed. The hole is supposed to be there. Its their main entrance into the nest chambers. Nardimai is incredibly talented at building these ant nests that's for sure (Artist). The nest has built-in heating and it can be hydrated from outside the the tank so no ants come into contact with me. The white plug at 0:33 is an expansion plug. When the colony is big enough, I'll just pull it and the ants will have access to an entirely new nest area. I can honestly say that my colony are happy in this nest. I'm seeing lots of activity that just didn't happen inside the acrylic nest. Truly a pleasure to watch them.
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Post by occultus on Apr 27, 2016 19:05:59 GMT
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Post by occultus on Apr 24, 2016 11:44:10 GMT
Camponotus vagus - The Feast
This colony is thoroughly enjoying their new nest created by Nardimai!
At 05:41 in the video, a large super major comes out of the nest and swings its gaster wildly!
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Post by occultus on Apr 22, 2016 23:08:54 GMT
Taxonomy: - Family: Formicidae - Subfamily: Ponerinae -Tribe: Ponerini - Genus: Diacamma - Species: Diacamma scalpratum Origin: Southeast Asia Features: This species doesnt have a Queen. They have a Gamergate worker. Hibernation: No Appearance of the workers: colour: Black, 1.5cm long but look 2cm when in their natural stance. Nest building: Nutrition: Honey-/Sugarwater, insects, likes ripe fruits Temperature: Arena: 21 - 30°C Nestpart: 24 - 28°C Humidity: 50 - 80% (tropical climate) Description: Diacamma scalpratum are a very strong and aggressive Diacamma species. They need a high amount of proteins for their brood. Insect are paralyzed and killed with their effective stinger. The workers hunt solitary away from the nest. I caught workers of Diacamma scalpratum on Koh Rong Samloem 15/03/16. The colony was inside a plant pot that was laying on its side with a dead palm plant. I discovered the nest when I accidentally stepped on a worker. The worker flipped over on its back and pushed its stinger into my foot. The pain felt like hot glass and it lasted for 20 minutes. The worker was unharmed and merrily walked back to its colony that was right next to my beach hut. I decided to collect as many of the workers as I could because later that day someone was coming to throw away the dead old plant(colony included). The tasks was far more difficult than what I had initially thought, I collected as many workers as I could before the ants scared me away. The ants have been great entertainment so far. They attack everything that I place in their outworld including my hand and tweezers. Today I noticed workers carrying eggs! This has given me hope that this colony may still contain the Gamergate. The eggs could all just be males but I would still want to share my experiences with everyone. They are currently being housed inside an acrylic anthouse nest. If the eggs grow into workers, this will reveal the gamergates presence and they shall have a VIP nest upgrade. 20160421_231305 by che hawkins, on Flickr 20160420_230218 by che hawkins, on Flickr
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Post by occultus on Apr 20, 2016 18:21:39 GMT
Taxonomy:- Family: Formicidae - Subfamily: Formicinae - Genus: Oecophylla - Species: longinoda - Binomial Nomenclature: Oecophylla longinoda Origin: Tropical Africa Features: Minor - Major castes Hibernation: No Appearance of the queen: Vigorous, yellowish brown Appearance of the workers: colour: Brown-Yellow, slim with long extremities Nest building: Weaved nests between leaves of trees Food: Honeywater, Insects Temperature: Arena: 21 - 35°C Nestpart: 24 - 28°C Humidity: 60 - 80% (tropical climate) Description:Oecophylla longinoda is smaller then the Asian species but shows a greater worker polymorphous. This ant species lives in the canopy of different trees and plants. There they build nests with the silk of the larvae. The worker often build long chains between the leaves and "weave" with the silk. Through the Transpiration of the leaves there is always the right condition inside the nest. Oecophylla is very aggressive and defend there territory against any Intruder. In Asia they were used as biological agent for hundreds of years. They are searching for food on the tree and on the ground. Together with the Leafcutter ants they show one of the most complex communication system in all social insects. It contains of pheromones, tactile and optical communication. If there a lack of food or other unsuitable conditions they often try to escape. Large colonies with there hundreds of bites and formic acid can also defend against large Intruders( Keeper). I have been lucky enough to purchase a small colony of Oecophylla longinoda with 10-20 workers. The ants arrived this morning after a 2 day journey from Germany. To my pleasant surprise, the colony looks healthy with around 20 workers( head-count needed). They look very similar to the Asian weavers ants expect that they have a brown-yellow colouration. The Queen looks yellowy green. This is a different sort of ant to what I'm used to. I'll likely make a few mistakes as its a learning process. I'm housing this colony on an ant-island set up. The water surrounding the colony will keep the ants contained. This set up will change as the colony grows in number. Eventually they shall have an entire room with trees inside. I have used white gravel in my set up as substrate for two reasons: 1. The gravel is half filled with water to boost humidity whilst not allowing the ants to access it. 2. The gravel contrasts well with the ants dark colour. Here they are Oecophylla longinoda 20/04/16 by che hawkins, on Flickr Oecophylla longinoda 20/04/16 by che hawkins, on Flickr Oecophylla longinoda 20/04/16 by che hawkins, on Flickr After just 10 minutes of arriving from the post, the ants already started dragging a cricket into their test-tube :-) 2016-04-20_12-07-59 by che hawkins, on Flickr I really hope they thrive :-)
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Post by occultus on Apr 16, 2016 23:54:48 GMT
Shane, could I possibly have a look at the nest that you use to house them. It looks very unusual and open but I like it. I almost thought that the colony was sitting on top of a plastic sheet. Very nice brood pile, my girls better get a move on!
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Post by occultus on Apr 10, 2016 20:58:25 GMT
I've recently been speaking to a few of the German keepers. They tell me to keep the set up moist for the humidity but you must allow for plenty of ventilation as the queens apparently don't like it stuffy. I have not long changed my outworld to have plenty of air holes.
You know I'm considering purchasing a larger second colony just to brood boost Pandora and get her started. Very expensive proposition though.
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Post by occultus on Apr 10, 2016 20:27:04 GMT
I'm very saddened to hear that your Bullet Ant queen has passed away. They are very difficult to start with from a single queen. My bullet ant nearly had trouble by getting stuck inside the holes of her plant pot last night. I've nearly had her for a year and she has only 1 egg. Nearly had a worker but she decided to eat her during the cocoon stage.
More of the queens have appeared on the market lately with workers already established.
I hope you feel better soon mate.
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Post by occultus on Apr 8, 2016 18:57:28 GMT
I've had a wonderful and rare treat this morning. One of the 'Dino' workers came out to say hello to me whilst I was preparing the colonies food.
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Post by occultus on Apr 8, 2016 18:53:58 GMT
Camponotus sericeus now have 7 workers. It would be 8 but believe it or not one of the workers sneaked into my suitcase and is now living in Cambodia.
The test-tube is bone dry and dirty but colony refuse to move into the clean test-tube.
In the video you can see one of the workers trying hard to feed on a small cricket, everyone else is just happy to watch the little worker struggle.
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Post by occultus on Mar 5, 2016 15:55:06 GMT
Four workers
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Post by occultus on Mar 1, 2016 1:17:17 GMT
Today the Queen and the older workers decided it best to cannibalise the (3 days old) third worker Sure am glad it wasn't the other way around though I don't believe its because of a lack of food, purely because I tend to overfeed. I offer fresh protein every other day left just outside of their nest entrance. (I have witnessed them feed without problems) The weird thing is that this ant looked healthy and active for the past 3 days( it did have a very attractive pale orange colour though and it was slightly larger than the two older workers). I do not want to sound ridiculous but it did almost remind me of a honey pot ants behavior. Just the way it stayed suspended from the ceiling for most of the time. I hope its a one off thing, perhaps there was an underlying weakness in the ant that wasn't visible to me. At any rate I shall increase the amount of insects proteins on offer. P.S As you can probably tell from the video, the big lazy Queen really seemed to enjoy this grizzly meal so at least she hasn't wasted the workers life entirely.
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Post by occultus on Feb 29, 2016 16:42:40 GMT
Finally I can say congratulations on getting a colony of these beauties! I hope they do well for you. Hopefully we can help each other out in regards to their care.
I had no idea that they liked it around 28-30 Celsius. My colony is rather shy and sensitive to vibration.
I'm looking forward to reading more.
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