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Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 3, 2017 18:09:59 GMT
The last three pupae have eclosed, bringing the worker total up to nine. For some reason none of the eggs have hatched yet and it's been over a month now...if anyone knows why this could be, I'd be interested to know. It depends on temperature and humidity. The eggs all look fine and healthy, so perhaps try a bit more warmth and slightly higher humidity to hatch them. While larvae are commonly kept over winter and will hibernate, eggs are often eaten once winter arrives. Kept in a house this should not happen, but better to play safe and try to get them to hatch over the next 2 or 3 weeks. Ideally it should be Air humidity: Arena: 30 - 50% Nest: 50 - 70% Temperature: Arena: 18 - 27°C Nest: 21 - 25°Celsius for this species.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 16, 2017 16:26:19 GMT
The colony has now eaten all of their eggs and none of them hatched out, despite my keeping them on a heat mat for a few hours a day. Although it's a big shame to see so many eggs wasted, I'm sure that the queen will start laying them again next year. Have any of you had this one colony that refuses to cooperate with you when living in a test tube? When you want to open it to feed them and they constantly attack the cotton, refusing to back down and get out of the way? That was my Manica earlier. 8 out of 9 workers were biting and stinging the cotton whilst I waited for an opening and one of the workers actually managed to get out and run onto my finger. She definitely would've stung me if I hadn't flicked her off and shoved her back into the test tube at the last moment! I've been bitten by many ant species. I've been attacked by Lasius, stung by Myrmica, savaged by Formica, mauled by Messors and assailed by Tapinoma, but I'm determined to never get stung by Manica. I've heard it's like a red hot needle, comparable to a wasp sting which sounds much nastier than the nettle sting of Myrmica. I suppose that's part of the thrill of keeping this species.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jan 31, 2018 18:59:53 GMT
I had bought this colony an acrylic nest to live in but the next day, I found all the workers dead with just the queen left alive. She currently lives in a test tube where she has some honey and the occasional small cricket for nourishment. This would be a death blow for a claustral queen which uses up most of her reserves simply raising the first generation of workers (Unless of course she is boosted with adopted brood, as one of my Messor barbarus queens was), but can a semi-claustral queen recover from such a disaster? I can only wait and see.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 29, 2018 18:04:37 GMT
The queen has now laid a single egg, which she protectively carries around. It remains to be seen if she'll look after it to adulthood and lay more, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 22, 2018 6:47:30 GMT
Sadly, I found this queen dead last night. I wasn't optimistic that she could reestablish a colony but still, it's a terrible shame. I will try again with this species in the Summer.
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