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Post by UKantz on Mar 29, 2018 15:03:08 GMT
I figured if I'm starting a journal for my Pheidole, I may as well include my other ants So as will be the reoccurring theme for my journals, I purchased a single Camponotus Japonicus queen from, once again, British Ants. She is currently housed in a test tube, and will likely remain there for sometime. I don't like to check on her often; as I find Camponotus and her current neighbour, a Messor Barbarus queen, get quite stressed during founding stages if disturbed too often. However, when I checked today she had a small cluster of eggs (around 3-4) and 2 small larvae which was great to see. About a quarter of the test tube is situated on a 10w heat mat, and its on this area she likes to place the brood, so hopefully the heat is helping her out.
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Post by UKantz on Apr 1, 2018 8:21:21 GMT
Upon inspection the egg count has risen to around 10, all the eggs are various sizes but theres two or three large ones. I expect she'll have even more larvae to care for soon : )
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Post by UKantz on Apr 5, 2018 10:49:30 GMT
Queen Japonicus is still doing very well, something to note is that some eggs are white, while others are a more yellow colour which is interesting to observe. She is constantly attending to her pile of eggs, with all the brood is still positioned on the side of the test tube where the heat mat is situated underneath.
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Post by UKantz on Jun 3, 2018 14:26:12 GMT
I'm starting to get slightly worried about this queen; she's been undisturbed the entire time I've been at uni, and was disturbed very little when I was home in the earlier months of the year, however still only has eggs/very small larvae which suggest she's eating her brood. The queen:
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Post by UKantz on Jun 14, 2018 17:50:04 GMT
This queen may be okay after all; though she has been very slow to found a colony, and has definitely been eating some of her brood, she has around 7-8 sizeable larvae that shouldn't be eaten at this point. There are around 3-4 much smaller larvae that have hatched from eggs recently too.
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Post by dreamer on Jun 18, 2018 22:09:40 GMT
I look forward to hearing how this colony grows. I've been thinking of getting either this species or Crematogaster biroi if I ever go for a non-hibernating species.
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Post by UKantz on Jun 19, 2018 11:40:03 GMT
They're a very big species so are great to observe, and should be easy to care for. I'd recommend checking out woods journal on them also . Though if I had to recommend a beginner Asian species that doesn't hibernate, then I'd say go for Camponotus nicoberensis.
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Post by UKantz on Jun 26, 2018 16:22:12 GMT
Finally! This queen has her first cocoon The brood count stands at 1 cocoon and around 9 larvae of varying sizes:
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Post by UKantz on Jul 5, 2018 17:02:49 GMT
There are 3 pupae now, the brood pile is developing well
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