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Post by TenebrousNova on May 13, 2018 19:30:59 GMT
Yes, you read the title right. I'm half excited and half horrified that I actually went through with this! I've ordered a queen who comes with 100-150 workers from Antsrus. These army ants (Formerly known as Pheidologeton diversus) are also known as marauder ants and form vast colonies with up to sixteen queens. They're very polymorphic, ranging from tiny minors to huge super majors as big as the queen. Interestingly, the minors will ride on the queens and majors as a form of transport (And presumably to protect the larger ants). They also have an enormous appetite.
I've still got a few tanks lying around so I'm going to try and prepare it for the Carebara's arrival. I also have a heat lamp so that'll be very helpful to keep them warm. For a substrate, I'll use soil mixed with sand and perlite to retain humidity. Surface temperature is ideally around 26 degrees Celsius, I've also read that the nest should be kept a bit cooler since the ants retreat underground to escape the heat when they need to. Humidity should be 50-80%.
I really hope this colony does well, they're definitely going to be the most advanced species in terms of care I've ever attempted (And I fully acknowledge that it might all go pear shaped). As always, feel free to comment.
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shane
Ant Photographer
Ant Species Image Gatherer
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Post by shane on May 13, 2018 22:08:33 GMT
You will have your work cut out with this colony
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Post by Jenny on May 15, 2018 8:54:29 GMT
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Post by TenebrousNova on May 15, 2018 9:06:51 GMT
Thank you Jen! The colony has arrived. As you can see, there's quite a lot of workers! So many in fact, that photographing the queen has proven impossible at the moment. She is constantly covered by her swarm of offspring, but from the little I saw of her she's a very big lady. Here's one of the larger majors. And finally, their very big brood pile. I'm going to do a lot of checking and double checking of the tank before I dare let the genie out of the bottle. Those minors are very small and will no doubt cause me no end of mischief!
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 15, 2018 9:11:16 GMT
What I would call a very productive lady, and that is just from 1 queen.
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Post by TenebrousNova on May 15, 2018 9:12:29 GMT
What I would call a very productive lady, and that is just from 1 queen. And she's just getting started, she can easily produce up to 30,000 workers.
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 15, 2018 9:44:09 GMT
The shape of things to come. Perhaps you might end up needing a nest set up like this when the colony grows really big.
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shane
Ant Photographer
Ant Species Image Gatherer
Posts: 1,738
Likes: 819
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Post by shane on May 15, 2018 9:45:13 GMT
Grats on your mini army ant colony. 1000% make shore there never get out and turn on your other colony of ants for lunch.
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Post by TenebrousNova on May 15, 2018 16:42:51 GMT
This colony is still remarkably calm. Earlier I managed to put a small dead cricket and a very small droplet of honey inside their test tube without any escapes. The workers tentatively started to drink the honey, but only after they dropped lots of debris in it first. They went for the cricket without hesitation and appear to have taken half of it into the main mass of the colony, where the queen and brood are. Earlier the queen put her head to the side of the test tube and I had a nice view of her, but she was covered again by the time I got my camera ready. I've just had to order some new mesh because the pieces I had left have gone missing. Once it's arrived, I can reinforce the lid and let the colony loose. I've been assured they'll be fine in the test tube for now.
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Post by UKantz on May 15, 2018 17:46:32 GMT
I wish you the best with them! I will definitely be following this journal closely as this is a long term goal of mine in ant keeping - hopefully you won't have your hands too full with all those escapees
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Post by TenebrousNova on May 16, 2018 13:28:19 GMT
The colony made it through their first night okay! I was also able to get a semi-decent photo of the queen after lots of attempts. She moves very slowly and ponderously, although it might just be the weight of all the workers clinging to her. I was about to try and feed them another cricket just now (There's nothing left of the one they had yesterday) but the queen decided to leave her usual spot on the brood pile and walk over to the middle, which drew a lot more workers towards the cotton. I'm going to have to wait for her to move back before I can feed them! The majors immediately followed her and seem to stay by her side at all times. The smallest majors are a similar size to those found in Pheidole species and the largest one is just under half the length of the queen. They all have very full looking gasters so I think they act as food reservoirs for the colony. With the queen off the brood pile, I got a good view of the top and it seems there's a big pile of eggs there.
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Post by TenebrousNova on May 16, 2018 23:51:16 GMT
Earlier I found a bluebottle fly and gave it to the Carebara. Their reaction was as you would expect from the so-called marauder ants and it was immediately covered in an angry swarm of minors, with a few of the smallest majors helping to attack it. One of the largest majors took a brief look at it but seemed satisfied her smaller sisters had the situation in hand, as she quickly returned to the queen.
I must say that these ants are hypnotic to watch.
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Post by TenebrousNova on May 19, 2018 17:45:57 GMT
After more deliberation and checks to see if I've escape proofed the tank enough, I've just let the genie out of the bottle. Suffice it to say, there's no way I could possibly get them back in there now! They immediately started swarming over the locust I put outside the test tube. I did think it might be too big at first, but now I'm confident they can handle it. Little explorer: So far only the minors have been coming out, but there's loads of them! The layers of PTFE I've liberally applied to the sides of the tank seem to be doing their job, as the workers immediately slip when they try to climb up it. They've also shown a little bit of interest in some honey I put out for them, although after taking a brief sip the workers soon move on. I've been told by another Carebara keeper they can be a bit fussy when it comes to sugary liquids, so I may have to experiment a bit. No idea at all when they'll decide to start digging and move out of their test tube, but I'll be sure to provide an update.
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Post by UKantz on May 19, 2018 19:17:51 GMT
Hey, TenebrousNova, what set up are they in?
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Post by TenebrousNova on May 19, 2018 20:04:09 GMT
Nothing that exciting: one of those plastic tanks you can get for insects. If the colony does well they'll almost certainly outgrow it and I'll need to connect a new one. At the moment there's a lot of excavating going on. They've plugged up their test tube entrance and at the same time they're digging a growing hole underneath the lid that serves as a food dish. I think that's where they intend to move once they're ready. I do hope they'll provide me with a view of the brood chamber!
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