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Post by chicken2012 on Jul 20, 2018 15:23:16 GMT
Last week we had a few small flights of Lasius Niger, and so I decided I’d have another go at raising a colony of these guys. In previous years I’ve tried starting many different colonies of these off at once, one time I think I had about 14 newly mated queens, but I was never really able to give them all the time they needed. Therefore, this year, I’ve decided to try condensing all my effort into just the one queen, in the hope that I have some better luck. This queen has so far laid a small pile of eggs, and so I am hopeful that this time my luck will be a lot better. I shall post pictures soon, though they won’t be the best as taken with a phone camera with terrible lighting, as I didn’t want to stress her too much with bright light of any sort. Feel free to comment on the journal by the way.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 20, 2018 15:45:43 GMT
Nice to see you back, Chicken. And good luck with this colony!
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Post by chicken2012 on Jul 20, 2018 15:48:19 GMT
Yeah, did plan to come back sooner, but unexpected things happened.. and thank you!
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Post by Jenny on Jul 21, 2018 15:23:37 GMT
Great to see your return Chicken
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Post by chicken2012 on Jul 24, 2018 12:08:15 GMT
Yes Jen, hopefully this time I’ll be able to stick around.
Upon checking the queen today, there are definitely a few more eggs, and from what I can see, there are two maybe 3 larvae present now, which is really nice to see. I would have done a more accurate count but thought it best not to disturb her for too long, but there is definitely developing brood present, which is good enough for me at this stage.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 24, 2018 12:56:37 GMT
I take it you're keeping her in a test tube until you have a colony? Any plans on what kind of nest you'll keep them in later on.
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Post by chicken2012 on Jul 24, 2018 14:00:27 GMT
Yes Wood, she’s in a test tube at the moment, which is wrapped in tissue to keep it dark in there.
As of yet I’m not too sure what to keep them in once they’ve grown out of their test tube, I do have an old antstore vertical nest, however all the rubber connectors have gone really brittle, and the sandy loam stuff in the nest has dried rock solid where it’s been sat for a couple of years now...
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 24, 2018 14:11:42 GMT
Yes Wood, she’s in a test tube at the moment, which is wrapped in tissue to keep it dark in there. As of yet I’m not too sure what to keep them in once they’ve grown out of their test tube, I do have an old antstore vertical nest, however all the rubber connectors have gone really brittle, and the sandy loam stuff in the nest has dried rock solid where it’s been sat for a couple of years now... Shame about that. The glass nests cost so much, but you could try an Ant World as a cheaper alternative or acylic, as Lasius do okay in both.
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Post by chicken2012 on Jul 24, 2018 14:16:17 GMT
Yeah, it is a huge shame as it’s never really been used much, only ever had failed queens in the foraging area, nothing’s ever got as far as nesting in it before. And yeah, I could do that, but I find that from past experiences, ant worlds seem to fall apart on me...
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Post by chicken2012 on Jul 26, 2018 14:36:58 GMT
Here are a couple of photos that I have finally gotten round to taking of the queen the other day. I would have posted these sooner, but I have been busy with other photo related things lately, but here they are now. The first two images show the queen in her test tube:
And this final Image gives you a better view of the brood she currently has, though some of it blends into the cotton wool, and so can't really be seen:
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Post by chicken2012 on Aug 10, 2018 19:59:49 GMT
Well the queen still seems fine, no workers as of yet, but the brood is developing nicely, and hopefully it shouldn’t be too long until the first workers appear.
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Post by chicken2012 on Sept 5, 2018 15:38:38 GMT
Nothing much to report still, no workers as of yet, but there are 3 or 4 large pupae now, as well as several larvae and a reasonable pile of eggs. Hopefully it won’t be long now until I see the first workers appear.
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Post by chicken2012 on Oct 1, 2018 15:18:33 GMT
Good news! As of now there are 3 workers with another two on the way very shortly. So far, they have taken one small black fly, which now seems to have disappeared completely.
It won’t be long until I have to transfer them to a new test tube as theirs is almost out of water. That will definitely not be a fun task, but until I have the money to sort out a more permanent home for them, I’ve not really got any choice.
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