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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 1, 2018 13:59:26 GMT
This is going to be an interesting journal, because this time I'm not ordering ants, but my first termite species! Compared to ant keeping, there's little information available on looking after termites and few places sell them. I'm getting this colony of R. grassei, which comes with an acrylic set up, from antskingdom.com. From what I understand, R. grassei is a good first species to try keeping. They don't grow fungus like Macrotermes but eat cellulose, which comes from wood. This species has a primary pair of reproductive termites (King and queen) and can also have secondary queens. The alates are about 9mm and there is also a soldier caste, about 5mm. Unlike ants, worker and soldier termites are blind and so the nest doesn't need to be kept covered. This species is also a very poor climber so escape shouldn't be a problem. Another thing I find interesting about termites is that their eggs don't hatch into stationary larvae like ants, but nymphs which are pretty much tiny versions of the adults that can walk around. They molt a number of times as they grow before reaching the adult stage. Here's a few photos. As you can see, the queens of Reticulitermes aren't nearly as huge as those of Macrotermes, but they're still very distinct. The king stays the same size throughout his life. I'm hoping they arrive later this week. This will definitely be a learning experience for me and hopefully you as well. As always, feel free to comment.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 3, 2018 14:51:29 GMT
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 3, 2018 15:58:10 GMT
Here's one of the soldiers: And already a few workers are starting to nibble on the cellulose. They seem much calmer than ants. When disturbed the workers go into the nest and a few soldiers stick their heads out whilst the workers start plugging the entrance.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 3, 2018 22:35:57 GMT
The colony has now set up a barricade at their nest entrance. There's a few soldiers walking around the foraging box whilst workers peek through the hole and occasionally come out. They're also pasting bits of cellulose on the ceiling!
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 30, 2018 18:34:50 GMT
Not much to report so far! I've noticed a few worker termites have died and that rather than dump them in a midden like ants do, their siblings ate them. Otherwise, the colony seems to be quietly going about their business just fine. They've pasted some of their cellulose powder all over the ceiling of their nest so it's harder to observe them. A few of the larger termites with the wing buds look slightly larger, so I'm hoping they'll eventually molt into secondary reproductives so that eggs can be produced at last. This evening a worker and two soldiers ventured into the foraging area, so I took the opportunity to try getting photos. They soon went back into the nest. Here's a worker peeking suspiciously out of the entrance: Then a soldier did the same, probably hoping to warn me off:
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Post by kalistes on Oct 31, 2018 19:28:23 GMT
I have a colony of these on order. Just waiting for them to arrive. Can't seem to find a great deal of info on keeping them.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 31, 2018 23:24:41 GMT
I have a colony of these on order. Just waiting for them to arrive. Can't seem to find a great deal of info on keeping them. Hi Kalistes, long time no see! They seem really low maintenance so far. Mine are kept at room temperature and I wet the sponge in their set up once every few days. Earlier a few of mine went out into the foraging box to collect some cellulose powder. When that runs out you can give them bits of rotting wood and toilet paper instead. They're also very poor climbers so you don't need to worry about them escaping. If you end up with questions about them I'll be happy to try and help. Will you be starting a journal on them?
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Post by kalistes on Nov 4, 2018 12:45:24 GMT
Mine arrived yesterday and as with yours there were a lot more than I expected (looks like we got them from the same supplier because my set-up is the same too). As with yours there was no king or queen, but there are lots of reproductive caste and from what I have learned on the internet these will take over the role of egglayer (I've seen at least 10 of them). There was also 1x soldier which had just moulted. I kept the inside of the formicarium clear and added the food source into the outworld for them to move about as they wish (there is already a steady stream of workers going back and forth). I also covered the living area with tin foil to cut out the light since, although blind I hear they are a little photosensitive.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Dec 1, 2018 20:54:50 GMT
I'm very sorry to report that I checked the colony today to find most of the termites dead and the remaining ones covered in bloody mites! There's less than 20 termites left and I fear it's too late for them... I've no idea how the mites got in there since my ants are currently free of them and the only things I put in the set up was a little bit of clean sand and some cellulose powder for the colony to eat. I'm not giving up though. I've ordered more which should hopefully be here next week. Who knows, maybe they'll actually send me a king and queen this time.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Dec 5, 2018 23:49:01 GMT
The new colony is here...both of them, that is! I decided to get two just in case. I was disappointed again to find that although there's lots of tiny young termites among the adults, there isn't a king or queen. This led me to speculate that they came from the same colony and that the sellers take groups from it to sell them on as new colonies, since eventually the workers can take on a reproductive role in the absence of a primary king or queen. A bit sneaky if you ask me, because I was expecting to get an actual king/queen pair. I put my theory to the test by mixing the two colonies and as I thought, the termites greeted each other as they would members of their own colonies. The result is one larger than expected colony! Hopefully they'll have properly settled in within the next few days.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 20, 2019 4:15:15 GMT
Imagine my astonishment when I found this alate wandering around the nest today! Those wings are twice the size of its body. It's hard to tell but it has a pair of beady eyes, which as far as I know only kings and queens possess. It must've developed from one of those larger termites with the stubby wings. I wonder if they'll mate in the nest assuming more show up? The only way to sex termite alates is to look at the arrangement of the plates underneath their abdomen, which won't be happening anytime soon. But I'm told that if they ever drop their wings, they'll have mated.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 24, 2019 15:53:22 GMT
Unfortunately, they have turned on the alate and eaten it. A shame, because in the absence of pheromones from a king and queen, which I don't have, there's nothing stopping a pair of alates born into the colony from mating and taking over.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 20, 2019 17:57:07 GMT
Today, I decided at last to clean out the colony since they'd eaten all of the cellulose powder in their nest which was causing them to dry out quicker. I opened the nest, attempted (And failed) to pour them into a box and instead got many termites on my bed. I collected them all with cotton buds and was able to clean out their nest and replenish the cellulose. Then I put the colony back in. It's a good job that they're much slower and more shy than ants or all Hell would've broken loose! Here's the colony when they were waiting in the box.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 21, 2019 22:56:51 GMT
The colony is slowly settling back into their nest. Most of the termites are currently in the foraging area and hiding in the damp tissue I left for them, but quite a few have started to prepare the nest for the others. As you can see on the left of this photo, they've already started to barricade the nest entrance. All of the soldiers are in the foraging area, watching over the workers. And here's some of the workers waiting to go into the nest:
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andavane
Nurse Ant
Posts: 99
Country: UK
Favourite Ant: All Messor spp, Lasius niger, L flavus, Pheidole palidula
I Like: Peaceful Meditation
I Am: Medically Retired
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Post by andavane on Apr 22, 2019 8:00:06 GMT
I always thought termites were impossible to keep. For how long have I been wrong? John ¶ anbudan ¶ அன்புடன் me =°= =°= =°= =°= =°= = ॐ =
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