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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 13, 2018 16:14:51 GMT
The leaf cutting is still going well. New fungal growth: And a media worker running across a leaf:
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Post by kalistes on Nov 13, 2018 17:46:16 GMT
Looking great. I look forward to seeing that soldier!
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 13, 2018 18:22:47 GMT
Looking great. I look forward to seeing that soldier! You won't have to wait, because she just eclosed.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 15, 2018 12:07:52 GMT
Everything is still going well. All that grey and dark green is new fungal growth, as you can see the garden is growing much faster than I expected! Soldiers:
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 15, 2018 20:06:01 GMT
I've given them some bramble and less than five minutes later they were already setting to work on the leaves. I love the way they carry the fragments over their heads in their trademark fashion, it's adorable. I wonder how long this will last them? I'm told in a few months time, that pile wouldn't even last them a day. Worker drinking from a water droplet: They are very inquisitive and often try sneaking out when I have the lid off. When accosted they quickly turn their agricultural tools, their jaws, into effective weapons. Queen:
Update: They really love their almond flakes right now. One of them was dragged straight to the fungus, where you can see a worker carving a piece off:
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Post by Wood~Ant on Nov 16, 2018 8:00:53 GMT
What amazes me about these ants is not just the size difference in the castes, but the queen is a matt plum purple in colour, and her workers and soldiers are a vibrant fiery shiny orange or bright red. The colour variant is incredible between the queen and her daughters.
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Post by Black Ant on Nov 17, 2018 14:12:08 GMT
Do they eat the almonds or use them to feed the fungus garden, and do they ever feed on insects or just the fungus?
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 17, 2018 17:53:28 GMT
Do they eat the almonds or use them to feed the fungus garden, and do they ever feed on insects or just the fungus? The almonds go straight to the fungus, where the ants thoroughly chew them up and add certain secretions (Enzymes maybe?) to make it easier for the new growth to take hold. The fungus is able to effectively break down plant material and convert it into energy and the ants exclusively eat the filaments that grow from it. It gives them all the nutrition they need, including the queen and larvae. As far as I know they won't touch insects. Leafcutter ants and their symbiotic fungus have evolved together for millions of years to the point that they need nothing else so long as the fungus is given enough fuel for its growth. The colony and fungus sort of regulate each other's growth, because a garden that's too big for its colony will die off and a colony that's too big for its garden won't have enough food. My colony refused sugar water when they were without their fungus, but Chris of Antsrus reckons they'll accept honey water on occasion. I might need to experiment with that. I remember seeing in Kyle's old A. octospinosus journal he offered them one of those little protein jelly pots and the workers were all over it. The colony's fungus is still doing well! I think it's got at least a centimetre taller since the last photo.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 19, 2018 16:28:39 GMT
To my surprise, the new fungus has gotten so tall that the whole garden fell over onto its side during the night. The colony still seems to be alright, I'm sure the fungus will be fine.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 24, 2018 14:06:31 GMT
The fungus has shrunk a bit since the last update and leaf cutting seemed to stop. When it toppled over due to the new growth, it was leaning against the sides and I read that contact with condensation can be bad for it, so I think that's what happened. I carefully used my tweezers to move the fungus so that it's sitting on the coconut fibre and not touching the sides, much to the outrage of the colony! Luckily the tweezers took the brunt of their attacks.
They're settled down and beginning to start cutting leaves again, so hopefully their garden will begin to grow once more.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 26, 2018 18:15:26 GMT
Good news, the fungus garden has started growing again. You can see some new dark growth on the left. The colony is still much calmer now than they used to be, although they put up a fight when I take out their old leaves to put new ones in. Also, it's getting a bit more difficult to get good photos of the queen. She always has her face buried in the fungus like some sort of monstrous, six legged ostrich.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 28, 2018 15:03:03 GMT
The fungus is still getting bigger and I saw some leaf fragments being placed on it, so it seems to be getting back on track. Media worker trying to sneak out: Queen, was able to get a photo of her face this time:
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 29, 2018 16:13:21 GMT
I've just given them a piece of red apple for the first time and they seem very keen on it. They're licking the juices from it like most ants do with sweet things. I suppose even leafcutters appreciate sweet liquids as a pick-me-up every so often?
Update: something weird just happened. The queen as I've said hardly bothers to move but just now she left her precious garden to visit the apple. Why? She spent a few minutes investigating it before returning to her usual spot on the fungus. That's bizarre. Anyone know why she'd do that?
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Post by Wood~Ant on Nov 29, 2018 18:44:50 GMT
I suspect that the queen detected the scent from the apple, as ants can pick up molecules from smelling food via their antennas. She was probably attracted to the new smell and went to investigate, maybe even tasting the juice as malic acid in apples is known to attract wasps, and ants are closely related.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 30, 2018 15:07:25 GMT
I suspect that the queen detected the scent from the apple, as ants can pick up molecules from smelling food via their antennas. She was probably attracted to the new smell and went to investigate, maybe even tasting the juice as malic acid in apples is known to attract wasps, and ants are closely related. That makes sense. It just seemed strange to me since she has her own small army to investigate strange smells for her! Today they've been putting bits of apple flesh on the fungus, which is already starting to grow over it.
Update: I've given them a few raisins to see what they think. I've also gathered a variety of leaves from the local park, so they should be spoiled for choice. Above the raisins you can see what's left of the apple slice I gave them yesterday, which I shall throw out this evening.
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