|
Post by TenebrousNova on May 13, 2020 9:57:01 GMT
Last night I gave them their first stunned cockroach. I thought it might be too big but they bit, stung and pulled until they got it into the nest.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on May 17, 2020 15:14:01 GMT
There are now a few pupae in the colony. Two of them are queens!
|
|
|
Post by Joshuarr on May 17, 2020 17:10:52 GMT
Looking really good, TenebrousNova! Which acrylic set-up do you keep them in? They look like a very interesting and active ant species. Have you ever been stung by one?
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on May 17, 2020 17:55:04 GMT
Looking really good, TenebrousNova! Which acrylic set-up do you keep them in? They look like a very interesting and active ant species. Have you ever been stung by one? I keep them in one of these. They are certainly active and they've eaten virtually everything I've offered them so far. I certainly didn't expect them to start producing alates so early. I've only been stung by one worker so far and it didn't really hurt. They are less inclined to use their sting than their cousins, Myrmica rubra.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on May 18, 2020 19:38:56 GMT
Quite a few larvae are now beginning to pupate and have been gathered into a pile. Two of the existing pupae are workers. The other three are queens. Here's the egg pile:
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on May 22, 2020 16:35:24 GMT
There's a lot more pupae now. I've run out of crickets so while I'm waiting for the new ones to arrive, I decided to try them on a medium sized locust. Normally I would wait for a colony to get a bit bigger before giving them a locust...however, I think they can handle it.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on May 27, 2020 16:01:34 GMT
The vast majority of brood is now in the pupa stage. Already I see some of them starting to change colour. There's still lots of larvae though and a very large pile of eggs.
Unfortunately the colony has become much more aggressive and determined to escape recently and feeding them has been a battle. I already got stung a few times today whilst trying to clean the foraging area and putting new food in.
|
|
|
Post by Wood~Ant on May 27, 2020 16:33:53 GMT
The vast majority of brood is now in the pupa stage. Already I see some of them starting to change colour. There's still lots of larvae though and a very large pile of eggs. Unfortunately the colony has become much more aggressive and determined to escape recently and feeding them has been a battle. I already got stung a few times today whilst trying to clean the foraging area and putting new food in. Unless you're a late sleeper, try to clean out the foraging arena before 8am. The aggressive behaviour is most probably heat induced by the heat of the day, and is less if the temperature is cooler.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on May 29, 2020 14:11:36 GMT
The queen pupae are rapidly darkening. You can see this one's wings folded at the side.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on May 30, 2020 19:57:19 GMT
I've recently watched a few of the queens contributing to a second large pile of eggs that has been rapidly growing. They are continuing to eat a lot.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 1, 2020 18:16:19 GMT
I've spotted the first worker callow! This queen pupa is very dark and her antennae are very slowly moving. I think she's going to eclose soon.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 1, 2020 20:32:49 GMT
Tonight, a new queen is welcomed into the fold! This is the first queen I've had born into a captive colony, unless you count the deformed early one produced by my Camponotus mitis ages ago. I'm not sure what will happen to her and her winged sisters. Although it has occurred to me that the pupa on the left, along with some others, are actually males!
|
|
|
Post by messorlee on Jun 1, 2020 22:02:21 GMT
Is this possible...
Find someone with the same species and put the males from one with queen's from the other and vice versa. The keep the queen's from your own colony and put them back in???
Sorry if a stupid question.
ML
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 1, 2020 22:08:50 GMT
Is this possible... Find someone with the same species and put the males from one with queen's from the other and vice versa. The keep the queen's from your own colony and put them back in??? Sorry if a stupid question. ML It's theoretically possible but I'm not sure how you'd time it to make sure the alates are ready to mate.
|
|
|
Post by messorlee on Jun 1, 2020 22:25:21 GMT
Would it not be when they start to fly around the formicarium... Once again sorry if this is a silly question...
I truly am interested
ML
|
|