[2021] Camponotus singularis

[TenebrousNova]

My previous attempts at keeping this gorgeous species have always ended in disaster, either due to queens in ill health or in one case, an apparently infertile queen who had been boosted. As far as I'm aware these queens all came from China, which is rather notorious in the hobby for sourcing infertile or unhealthy ants. I've inquired with numerous sellers over the last few years to ask if they could get me an actual established colony of Camponotus singularis, only to be told each time that it would be very expensive...and then never following up again. So I ordered this lovely colony of about 40 workers from Exoticantstore.com, based in Thailand. May they succeed where all the others failed.

I decided to house them in the modular magnetic nest I purchased from Aliexpress on Wood's recommendation. The singularis had abandoned the bamboo tube they'd been packaged in and instead crammed themselves into one of the two test tubes filled with damp cotton during the journey (they sort of free range in a box filled with newspaper during transport). All I had to do was put the test tube in the foraging area, then round up the others (including some big, very formidable looking majors who fortunately didn't try to bite me). This colony has several big larvae at the moment.

I love everything about this species. Their size, their velvety appearance, their bright colours, their beady, shiny little black eyes.

Within minutes workers had found the nest and started swarming into it. I've never had a colony move so promptly! Wish they'd all do that.

Here's one of the orange headed callow workers being pulled by her leg in the direction of the new nest.


And here's the queen being guided out of the test tube.





And here they are getting settled in.



As always, feel free to comment.

[Wood~Ant]

I would like to keep this ant species again, but buying from the company in Thailand run by Peter is not an option for me as I don't use PayPal or bank transfer, and I don't like him since he made a nasty comment about me and how I buy ants from cheaper sellers. Good luck with your colony TenebrousNova and I hope that they do well.

[TenebrousNova]

Aug 18, 2021 7:56:44 GMT Wood~Ant said:

I would like to keep this ant species again, but buying from the company in Thailand run by Peter is not an option for me as I don't use PayPal or bank transfer, and I don't like him since he made a nasty comment about me and how I buy ants from cheaper sellers. Good luck with your colony TenebrousNova and I hope that they do well.

A big shame that you and he fell out. Ordering from him feels a bit convoluted to me (rather than just buying from the page you do it all over email and hope what you want isn't sold out yet), but I can't deny that his ants are good quality. I hope you're able to keep this species again.

I've been leaving this colony to settle in but I'm going to try and feed them later this evening. So far they have mostly been keeping to the nest and only occasionally poking their antennae out of the entrance. I think this is a rather slow growing species so I must be patient with them.

[TenebrousNova]

Good news! The colony is eating a cricket that a worker immediately brought into the nest.





They're also drinking a bit of the pink cotton candy liquid that I got from The Ant Lady.

[kopgary]

Good luck with them, I would really love to give them a go sometime I only ever had them once I bought a queen from wakooshi that died within 12 hours of her arrival I was gutted the stress of posting must have been to much.

[TenebrousNova]

Aug 20, 2021 12:59:05 GMT kopgary said:

Good luck with them, I would really love to give them a go sometime I only ever had them once I bought a queen from wakooshi that died within 12 hours of her arrival I was gutted the stress of posting must have been to much.

Can't say I had a high opinion of Wakooshi to begin with, since they're using my Pseudolasius cibdelus photo on their shop without permission...they completely ignored me when I asked them to give credit or take it down, too.

But I digress. Your safest bet is to order a colony with at least 20 workers, but this is expensive (My 40 worker colony was £80) and such colonies sell out quickly.

They're certainly a gorgeous ant though! Best of luck to you if you try again.

[kopgary]

Thanks for the info, yes I will look for a 40 plus worker colony. It’s a pity you can’t bring them back from Thailand yourself we normally spend a month in Thailand most years my wife is Thai but we now need to wait for the virus to settle down over there then we will be over again.

[TenebrousNova]

The colony seems to be doing alright. They've taken a cricket and some liquid food today. They also put their larvae on display, which makes a change since they're usually hidden behind a mass of workers. I can't see any eggs but maybe the queen will surprise me soon?

Here's a worker chewing that cricket.

[TenebrousNova]

Two larvae have now pupated.

[TenebrousNova]

The singularis queen has come through for me! She's laid about fifteen eggs, which is not what I was expecting. It's a marvellous sight after several failed attempts at keeping these beautiful ants.



And here's a major investigating a dead cricket.