Camponotus punctualtus journal (2)

[tom]

5/05/07
Colony is in a new but very similar set up which has been used before in the past. The colony continues to grow and forage, about 5 days ago I put a spider in the set up, later, I saw 6 workers dragging it up the tube and into the set up. A few workers have been born, more cocoons are being spun, and larvae are growing fast and the queen is laying more eggs!

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[Jenny]

You have your hands full there Tom They like that set up and are increasing well

[tom]

First of sorry I havnt updated

26/05/07
Hello,
Yesterday I gave the ants 2 flies, they have eaten 1 and are almost finished with the other. I have had about 5 workers eclose yesterday, 1 of them being slightly bigger than the rest.

I also have one large cocoon (you can see in some pictures) and some very large larvae. I should think lots of ants should eclose in the next week or so. These ants seem to have two places in which they keep the brood (see pictures).

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place 1

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place2

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[tom]

02.06.07
Hello, This week as expected quite a few ants have eclosed, between 4-7. I was amazed that on the following day after the last update two larvae spun HUGE cocoons, I mean these are massive, at least 2 or 3 times bigger than the other cocoons. It is safe to say that I have majors soon then! The queen has also laid another batch of eggs.

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[tom]

09/07/07
Good news! I have a major, and there are slightly bigger cocoons than the one she came from, so bigger majors, hopefully these should eclose by next week. The queen has also been very busy, she has been laying lots of eggs. I also had a large minor born the biggest minor yet, but I can tell that its not a major because the head shape between the two are very different.

Unfortunately I can't take photos because my dad has it in Rome!

[tom]

16/06/07
Hello, I am pleased to say these ants are continually doing well. I gave them a "Dadd Long Legs" yesterday, and within minutes 20 ants were in the foraging area! I also have 2 majors now, one a bit larger than the other, the bigger one eclosed 2 days ago and is walking around happily. The other major is about 10 days old. I also have more major cocoons awaiting to become adults!

A bit of sad news though, I have had one death which I found this morning, it is a small worker, which I hope died of age.

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The smaller major:

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The larger major:

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[tom]

23/06/07
Hello,
It is interesting to see in these ants, there are always ants foraging. I put a bumble bee in there (Dead). And as soon as an ant found it, there was about 25 ants in the container, leaving the nest with 2 thirds of the colony left! I now have 4 majors, 2 of which are fully size majors I think and two which are slightly smaller. I also had about half a dozen minors born too.

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[tom]

30/06/07
Hello.
I have some very strange news this week, during the week the major count has gone up to 11. But one of these majors, has only been born with one eye! and has a crooked head! . This is really quite something I think.

Yes, I know have 11 majors which is good, and now 2 majors now forage. 20 pictures this week ;D

first of all,

The one-eyed major

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other photos

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[tom]

Hello! Sorry for not updating yesterday I was not home for more than 15 minutes! And today seems to be the same as well, so sorry no pictures

08/07/07
The ants continue to do well, a lot of eggs have hatched into larvae. The larval stage for these ants seems to be the key of their fast growing. These larvae grow very quick!! Don't think I had any more births, if I did it was only one or two.

[tom]

21/07/07
Sorry for not updating last week, I completely forgot, also a note, I cannot take pictures for a while because my Dad has the camera in New York!

Over the past week or so, I have had loads of eggs hatch into larvae, and now most of them are starting to spin cocoons, I also unfourtanetly have had a few deaths, they have all been the smaller workers so I hope this is of natural cause, the population is also growing at a steady rate.

[Jaikaiman]

Hi Tom, hows it going mate

Excellent photos, truly brilliant. What camera do you use because I would like to get one!

[tom]

I'm very sorry for not updating recently..been very busy!

7/8/07
I've had a quite a few deaths over the last couple of weeks..about 10, but I think they are of natural causes, they are the smallest workers by far. The colonies population has became slower now it seems, even though they are still eating crazily! The queen is an excellent egg layer and always has eggs in the colony. The one eyed major is still with us, and now forages too, she shows no different behaviour and is agressive towards prey as the rest of them.

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