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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 25, 2011 17:21:41 GMT
Found that my camera has a (Limited) capacity for macro pictures, these are as close as I can get. Yes, I really should be out of the habit of biting my nails my now. Old habits die hard. ;D Queen, three workers and an overview of the brood: Here's the colony in general. The queen has been working hard for the last few months, and the fruits of her labours are here for you to see. She is pretty large, because I make sure that they get plenty to eat: They love that hollow in the cotton, and sometimes keep their brood in it. At other times, the queen tries to squeeze herself into it as it would be cosy for her. ;D Five minutes after those pictures were taken, I dropped a freshly killed greenfly into their test tube. Two workers began to set to work on their new meal straight afterwards, while the others tended the brood in anticipation of their meal. To complete the family image, the queen was resting in her favourite hollow while a worker maid stood on her back legs as she carefully groomed her mother.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 25, 2011 18:17:05 GMT
Fascinating, to see a larva attempting to eat. They and the workers seem to love greenfly, most likely because of their soft bodies and sweet honeydew. The worker pair mentioned earlier have carried it onto their brood pile, and are chewing it. Interestingly, one of the larger larvae is following the greenfly with its head as the workers chew it, and is attempting to keep physical contact. This larva is probably one or two weeks away from pupating along with a few of its siblings, and this extra treat may cause it to pupate quicker.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 27, 2011 9:37:42 GMT
I'm saddened to report the death of one of the workers, who has died of old age. The oldest workers were from September though, so I'm not that surprised at her death. But as they say, with every death there comes another life- two cocoons are reaching the 'dark and shrivelled' stage that heralds a new worker. In fact, the darker cocoon is faintly translucent and the worker can be seen curled up in it. I have placed the colony on a heat mat to speed up the brood's development, there is nothing left of that greenfly. ;D The to-be worker will no longer be called Worker Nine, but instead Worker Eight.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 27, 2011 14:04:57 GMT
As I predicted, the new Worker Eight is now up and about. With every death comes a new life.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 29, 2011 14:28:02 GMT
Worker Eight is now just a shade lighter than her sisters, by tonight it will be impossible to distinguish between them. Worker Nine has hatched just now, she is active but with the shyness characteristic of Callow ants. There is also a large larva that is halfway through pupating; it is visible but covered in a layer of silk. Edit, one hour after initial post:The aforementioned pupating larvae is now a full cocoon. A second cocoon is also beginning to slowly change colour, indicating Worker Ten is on the way. All cocoons formed within 1-6 days of each other, so we should start to see more workers within April. Just offered them a small fly, and four of them immediately went for it. The workers are increasing in confidence and aggressiveness, possibly due to the ever-increasing amount of larvae they must feed.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 2, 2011 11:01:28 GMT
Strange! Recently I have had a larva that has lacked the 'black blob' you see in other larvae, and it failed to create a cocoon- I have a bare pupa. It seems fine though, but is cleaned more by workers. Worker Ten hatched this morning, double figures at last! ;D Worker Eleven's cocoon is darkening, so it won't be long until she hatches. This colony is becoming more aggressive recently, and are quick to anger. I suspect it is because of their large amount of brood they must protect, and because they are more confident in numbers. L.Niger are an aggressive species in general, so I am not worried about them.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 7, 2011 16:02:59 GMT
Another of the L.Niger larvae lacks the 'black blob' seen inside the others. The last larva I had that lacked the blob became a bare pupa rather than a cocooned one.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 8, 2011 6:13:53 GMT
There is another blob-less larva. It has just in fact dawned on me that this must be the form that a mature larva takes when beginning its metamorphosis. I wonder why three of them are failing to spin cocoons. At any rate, the bare pupa I have is still alive and well.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Apr 8, 2011 7:21:57 GMT
This is not uncommon in Formicine ants to have bare pupae, as I have seen it happen with Formica species; but generally it is only Myrmicine ants which pupate within the last larval moult skin and have totally bare pupae. In Formicines like Lasius it is rare to find that they have bare pupa, as most of their larvae spin a cocoon. A cocoon stops the pupating larva from being exposed to harmful bacteria etc., while bare pupae may need to be cleaned by attendant nurse ants more, though this does not appear to harm the development of the larva into a pupa and allowing it to eventually become a callow ant
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 8, 2011 14:52:03 GMT
I am pleased to announce the birth of Worker Eleven. I have just given them a very big female mosquito, which was recently fed by the looks if it. It is twice the size of the queen, not counting the wings. Knowing my little L.Niger, there will be nothing left by tomorrow afternoon. ;D
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 9, 2011 8:21:53 GMT
As I suspected, the L.Niger have completely devoured the mosquito except for a few tiny fragments and the wings. The larvae are visibly fatter, and by the looks of things Worker Twelve will be here in days.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 9, 2011 16:21:22 GMT
I'm seriously considering letting my Lasius Flavus colony go. They simply aren't eating, and are instead eating their brood because they refuse everything. Theres only a few larvae left, with no eggs or cocoons. This has gone on for several months now. I think they will be happier in the wild, because right now they seem to be making many efforts to escape when previously they were docile and happy. My only concern with letting them go is, again, the food problem. There is also a large L.Niger colony in my garden, and I don't want the Flavus killed. I don't understand how I'm going wrong really, they just won't eat like they used to. If there is any chance of the colony returning to normal, then I'll gladly keep them. I just think they might stand a better chance in the wild right now, as they seem to be on a slow decline.
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Post by Jenny on Apr 9, 2011 17:46:41 GMT
If it's any comfort, we have flavus and niger in the front and back gardens all around here. They live side by side quite happily and don't pose a threat to each other. L.flavus is one of my favourites, but they are much better seen in the wild, easy for me to say of course, because we have loads of colonies outside our front and back door I never think they do well in captivity, but giving them a go in your garden with some distance from the niger nest, shouldn't cause a problem. It will have to get a lot hotter yet before the flavus start making their first signs of movement, which is the air holes and the fluffed up soil of their mounds.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 9, 2011 17:56:26 GMT
Hm, tomorrow I might try finding somewhere with loamy soil and leave them free to move out. I'll cover the site, so that predators (Such as my dog) won't be able to reach them while they move. It may be easier for them outside, where they can choose their own food and not have to eat their own brood. I think a used plant pot may be ideal, as we do not treat our garden with pesticides and we use the kind of soil that ants like to live in for our potted plants. I guess a lot of people find L.Flavus difficult to keep, so I don't mind so much. Who knows, if I let this colony go, I may get a Myrmica type next time (Myrmica have interested me for a while, with their attractive colours and polygynous colonies), or perhaps even a Formica species. Problem with L.Flavus is that while they show temporary interest in food, they soon ignore/discard it and because of this, are hard to keep. They ate a lot of things in November, so I don't know why the change.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 10, 2011 18:01:13 GMT
L.Niger Worker Twelve eclosed this morning. Thirteen will probably be a week or so, as none of the cocoons are darkened right now.
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