|
Post by Blem12 on May 11, 2011 16:52:32 GMT
Hello, They finally arrived!! They are much, much, much smaller than what I thought they would be. The statistics of this colony is as follows: 1 queen 12 soldiers 30+ workers 2 piles of eggs. They are very active. For now I will just connect their current test tube to a small plastic pot, which will serve as a foraging area. I will try and put some pictures up soon. Thanks for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on May 12, 2011 19:29:18 GMT
Yes they are tiny ants, but very tenacious for their size as mine move 2 or 3 fairly large flies into their nest each day. Good luck with them Thanks Wood. I have yet to give them any insects, but I shall soon. Heres an update: I gave them some honey water which they graciously took. The soldiers seem to be acting as reservoirs for the whole colony. Their gasters are so swelled up that they are the size of their own head. I was astounded by this. I witnessed some of the soldiers feeding some of the workers and the queen herself! Thanks for reading, Blem12. (If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on May 14, 2011 7:12:50 GMT
Good morning, Here's an update: The colony is doing well. I can contently say that the queen has laid a new, fresh batch of eggs. The queen's gaster seems to be bigger in size. I believe that this is due to being fed the honey water solution by the soldiers and that she is ready to lay more eggs. This morning I completed their set up for the time being. The set up consists of a small plastic pot connected to a bigger test tube than what they previously where in. As I mentioned before, the plastic pot will serve as a foraging area and the test tube as their nest. The small plastic pot has a 1cm layer of plaster with sand. When the plaster was nearly dry but still damp I added the sand so that it would look and feel a bit more natural to them. Now, I know what you mean Wood. These little ants have taken a small cricket into their test tube within 2 - 3 mins. The process of carrying the small cricket into the test tube was the work of only 3 ants! Thank you very much for reading. This concludes for today. Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=nativecomment&thread=4675&page=1 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on May 15, 2011 5:59:17 GMT
Good morning, The pheidole pallidula colony is doing good. The larvae seem to be eating part of the cricket's leg still. There are 2 soldiers guarding constantly the entrance point from the test tube to the foraging area. I have unfortunately had 2 deaths due to the plastic pot having condensation, meaning that the 2 workers drowned in the droplets formed by condensation. Their water source (Cotton bud in a small milk cap) has been replaced with a test tube full of water with a cotton bud for them to drink. I think that the cotton put in the milk cap was causing the condensation because since I have changed it for a test tube there is not condensation at all. Thanks for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=nativecomment&thread=4675&page=1 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on May 17, 2011 18:38:25 GMT
Good afternoon, Update: I am getting a bit worried as the number of deaths have now risen up to 10 deaths. These include soldiers and workers. They have died for unkown reasons. I do not disturb them much as I don't need to touch anything in order to see what is going on in the foraging area. I have only seen the test tube (acting as a nest) once, which was 2 days after I had introduced them to the set up. They have a constant supply of water, honey water, heat (from heat mat controlled by a thermostat, ranging from 20C - 22C ) and darkness. I am wondering, as if to move them to another set up. (Ant world without the stickers, just filled up with sharp sand connected to a small foraging area). Can anyone give me any opinions on this? Thanks for reading, Blem12 ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=nativecomment&thread=4675&page=1 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on May 22, 2011 7:05:25 GMT
Good morning, Here's and update: The heat has been taken off and they have been moved to a new set up. This set up is an ant world connected via red plastic tubing to a small foraging tank. They were placed yesterday in the afternoon in their foraging area, today they are in the ant world with the queen underground in her new chamber. These little girls, sure work fast. I have given them a small cricket and some ant jelly, both which were taken graciously. There has not been any deaths so far, something which pleases me. I will post some pictures up soon of their set up. Thank you for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on May 29, 2011 7:56:24 GMT
Good morning, Here's an update: The pheidole pallidula are doing well. I have noticed that the queen has laid a new fresh batch of eggs. Some of the eggs before are now tiny, tiny larvae. They have made a rather, large expansion of tunnels and chambers that lead to the bottom. Where the brood is kept at most times. They seem to love baby meal worms. ( They are about 2 - 3 times longer than a worker but the same width, so yes, very small. ) I also had fed them some honey water yesterday, which by the look of their gasters, was taken very well. Thank you for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on Jun 11, 2011 7:21:41 GMT
Good morning, Here's an update: The pheidole pallidula are doing extremely well. They have dug many interconnecting tunnels and chambers. The queens chamber is located at the very bottom of the AntWorld. Her gaster has enlarged much more than before. I have seen workers carrying larvae or eggs. I am so thrilled that they are doing well. They seem to love: . Baby meal worms . Ant jelly . Honey water . Flies I have noticed that the gasters of the soldiers are always swelled which makes me think that they are using them as reservoirs. Thank you for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on Jul 2, 2011 7:05:50 GMT
Good morning: here's and update: The Pheidole pallidula colony is doing extremely well due to the fact that they have many eggs and many chunky larvae. The queens gaster is still very large. They are still taking insects with much interest and the same goes for honey/sugar water. Here's a pic of their set up (Ant World). Sorry for the tardiness. Thank you for reading. Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on Jul 11, 2011 8:23:51 GMT
Good morning, here's and update: Well nothing much has changed, the same brood are present. I fed them some Banana flavoured Ant Jelly which they happily took. I have seen the queen several times now, she seems to be doing just fine. Thanks for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on Aug 17, 2011 10:10:13 GMT
Good morning, here is an update: The Pheidole pallidula is still growing strong as there is a large amount of brood in different stages. I mostly feed them: - Meal worms - Ant jelly - Sugar water - Honey water - Flies I have to say that out of the list above their favourites are flies and honey water. They have also done some minor nest expansion. The queen seems to be in good health as she has a plump gaster and is active as normal. Thanks for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on Sept 25, 2011 7:38:01 GMT
Good morning, here's an update: This colony is doing fabulously. They have a huge amount of brood (larvae and pupae most) which can be seen in a small chamber. Despite the lower temperatures they do not seem to be slowing down at all as they continue to forage as normal. There has been a considerable amount of nest expansion within the Ant World. Thanks for reading, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nativecomment&action=display&thread=4675 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on Oct 29, 2011 9:22:43 GMT
Good morning, here's an update: These little girls are not slowing down despite temperatures falling. They continue to forage actively and the queen is still laying eggs. They have done a great amount of next expansion. The soldiers seem to be acting as repletes due to the fact that every time I put in a liquid substance such as honey water, they seem to be the first there and then can be seen transferring the obtained liquid to others. Trophallaxis. I believe that this colony now averages at about 50+ workers and 15+ soldiers. Thanks, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=nativecomment&thread=4675&page=1 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on Dec 18, 2011 8:46:24 GMT
Good morning, This colony continues to thrive despite the chilly weather. They are by far the most active colony I have at the moment. The colony now seems close to the 100 mark with a lot of brood (mostly pupae). The queen is active and plump. I have also discovered that they are actually quite fond of canary seeds as I accidentaly dropped several seeds only to see them gone the next day! Best regards, Blem12. ( If you have any questions or comments, please post them here: queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=nativecomment&thread=4675&page=1 )
|
|
|
Post by Blem12 on Feb 7, 2012 6:57:13 GMT
Good morning, This colony seems to be awakening from hibernation to my surprise, as the queen has laid a new batch of eggs! Some of the previous eggs have now turned into larvae thus feeding them some insects (crickets). Unfortunately, in the last couple of weeks something terrible had happened. My dog had accidentally knocked down the ant farm they were residing in, while wagging his tail. I quickly panicked but knew that I had to be calm to do things right. So a couple of deep breaths in and I pulled myself together. There was considerable damage done as many tunnels had collapsed. Without a second to spare, I disassembled the ant farm. Luckily, upon disassembling the ant farm, I could see that no individual was harmed. I scooped them up with a small spoon and for those who were running around in panic, I used a pooter. After all this hustle and bustle, I placed them all in a small container in which I placed a large test tube. By the end of the night, they had all moved in. Here is a picture (click on to view it in full size): Currently they are still residing in the test tube which is connected to a foraging area. That's all for now. Thank you for reading, Blem12.
|
|