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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 15, 2011 14:32:48 GMT
(Introduction)I bought a colony of Lasius flavus from Blem12 in November, and they did well before being killed off by a fungus. This species has recently had their nuptial flights along with the Lasius niger and as a result, Wood and Jenant gained plenty of newly mated queens- some of which they were selling very cheaply. Living in Portsmouth, I very rarely see Lasius flavus workers, let alone colonies, so I was unable to gain a queen myself despite managing to capture my six ladies here. I jumped at the chance to buy the Lasius flavus, since I find their bright amber colouring to be a very attractive quality, and they are generally interesting despite being trickier to feed than their black cousins. (Log 1)The queens arrived at 12 today, just as I was giving up hope of the postman arriving. They are nice and healthy looking, paired with each other, and already have a single egg between them- hopefully one of many. Since they are in the claustral phase right now, I won't have much to update with for the first few months apart from egg count, larval development, and the appearances of pupae. Lets hope they do well. As always, you may feel free to comment on this journal.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 15, 2011 14:48:55 GMT
We're happy you got them safely, and once the queens begin to lay their eggs then they soon build up in number. I have 3 queens living together which appear to have 10 eggs in a clump today, as there were none yesterday when I looked Here's hoping yours do well and found a nice colony of little workers by mid September
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 15, 2011 16:42:13 GMT
Thank you, Wood. (Log 2)The Amber Ladies (As I like to call these queens ;D ) have settled in fully and laid a second egg. My ant cabinet is getting crowded, especially with my six Lasius niger queens from this year, but I managed to find their test tube a space near the other Lasius, so I can still survey them easily, but they have the dimness they require. Both queens like to stay close to each other, watching their eggs carefully and sometimes turning to clean each other. They seem to have formed a kind of bond.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 17, 2011 12:13:52 GMT
(Log 3)The blood serum bottle that the queens were sent in does not have air holes, it turns out, and was only intended for quick and safe transport. As a result, I discovered my queens unconscious but they woke up once I opened the lid. I placed the bottle in a soil set up some hours earlier and then I found both queens outside looking for a site. I later saw that one of them had gone into a new hole, and the second queen going back for the eggs before joining her partner. Nice to see that they're staying together.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 27, 2011 16:53:12 GMT
(Log 4)No sign of any queen or claustral chamber, but I expect they're there. I won't look for them, I'd rather not end up with disgruntled queens.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 2, 2011 9:11:19 GMT
(Log 5)It's been a few months now with no sign of the queens whatsoever. So, worried, I took action just now to try and find what I thought would be bodies. I carefully took out a piece of soil, and certainly didn't expect to find several cocooned pupae and the shocked queens staring up at me. It seems that my amber ladies have been working together to found their colony, being more tolerant of each other than Lasius niger queens are. There's no sign of workers, but all queens are alive and well. Brood includes a few piles of eggs, some tiny larvae and about 10 pupae. I worried that I might cause a cave-in, so I carefully pushed the piece of earth they were nesting in into a test tube. Their claustral chamber is intact within the test tube, and the queens are checking over their brood. I think they'll be alright, but they're probably a bit surprised. So would I be if some moron took the roof off my house. ;D
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 3, 2011 8:41:53 GMT
(Log 6)The flavus queens have settled in overnight, and they have put all their brood near the lid. This means (Unfortunately) that the brood is inside the lid and will fall out if I try and open it, but I'm happy that they've settled down after their unexpected move yesterday. The cocooned pupae are tiny, I think that flavus nanitics must be even smaller than niger ones. I'm not sure what will happen in the long-term since this is a monogynous species, but I am reliably informed that Lasius flavus are not as hostile towards each other as their black cousins are. I intend to keep the queens together, to see how they get along.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 8, 2011 12:05:16 GMT
(Log 7)I thought things were quite normal earlier, but then I noticed a very pale new callow- I almost missed her. There's a number of other cocooned pupae, so hopefully there will be at least five workers by the end of the month. The queens are still quite happy in each others company, right now they are focusing on their new worker.
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Post by bobdol on Sept 8, 2011 19:00:12 GMT
(Log 6)The cocooned pupae are tiny, I think that flavus nanitics must be even smaller than niger ones. I was amazed at the size of the flavus cocoons too My queens cocoons are really , really small I can not imagine the size of worker that comes out
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 10, 2011 8:33:02 GMT
Yes, they are really tiny. (Log 8)The Amber Ladies were joined this morning by their second worker. The workers are tiny and shy, preferring to hide behind the queens. I have not yet offered food, because it would be too difficult- the queens are right next to the lid. Yesterday, I carefully opened the lid to get a more detailed look at the first worker, and one of the queens backed a little before falling out onto my hand. She wasn't hurt, and joined the rest of the colony when I put her back in. I'll have to be careful if ever I have cause to open the lid again.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 26, 2011 7:22:36 GMT
(Log 9)
I can now count at least six workers, although there might be more. They are shy and fast moving, and so its a bit hard to see them. I may try feeding them within a few days.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 27, 2011 12:34:58 GMT
(Log 10)Today when checking the flavus, I gently tilted the test tube so that the piece of soil slid back a little- I was able to see the full colony. The queens are present with a big amount of eggs, small larvae, a few pupae, and about ten workers. Managed to feed them with some honey, here's the queens drinking from it. You can also see the tiny golden workers in the soil.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 8, 2011 13:38:46 GMT
(Log 11)Checked today to see a large number of cocooned pupae- and a big pile of eggs. These queens are being very productive, and it looks like there will be about 20 workers in no time. ;D Both workers and queens seem to love honey.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 15, 2011 18:30:08 GMT
(Log 12)The colony is still growing steadily, lots of pupae and eggs right now. They have now set up shop inside the clump of dirt and made a small chamber in there, although the queens like to sit just outside the dirt at times, and the workers keep much of the brood outside as well. When I look at them though, the queens are quick to retreat into their chamber with the brood being whisked away by their older sisters. There is at least one callow with the colony today, she eclosed yesterday. There's about 15 workers or more.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 23, 2011 17:10:04 GMT
(Log 13)The Amber Ladies have amassed a worker population of roughly twenty. Another five workers will eclose within the following days from the cocoon pile (About fifteen) since they are dark, and there's a pile of about thirty eggs. There aren't many larvae, but they range from newborn to medium stage. The queens still like to nest in the lid part of the test tube but they usually move into the soil chamber seconds after the lid is removed; the workers do not try to escape and simply move the brood out of the way. There was a minor incident this morning when a pupa accidentally fell out of the test tube during feeding, but I've yet to find it- if I do, I'll be sure to return it. During this feeding session, the flavus were given a small wasp like fly- later, I saw a tiny yellow worker holding the fly in her jaws.
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