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Post by cheese2008 on Apr 20, 2011 18:27:39 GMT
After capturing 3 queens and a large work force and many brood I am now addicted to ants ;D
They have settled in within 2 days and have started taking food, I don't know if this is an average time for the ants to settle or if it differs under different circumstances and species. They have huge chambers and tunnels, I can see straight into the nest, I can see a lot of larvae and tending ants but have yet to see the queens.
I don't know if they have laid eggs but I'm sure I can see some white clumps that may be eggs. I will keep observing them. They have taken 3 spiders I fed them but I cannot see them in any larvae chambers, I wonder were they are. I'm worried they were taken to another nest site that has no larvae and only workers, I hope they feed the larvae soon. Nothing else to report at the min.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 20, 2011 20:46:43 GMT
Good luck with these.
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Post by cheese2008 on Apr 20, 2011 23:18:03 GMT
Thanks timenova I really hope this colony does well I've only had it for a few days and already I'm hooked, they have become settled so all is good (for now).
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Post by cheese2008 on Apr 21, 2011 1:10:47 GMT
I know updates are normally weekly rather than hourly lol, but there was a lot of action tonight.
I would say that about 20 workers were out foraging. When they found half a wasp abdomen they covered it in seconds.
My only concern is the 2 nest sites, 1 with only workers taking all the of food inside and the other with workers and lots of brood and no food being taken inside (at least I haven't see any sign of this) all I can do is leave them to it and hope for the best as I am finding a lot of things when it comes to ant study.
I really under estimated the amount of ants and brood I had collected, I think there was a lot of brood in the soil I took from the nest, there wasn't a lot of soil but 1 air pocket can contain a lot of larvae as I found out when the soil crumbled when I had transfered them to there new home.
Any way before I start to ramble back on topic, I hope the larvae get some protein soon.
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Post by lotsofants on Apr 21, 2011 8:16:01 GMT
Good luck with your colony
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Post by cheese2008 on Apr 21, 2011 12:37:14 GMT
Thanks lotsofants and thanks for your advice on my other thread Here is a quick update. I have connected a foraging garden for them to have more room, it is connected via plastic tubing, they don't seem to be aware of it, I really hope they use it. I'm actually very proud of my make shift ant farm as I didn't use my tank there were huge gaps in the lid and had nothing to hand to use as a barrier round the glass edge. I was also considering collecting 5 more workers from the nest to boost my numbers, I'm not sure if this can be done with the ants being away from the mother colony for 4 days now, I will ask in another forum and see if it has been done. I am still learning so much everyday and most to all you forum foragers with all your combined knowledge my ants are doing great so big thanks to you all. I will update on any progress and hopefully by then my ants will be exploring there new garden. I will put some pics on tonight as I've ordered a camera just for this purpose it should be here in next few hours. ;D
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Post by cheese2008 on Apr 22, 2011 19:22:44 GMT
There is still a lot of nest building going on, tunnels that span the complete circumference of the container. Each tunnel has round and oval chambers connected to them, again next the side with a clear view of all the larvae and nurse ants. These tiny ants can move huge clumps of sand that is half the size of them, I'm amazed at the work done over 5 days, there doesn't seem to be any kind of method to the building just random tunnels leading of from every direction up and down, they look so impressive. While connecting my foraging garden to there nest, I squeezed the sides of the container, while I forced the tube connecting them through it left a 4 mm gap between the sand and the sides which left some tunnels exposed, my heart sunk as ants explored and became trapped between the sides and the sand. I considered filling the gap in with dry sand in the hope they would still use the exposed tunnels and chambers. After getting some more sand from my local b&q I prepared it ready to fill this gap. I was shocked to see I was beaten to it, about 30 ants taking sand from other tunnels and filling the gaps their selves, it took a few hours but by the end it was filled and they continued using the tunnels and chambers that were once exposed . After the commotion in the nest down to me adding to it, they resumed making more tunnels. They have started making the chambers a lot bigger and they are starting to become dark as they edge into the middle of the farm. The larvae in these chambers seem to be arranged into size order the larger ones in the top chambers and the middle size larvae in the middle chambers and small larvae are in the bottom chambers, not sure if this is normal practice for this species or if it is just coincidence. I believe I may have seen eggs as an ant was carrying a clump of white matter to the chambers below but once in there I lost sight of it. I really hope they were eggs and not just bread. I have also seen the queens moving from chamber to chamber and what looks like inspecting the work being carried out. I have stopped giving them flies and spiders as they don't seem to want to take any at this time, less and less workers are foraging and spent all their time nest building, only about 3 workers out foraging, they still haven't (or at least haven't seen) used the cotton soaked in sugar water which I had to change due to the ants that had been excavating had decided to use it as a dump site for their sand. There is not much else to post really other that no workers have been in the tube which leads to the newly added foraging garden, I hope they discover it soon. PS: I tried to get some pictures of the ants and there chambers but because the farm is plastic the pictures blur and appear foggy. I'm not happy I bought a camera for this purpose and it didn't work sorry.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 22, 2011 19:39:18 GMT
While connecting my foraging garden to there nest, I squeezed the sides of the container, while I forced the tube connecting them through it left a 4 mm gap between the sand and the sides which left some tunnels exposed, my heart sunk as ants explored and became trapped between the sides and the sand. I considered filling the gap in with dry sand in the hope they would still use the exposed tunnels and chambers. After getting some more sand from my local b&q I prepared it ready to fill this gap. I was shocked to see I was beaten to it, about 30 ants taking sand from other tunnels and filling the gaps their selves, it took a few hours but by the end it was filled and they continued using the tunnels and chambers that were once exposed . Ouch, I hate it when accidents like that happen. One of the reasons I stopped using ant farm setups, because I'm pretty clumsy and I wouldn't trust myself near one. I hope those were eggs you saw, as it means that your queens are becoming productive and are becoming content in their home.
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Post by cheese2008 on Apr 24, 2011 21:38:01 GMT
This colony is doing really well, they have built a nest around the full span of the container and I can see into most of the larvae chambers, the larvae are getting very big and fat and most now resemble small peanuts. They have a dark line running from the front end down to the bottom end. Lots of larvae are feeding on bits of flies, spiders and a cricket in the very bottom chambers which also contains the queens. The queens must now be settled as they have definitely started laying, there are clumps of eggs in the bottom chambers which some are stuck to the side, I am very pleased they have started laying. Colony expansion can now continue They continue to take food in the form of sugar water and bits of bread left from yesterday. When they find a food source, within seconds more ants come and help move the food to a nest entrance and then excavate sand from beneath and sink into the chambers below that contain larvae. When a food source has been taken into a chamber the larvae are placed onto the food by the worker ants and it looks like they hook on to the food with their mouth and slowly eat away. The larvae are not only given food in one chamber as the are also moved to other chambers to feed if the prey is big to move or to be decapitated and shared within the 6 chambers all containing larvae. They are also cleaned tenderly by the workers and constantly being checked on, the ants use their antennae to what looks like checking the health of the larvae. Its amazing to watch them care for their brood and excavate their nest, at first it seemed like there was no order in the nest as they were doing as they pleased without any benefit to the colony, such as making multiple nest sites away from the queens and larvae and taking food into chambers that contained no larvae and left the other chambers empty, but after a week the whole colony has come together, each separate nest site now connected to each other by a network of tunnels that seem to lead to a central chamber in the middle of the nest. I connected a foraging garden made from a large plastic container filled with soil and sand with a few leaves, stones and also some hardy wall plants. I am unsure as to what plants they are. I have only seen 3 ants that have actually gone through the tubing that connects the two parts. I have placed food in the foraging garden(my name for the ants new addition) and will only place it in the from now to encourage the ants to forage further out. I hope they start to make full use of this new foraging garden as it looks just like the habitat they would forage in(of course 100x smaller). I haven't seen the queens for a few days but I am not concerned as they are definitely laying eggs. I am very pleased with the progress of this colony, they continue to thrive and get more accustomed to captivity everyday (these ants were taken from the wild). OK. Here are some things that my ants love. - Bread - Spiders (killed by freezing) - Flies (killed by freezing) - Sugar water (cotton wool soaked in Lego brick) - Caterpillars (tiny green ones from a plant in my garden) - Ketchup (weird, I know but a member on here tried this with his and they loved it) OK. Here are some things they did not like. - Woodlouse (exoskeleton to hard) - Wasps (unless cut open so they can get to the soft insides) - Beetles (exoskeleton to hard) All the foods other than liquids are eaten by the larvae, worker ants follow a strict diet of liquid foods. Since keeping these ants (1 week so far) I have a little box containing self made tools I use for the maintenance and feeding of the colony. I.e. old pencil with pin cello taped to the and used to pick out uneaten food and debris by stabbing it. I find that having lots of different tools for different jobs kept close to the colony makes tasks so much easier, but thats just my experience so far. When it comes to ants, trail and error is the key to success. You will make mistakes but you will learn from them and don't repeat them again, but mistakes are also followed by great success's and some ideas I have had turned out to be great ideas, such as my home made foraging garden. After seven days its fair to say that ants hate vibrations. I found this out when I had music on very loud and the vibrations seemed to send the colony into chaos. There were ants running around on the surface looking panicked, ants in the nest grabbed larvae and ran for cover in darker chambers. I now keep my ants in my spare room away from the hustle and bustle of a busy house. I would definitely advise to keep them in a quiet environment. They settle a lot easier and are happier undisturbed (I know it can't be helped when observing them but try and limit knocks and bumps). Thanks for reading, cheese
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Post by lotsofants on Apr 25, 2011 8:03:11 GMT
Glad to hear they are thriving You should see if they like crickets, my ants love them ;D
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Post by TenebrousNova on Apr 25, 2011 10:11:57 GMT
I tried them on crickets, but make sure the cricket is actually dead before feeding them to the ants. Last time I tried, my Myrmica began to eat it to get thrown away as the cricket kicked them. And yes, the stripe down the M.Rubra larvae is a sign of growing up. They may pupate soon.
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Post by lotsofants on Apr 25, 2011 10:26:14 GMT
Yeah you do have to make sure there dead, my camponotus nicobarensis love them and honey water ;D
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Post by cheese2008 on Apr 25, 2011 22:28:47 GMT
I will definately be getting some honey on the next shopping day, a lot of people on here have recomended it as a favourite for ants so thanks guys, I do hope they pupate soon timenova. As for my ants, there hase been a lot of activity today. my ants have discovered their new forage garden I attached 3 days ago, when the ants had fully explored the garden the began some construction, the tube that connects the nest to the forage garden were filled with sand and soil at both ends, leaving only holes big enough for the ants to get through. I am unsure why they did this but I have come to the conclusion that the tube is now what they believe to be the main entrance to their nest. after the construction was completed, they began to forage and instantly started drinking from the cotton wool that is soaked in sugar water, I later added a spider that was squashed by my mom when it found its way inside via the washing on the line, it took a while before the ants found it but when they did it was covered in ants dragging it through the tube (which is now called the ant super highway) and into the main nest chamber, were it was greeted with lots of hungry larvae. the tube connecting the two compartments is now a flurry of activity, with ants running very fast backwards and forwards, I am glad they are now using this garden as it saves me disturbing the main nest while feeding, I now only need to lift the lid now and again to spray with water. I can no longer see inside the whole of the main chamber, this is because the chamber goes right to the centre of the farm and has become dark, I can still see lots of activity from larvae and caring ants. I was correct in thinking the queens are laying and wow are they laying, already there is a chamber full of eggs scattered in clumps been cared for by the nurse ants, there are also eggs in other chambers including the main. the larvae in these chambers are getting very big, some to big for the ants carry from chamber to chamber I hope they will pupate soon and give the colony a boost. I have also observed some strange behaviour from one ant, it was carring a fellow worker ant from the main nest and carried her down the tube and put her in the forage garden, the ant simply got up and began filling the tube with sand and soil, there is definatly order to the nest with each ant knowing what needs to be done and divideing the work (although not sure how the ants decide what job they take). this colony seems to be thriving and continues to be very active with more ants coming out of the nest everyday, so far I have difficulty counting the average amount of workers out at any one time, and after many attempts I came to numbers 25 to 30 ants. it is great fun to watch these amazing critters and they just keep amazing me, everyday the nest tunnels are wider and the chambers get bigger, in the space of a week thay have constructed a huge nest and every part is used for something. things I'm keeping an eye for is, the designation of a waste chamber and pupating larvae. patience is definately the key to success when it comes to keeping M'rubra if you give them a decent set up (even a half decent set up) they will adapt and thrive. thanks for reading, cheese
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Post by cheese2008 on Apr 26, 2011 21:58:10 GMT
My first colony is doing really really well, they continue to take lots of food, and not surprising because the larvae are many and very hungry. Some larvae are very big and are turning white, it looks as though they are pupating, the larvae still seem to be in size order, again this may be coincidence and just how they have been placed. There are allot of eggs being laid by the queens (who are still out of sight). Allot of ants are out foraging for food and there is a continuous stream of workers from the nest going to the foraging garden. They have taken a spider and large fly today which took a while for them to get to the nest due to the size of them. They still continue to fill the tube (connecting the nest to the foraging garden) with sand and soil. I love when my mum shouts because she just squashed a spider or fly because they become ant food, I also feel for the poor spiders that get stuck in the bath tub as they too become ant food. I watch my colony every spare second of the day as they are so fascinating to observe. Nothing else to report at the moment. All is well cheese
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Post by cheese2008 on May 1, 2011 23:09:34 GMT
It's been a few days since my last update, but there hasn't been a lot going on over the past few days, other than a few workers continuing to fill the tube with sand and soil (which is almost full end to end). There have been far less ants out and about, only 1 or 2 workers have been seen drinking sugar water. But today I gave them some chicken from Sunday lunch, and within a few minutes it was covered with ants who striped it to a tiny move able chunk in 10 minutes. I took a look inside the colony by removing the cloth that is wrapped round the farm. I was excited to see a few pupae in the lower chambers and allot of fat larvae in the remaining chambers I estimate about 100 larvae and about 100 eggs, this colony is about to make a massive population jump. I think I need a bigger set up asap. When I first captured this colony(a small fraction of the main colony) there were 2 queens and a lot of workers and larvae. This has been a massive boost to my colony as most ant keepers would start from scratch and establish a colony from very humble beginnings. I do wish I'd started this way and feel that sense of satisfaction when the colony starts to thrive. Nether the less I am very proud of my colony, they seem to be very settled now and have a lot of chambers in the nest connected by wide tunnels, I would say the chambers are about the size of a 50 pence piece stretched sideways and the tunnels about the width of a 5 pence piece. I did see a dead ant being carried around by another ant, it continued to carry it round the foraging garden and back to the nest before finally climbing the side of the container the nest is in and releasing it at the top(it sticked to the condensation). I am trying to find some aphids for my ants, it would be amazing to see them farming them for honey dew, normally my honeysuckle is covered with them by now, but not this year. All is well
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