Pheidole rhea

[kalistes]

Hey guys,
I'm expanding my collection with two new species, Pheidole rhea & Pheidole pallidula.

All the info I can find regarding these ants points to a set up similar to Messor barbarus (sandy soil with seeds & insects for food). I also heard that P. rhea often nests in rock crevices.
Does anyone have any further tips or advice with either of these two species?
Thanks.

[Wood~Ant]

Hi Kalistes,
I have just ordered a Pheidole rhea queen from Martin Goss, so we will have to compare notes when she arrives
From my researches it would seem that P. rhea does collect seeds as well as also eating insects. It lives in desert areas in Arizona.

P. pallidula is a European species and has very tiny workers.

[kalistes]

Hey Wood. I was hoping someone else on here would have ordered one at the same time ;D. Once she has a few workers, I'm thinking of putting her in a small container with a very sandy soil and a couple of small, light pieces of slate to nest under. Hopefully we'll both have some of those super-majors next year

[Wood~Ant]

Not only is it a desert dwelling ant, but also the largest of all the Pheidole genus from what I can gather.
I did consider Acromyrmex versicolor, but as it can be difficult keeping the fungus garden healthy, I went for the P. rhea instead.
Keep an eye on Martin's site as he should be getting more species from late August into September and October.

[Wood~Ant]

Without a doubt, my friend Dale Ward has some of the best pics of this species. Just take a look at these guys


www.tightloop.com/ants/showspecies.php?species_id=17

Three pages of P. rhea

[kalistes]

Nice pics! Those Major/Super-Major workers are brilliant!

[Formicalondon]

I was after these last year he never had any in the end though glad he has some instock now, as they being the largest pheidole species in the world and not being dimorphic but polymorphic I'm sure they will be a fascinating species. think I will construct a small plaster nest when the colony get close to out growing its test tube.

[Wood~Ant]

This useful field study done on Pheidole rhea may prove to be of interest

www.notesfromunderground.org/archive/issue11-1/fieldobs/pheidolerhea.html

[kalistes]

Interesting article Wood, and seems to point towards a sandy/rocky nest site.

[Zarbi]

Martin Goss has this information about Arizona queens on his site

Tips on Care of new Ant Queens

The start of colony founding is a critical time for all ant queens. They are using up valuable resources (flight muscle and body mass) to lay eggs and to feed growing larvae. Many species do not forage or feed during this time so getting the first workers produced is essential and any set back can be a disaster so a suitable first home is a must.

A tried and tested method for most queens is to place them within a suitable sized glass tube with a reservoir of water behind a tight cotton bung. A second cotton bung prevents escape and holds in humidity. Even desert species require a certain amount of humidity during the colony founding - this is why the often fly after heavy rain. These should be left alone until the first workers emerge. At this point, the second bung can be removed slightly to allow workers to forage for food. They should be offered small quantities of sugar water and small insects such as fruit fly. Any uneaten food should be removed every day. Once the workers have started foraging, the colony can be placed in a larger container depending on how the colony is going to be kept. If placed in a soil set up the queen and workers will excavate a hole for the new nest when they feel ready.

For most species a temperature of 75-80F is Ok. Providing heat from underneath is not recommended as this is unnatural and causes the soil to dry out.

For Harvesters, better results are achieved with temperatures of 85-90F and giving them a large container with several centimeters of damp sand. They will not lay when kept in the usual plugged vial system described above and the sand really does seem to help.

Ideally, the queens should be disturbed as little as possible as they will often stop laying eggs, eat the brood, or not tend them if disturbed.

Non soil based set ups can be used but we recommend that the queens are allowed to start the colonies in a soil set up first. If the soil is allowed to dry out slowly after the workers emerge to forage the colony will happily move to a non soil based system if the humidity levels are better for them there.

[kalistes]

Noooooooooo! My P. rhea queen arrived today but was dead on arrival These things happen I know (and it's not the suppliers fault), but I'm still gutted. There are no more in stock apparently and I've been after this species since last year .
On the plus side, my P. pallidula are doing really well (dining like kings on the multitude of mosquitos that seem to be everywhere in this area.

[Wood~Ant]

I am really sorry to hear about your queen being dead kalistes

My own queen is lively enough, but refuses to dig in and constantly wanders around her tank. Most frustrating
I have also got a Myrmecocystus queen, and photos of both queens can be seen in the Photo Gallery.

The Honey Pot has dug in and taken her eggs with her, so I just hope the P. rhea will do so quickly, as she may wear herself out if she doesn't settle and dig in soon

[kalistes]

Hi Myrm,
no, I bought it from Martin (same as Wood I presume, since I got a honeypot queen as well). He had no hesitation in offering a refund, so there's no problem there, I was just looking forward to getting her so much *wanders off into a corner to cry*

Oh, The Honeypot queen has a lots of eggs already so I'm going to leave her in the container that she arrived in I think.

[kalistes]

Hey Wood,
Thanks for the condolences
You could perhaps try creating the start of a hole for her (I just use a pencil pushed into the soil). This usually works well for me (they tend to zoom straight down the hole)

[Wood~Ant]

kalistes said:

You could perhaps try creating the start of a hole for her (I just use a pencil pushed into the soil).

I actually made 3 holes in different areas of the sand, but she has totally ignored them so far. I even placed her underneath a large rock from my garden, in the hope that she would stay in the dark and feel secure, but within 4 seconds she was back out again
Funnily enough my other queen was in our airing cupboard in complete darkness, yet she still dug a hole in the centre of the sand and vanished below ground level.
Now if only my Phiedole rhea can see sense enough to do the same