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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 4, 2011 20:16:23 GMT
Worker Four has died today, I found the scattered remains of her body.
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Post by Zarbi on Mar 5, 2011 18:30:30 GMT
They might eat her, as I have seen Messor eat dead pupae. Better luck with other pupae that come from the larvae later, and let's hope this colony gets bigger when summer arrives
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 8, 2011 16:21:51 GMT
One larva seems to be ill or something, its a yellow colour. Due to a big fungal outbreak in the red Messor's bottle, I have been forced to put them in the ytong set up. The move was badly done by me. The queen is in the furthest corner, and the workers are scattered with the brood. I've made a terrible mistake, and I won't be surprised if they never find each other again. I'm sorry.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 9, 2011 7:11:16 GMT
Only one worker has found the queen, who is refusing to move out of the top right corner. The other two workers are together with the brood at the bottom left corner, and none of them are trying to find each other.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Mar 9, 2011 8:48:00 GMT
Only one worker has found the queen, who is refusing to move out of the top right corner. The other two workers are together with the brood at the bottom left corner, and none of them are trying to find each other. If you find that the ants are reluctant to leave the glass pot they arrived in, you might have to try tipping it up and gently tapping them out, if they haven't already moved out that is. Ants have a strong urge to guard their queen's brood as it is the future of the colony, and often with Messor barbs the queen will wander off by herself, as one of mine does this often; but she usually returns to rejoin her workers at some point. Don't worry too much about the queen, as she can take care of herself for awhile. It may be best, if you are concerned, to pick up the queen and move her back to where her brood is. Then at least she has no excuse for not knowing where her colony is located
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 9, 2011 18:06:39 GMT
I would pick her and her worker associate up, but the set up's glass is glued to the main concrete block. Attempting to remove it would cause irreparable damage. The workers with brood are in the same place as before, whilst the queen and worker have moved to another chamber, but still far away from the others.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 10, 2011 7:47:15 GMT
All three workers are reunited with the brood, but the queen is still in the same place as before.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 12, 2011 9:26:19 GMT
One of the workers is dead. I knew this sort of thing would happen the moment I put them in and realised there is no going back.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 12, 2011 14:35:09 GMT
Another of the red workers is dead. I have a bad feeling that the last worker and the queen will be next unless I can somehow get them out of there, and I can't do that without breaking the set up. If their brood can be retrieved and there is no other hope, then I'll transfer them to the black queen (Who had formerly accepted my old red queen's pupa and looked after it). Black queen has about two eggs.
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Post by Jenny on Mar 12, 2011 15:03:17 GMT
Sorry to hear that Timenova They do seem to take to a dirt nest a lot easier than a dry one. I hope things improve and just maybe you'll be able to rescue queen & worker with brood together from there I wonder sometimes whether it is the concrete powder, or what they have fastened the glass down with that could be the problem? Our black queen in the AntMine seems to be less advanced than the Messors in the dirt nests........I am beginning to wonder how suitable are these Ytong/Plaster nests for some ant species.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 12, 2011 15:58:16 GMT
Good news at last. With the help of my Dad's Stanley blade, I was able to cut the glass out neatly and retrieve both the worker and queen, along with the final larva (The rest are gone). I have returned them to the test tube, which has been cleaned out. I hope they are able to start again from here once they have settled down, because I'm still very worried about them. Its not good that two workers died in a matter of days.
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shane
Ant Photographer
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Post by shane on Mar 12, 2011 17:12:19 GMT
I found my Messor colony a little hard at first, with worker's dying from just scouting around. As Jenant says, it maybe dust as mine did die from dry dust in that mix of soil stuff you get with set up, even though when its damp or wet it seems fine. In end I changed to sand you get from garden centers thats cheap for a big bag that kids play in as its toxic free, and in case I did wash it and dry it before using it in foraging tank. Think next time I fully clean out foraging tank, I may use small white stones you get for fish tanks for them to run around on.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 13, 2011 9:52:55 GMT
Good advice Shane. I'll bear that in mind. My black Messor queen seemed to be faring badly in a soil set up, which mould seemed to be taking over. I hadn't checked her for a while, and was astonished to see a vast crater in the centre where she and her single worker had excavated the soil. She also has two eggs, and because of the fungus danger I decided to place her, worker and eggs safely into a test tube again. She is fine now, and they are looking after the eggs. I have presented both Messor queens with a bread crumb, and they are eating them now. I really wish I knew what kind of seeds they like though? Every kind I have placed in there previously is rejected, by both of them. I had initial doubts that the red Messor larva would survive, but she seems to be looked after now. I really hope they can start again, because I have always hoped for a successful Messor colony.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Mar 13, 2011 10:00:30 GMT
I have presented both Messor queens with a bread crumb, and they are eating them now. I really wish I knew what kind of seeds they like though? Every kind I have placed in there previously is rejected, by both of them. I had initial doubts that the red Messor larva would survive, but she seems to be looked after now. I really hope they can start again, because I have always hoped for a successful Messor colony. I am using the mixed canary seeds left over from when our pet canary died 18 months ago, and the ants pick out what seeds they like and leave what they don't want to eat
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 14, 2011 22:13:09 GMT
I'll have to buy a more varied collection of seeds this weekend, but I'll give Canary seeds a go if I can find them. I was reading Shane's Messor Barbarus journal earlier for ideas, and read that his Messors enjoyed cheese. I have presented my Black Messors with a tiny piece of it, and they do seem to be interested in it. The problem with offering them food seems to be that the queens have very good eyesight, and hate the smallest disturbances. Thanks, Shane. You may have helped me a little more with the food problem, if they eat it.
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