Aka's Camponotus americanus

[Akaant]

More workers born recently bringing the number around 125 workers. They finally got back their appetite as did my Camponotus
chromaiodes colony.
I hope the larvae develop into adults before winter.

[Akaant]

I had much joy watching this colony grow from 80-90 workers to 150+. I don't think the current larvae batch (25) will be born this year which is fine with me.
I got a nice surprise from the current pupa batch a huge major.




Grooming.

[Akaant]

Of the 3 colonies I woke up so far C. americanus is the slowest to wake up. They don't venture out often but still have a decent amount of food stored. No deaths accrued during hibernation but the nest has more mold around the edges making me worried throughout winter. I'm particularly excited about the colony because I expect a large burst in workers.
Enjoy. www.youtube.com/user/alexuks?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/ACOspAzMYiI

[Akaant]

The brood is growing rapidly now and no sign of new eggs yet. The colony is less active taking in food still since their food supply easily lasted during hibernation. The colony is looking nice and healthy with just one noticeable death after hibernation. I can't wait until the upcoming weeks to see my first pupa and and fresh egg batches. As always I added videos and photos.










vid

[Jenny]

Hi Aka,
I'm pleased to see you still have this colony I enjoyed every minute of your great video. I hope they continue well for you for a few years yet! Good to see your return on the Ant Hill

[TenebrousNova]

They look wonderful.
I take it that these are the American 'Pavement Ants'?

[Zarbi]

Apr 9, 2011 18:48:45 GMT TenebrousNova said:

They look wonderful.
I take it that these are the American 'Pavement Ants'?

I think that is what Americans call Tetramorium species, as Camponotus are Carpenter Ants. Lovely species too looking at the photos and video

[Akaant]

We call Tetramorium caespitum pavement ants as well but this isn't totally true. It's several species not yet correctly identified.

[Akaant]

The queen started laying eggs at a much later time and has less than a dozen now. The larvae are growing at slower rate due to lack of heating but are on average larger and have higher chance in producing majors.( look at my other post for more info) I found my first pupa a few days back. unfortunately I have little to share until the brood are born.

[Akaant]

The brood are steadily growing with a large number of them pupae now. The colony is healthy and no fatalities for some time.

[Wood~Ant]

This colony is amazing, and from the video they look very well fed with their swollen gasters

[Akaant]

A good number of the brood are born now. The mites I was talking about last year are back but don't seem to be an issue. I assume they are grain mites and don't hang on the brood or ants. This species keeps themselves very clean and the dump chamber mostly empty probably reducing the mite population.
birth.
www.youtube.com/user/alexuks?feature=mhum#p/a/u/1/X1yIVxypofs

part 2.
www.youtube.com/user/alexuks?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/5m8Bev0j7dA
She seems to lay eggs in small batches.

new workers.

[Jenny]

Aka, brilliant photo's I loved the videos. (Part1 now showing at the top of the forum) Part2 to follow......

[Akaant]

Nice! I see the pics are fixed now. I couldn't make the 2nd video longer due to the bad positioning of the ants.

[Akaant]

The colony has grown to over 200 workers but I feel that the queen laid to few eggs for the hibernation batch. The most odd behavior I witness with both of the Camponotus colonies is when a worker often missing limbs constantly trying leave the foraging area until they die. The worker is often harassed while near death and can't walk anymore. I assume that the worker tries laying eggs or was the loser in a dominance conflict and then is exiled. In more than one action I seen a worker dragging another by the back of the thorax. These behaviors are more common and intense in the C americanus colony. Anyone else seen this before or have any insight?
Video update.