[Timenova] Myrmica Rubra

[TenebrousNova]

(Introduction/Colony Capture)

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to check out the Formica Fusca colony in my Nan's country garden. There is also a colony of Formica Sanguinea nearby (Close enough for the F.Sanguinea to gain F.Fusca 'slaves', I expect).
The F.Fusca live underneath a ceramic stone tortoise, which happens to be hollow. Last year, I looked underneath it to find hundreds of cocooned pupae and a hoard of angry workers. Yesterday, I looked underneath to find no brood, but a disgruntled and heavily-guarded queen.

I managed to pick up the F.Fusca queen, but she jumped off my hand.
By the time I saw her again, she was running towards the entrance tunnel to her nest. I managed once again to catch her, but then I somehow dropped her before I could get her into the collecting pot.
She escaped into her nest, and I was besieged by outraged workers. No F.Fusca colony for me.

By this time, the neighbouring Myrmica Rubra colony (Who share some of their land with the F.Fusca) were aware of a panic. Five of them stood outside their colony, and were 'talking' to passing F.Fusca (Who were still determined to wreak a painful vengeance upon me for trying to kidnap themselves and their mother).
On closer inspection, one of the M.Rubra seemed to have different colour, a more velvety look and a larger thorax and gaster- a queen. I knew, as I had looked up pictures of them before.

After losing a large F.Fusca queen, there was no way I was going to let this lady get away. By the time I approached, she had turned around and begun to walk towards her nest with guards in tow. I successfully caught them all, and then proceeded to capture more workers plus any brood I came across. This colony contains 4+ queens, so without going overboard I was able to take plenty of workers.

After getting just over 100 workers and about 30-40 big larvae with the single queen, I was ready to leave. But then, I saw another queen sunbathing nearby, and took her as well.

Not bad going, and I didn't get stung once! (Unless the F.Fusca bites count.)

(Log 1)
The colony is just settling down in the collecting tub, I'm going to put them in a more permanent set up tomorrow once I get home.
The first queen walks around a lot, investigating the nest activities. The second queen is having more of a fuss made over her, as the workers insisted on carrying her around once I put her in.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the M.Rubra get along, I haven't kept a polygynous species before. Keeping wild M.Rubra seems to be the fashion on the forum recently, as I seem to be the third to get a colony within the last few weeks. ;D

Feel free to comment on this journal if you have any comments/suggestions or advice.

[cheese2008]

hi timenova, I enjoyed your post on how you came to have a M'rubra colony shame about the fusca

hope to read more updates soon and find out how your ants settle in and also how quickly next time I will do things different if you have better results .

cheese

[Zarbi]

Sounds like you've had a busy time at your grans place, I hope she didn't feel left out as you collected those ants. She must have a good sandy soil garden as Formica love this type of soil, especially sanguinea which are normally found on sandy heathlands.
Nice one Timenova

[TenebrousNova]

Thank you, Cheese and Zarbi.
My Nan didn't mind much, as she enjoys seeing me studying my wildlife and pursuing my interests. She was more concerned with the mess I made while digging, so I made sure to put all the displaced soil back.
Besides, I had finished catching ants by 9AM this morning, so I could spend the rest of the day celebrating her birthday.

The house is in East Sussex somewhere. The garden is huge, as the property used to be a mill. There's a long river originating from a small waterfall, flowing down to a big lake that is good for fishing in. My Nan keeps ducks and geese of all kinds in there. There's two fields, where I sometimes see wild red foxes. There's even a family of pheasants living in the garden.
The ant colonies are all found on a small hill, where they face the sun. The soil is indeed sandy, and is held together by grass roots. I occasionally see Lasius Flavus, and also a tiny Myrmica species that looks like this:



I can't identify these, but they are based in a old mossy tree stump and live within the wood.

The country air has done me the world of good, and I'm looking forward to seeing how my other pets and colonies have got on.

[TenebrousNova]

(Log 2)

I decided to move the Myrmica Rubra into a proper set up just now. I probably should have waited until I got home, but it didn't seem fair to keep them in that small collecting pot.

I had clumps of dead grass and soil in the collecting pot, and they were reluctant to move. I had to pick up each clump, plucking out each worker and larva and placing them in the new set up, a big plastic tub.
I did not manage to avoid all of the workers, as I got stung about four times. I spent lots of time quickly removing disturbed workers from my hands before they could prime their stings and use them, as many were about to do.
When a M.Rubra worker wants to sting you, she will clamp down with her jaws before lowering her gaster and using her sting. The venom injected into their target is like a milder stinging nettle sting. Many people seem to think its a lot more painful than that, but I have a high pain threshold and thus I don't notice it as much. Like wasps and hornets and unlike bees, their stings are not barbed and thus they can use it again and again.

When finally I had all of them in the set up, I misted it with a water spray bottle and beheld my work.
The set up is a big plastic tub, in which I had placed alternating layers of soil and sand. I compressed each layer to make them more sturdy before adding the next. I left the top quarter, and placed some leaf litter and a few stones in there. A combined nest and foraging ground.

I'm still astonished at the number of workers I have. There's certainly about 100, but its easier to say '100 workers' than to behold them.
There's about 30 very big larvae, which were problematic to move as the M.Rubra defended them fiercely. I found it was easier to let a worker pick a larva up, then move them at the same time while the worker can't attack.

Both queens are present. The 'active' one seems to be given barely any attention. Workers quickly check her as though she is a normal worker, then leave her to go on her way. The second queen meanwhile, always has three workers carrying her around. Do M.Rubra show favouritism to certain queens, or could the pampered one be superior in some way to the other?

They have begun to dig a little, and have mainly organised themselves around one corner. I placed a fly in there (With wings pinched so it can't fly away), and watched in morbid interest as the workers assaulted it. They did not bother using their sting, and simply bit at it. The fly is dead now, and will undoubtedly become a meal for the larvae. Workers love honey and can't get enough of it.

Once I take them home, I'll be able to watch them some more as they settle.

[Wood~Ant]

Apr 22, 2011 12:06:28 GMT TenebrousNova said:

(Log 2)

Both queens are present. The 'active' one seems to be given barely any attention. Workers quickly check her as though she is a normal worker, then leave her to go on her way. The second queen meanwhile, always has three workers carrying her around. Do M.Rubra show favouritism to certain queens, or could the pampered one be superior in some way to the other?

Once I take them home, I'll be able to watch them some more as they settle.

This is something I have observed in wild nests, as Myrmica workers seem to pick up what appear to me to be younger queens. Perhaps they fear the young queens will wander off and get lost, as they allow older queens to come and go as they please; and this is probably due to the older queens being far more settled, as they are certainly much more "street wise" than the younger ones who haven't lived in the nest as long.

I so much enjoy reading this journal as it is written out clearly and is a joy to follow the way you have organized the format. Please post a few photos if you get any of this colony, as they should prove to be most interesting

[TenebrousNova]

I'm home! And thanks for the answer Wood, that explains a great deal about the queen's behaviour.

(Log 3)

The car journey from East Sussex to Portsmouth took about two hours. I was holding the M.Rubra set up, to keep an eye on them. I was worried that the motion of the car would upset them, but they have been amazingly tolerant. They have been calmly carrying out their chores all the way.

Once I had put away all of my belongings and had a cup of tea, I checked my L.Niger, L.Flavus and M.Barbarus before finally checking the M.Rubra.
The workers have already started digging, and have reached the first sand layer. There's five dirt layers and four sand layers, each layer is about half a centimeter thick. While they are preparing their future nest, they have set up under some of the leaf litter. One particular leaf was host to a group of M.Rubra workers, who stood close together as though in a conspiracy meeting. I was able to glimpse the larvae under the leaf, meaning that these workers are the nurses. ;D

I had a hot dog a few hours ago, and offered a droplet of the tomato ketchup to the M.Rubra- they loved it and had drunk the drop dry by the time I got home. They are currently feasting on one drop of honey and one of golden syrup- I did this to see which is the most popular. As there are about 10 workers dining from both, I assume that they like them both the same. The more active queen has also stopped at the syrup a few times. I'll just have to see which of them is drank the quickest.

The other queen has been taken out of sight by her escorts, I suspect she is hiding under a leaf 'hut' near the larvae. The only thing I can find of that fly I gave them earlier is a single wing, so I'm not sure what they did with the rest of it.
Judging by their voracious appetites, I can see that this colony won't be picky about what I give them.

Got two photos here. First, the nest overview (Which I have annotated for your benefit):



Lastly, the Myrmica Rubra workers enjoying a drink:



Five minutes after posting this, they finished their honey and syrup at the same time. I gave them one last drop of each, and there's about 30 workers surrounding the honey whilst only 10 are at the syrup. I think I know what they prefer.

[Jenny]

The tomato ketchup has plenty of sugar in it that's why they liked it so much

[TenebrousNova]

Ah, that's another food I could give them then.

(Log 4)

They have been digging through the night, but I can't see any tunnels around the sides or anything- they have covered the tunnel sides with dirt/sand particles. The younger queen doesn't seem to be carried anymore, but still stays put. The older queen acts as an overseer, inspecting her daughter's work.

They no longer make many escape efforts, which makes observation easier. They have also got a small sand pile from their excavations during the night. I'm trying to find a good place to keep their set up, but they live on top of my wardrobe for now. I just have to be careful when moving them.

I have seen a few larvae being carried around between leaves, which still act as nurseries for the time being. I also noted that one leaf is partially buried, with small entrance holes going under it to parts unknown. I have seen the older queen using this a few times.

They seem to be doing alright.

[Blem12]

It seems that your colony is settling in well.

I too keep my Myrmica Rubra colony on top of my wardrobe!

[Wood~Ant]

At least on top of your wardrobe is still keeping them in your room, and as yet you haven't have to relocate any to another part of your home. I had to put 5 Messor barb tanks and my Formica sanguinea colony in our dining room as Jen was running out of space in her south facing bedroom, and it way too cold and dark in my north facing room to keep ants in.
Besides which I wouldn't have room for all my Doctor Who stuff I have in there ;D

[TenebrousNova]

(Log 5)

There are about six tunnels being constructed along the sides, so I have a clear view. Each has about 5 workers inside them.
One of the queens earlier attempted to go into one, but was carried out again. Clearly, they don't want Her Majesty getting hurt during the tunnel construction. ;D

The largest tunnel is about 3 or 4cm deep and goes directly underneath their makeshift nursery, so they probably want to get their larvae down there as soon as they can. The tunnel branches out in two directions, with one going just under the surface and the other curving downwards. This sudden burst of digging activity explains why there aren't as many workers on the surface now.

I'll probably give them some refreshments in about half an hour. I'm very glad that they are digging near the sides, as it is such a shame when they make their tunnels out of sight.

(Edit, 6:20pm)

The younger queen has a lot more independence now, and is sometimes seen on her own. That does not prevent the workers was dragging her away from areas that they consider 'prohibited'. I have not seen the older queen, I assume she is hidden somewhere near the nursery. I can identify the younger queen by a slightly more swollen gaster, so she is probably fed whilst in the company of her workers.

I make sure to mist the set up about twice a day, to retain the humidity and make it easier for the workers to dig.

[TenebrousNova]

(Log 6)

I'm finding a disturbing amount of dead workers, and they aren't arranged in a pile.
I hope this isn't a bad omen.

[TenebrousNova]

(Log 7)

Finding even more dead workers, even though the queens are alive. This isn't looking good, I'm doing what I can to try and help them.

[Zarbi]

They are either dying of old age, or there is something wrong with their diet or in the soil? It is always alarming when ants die off in large numbers as you feel it is your fault and you're keeping them badly