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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 8, 2011 10:49:55 GMT
(Log 38)Most of the pupae have hatched, and I can see lots of workers in the brood chamber. I'm guessing there's around 50 workers or more. There's still a number of pupae and larvae, and a few foragers are sent daily. I seem to have a louse problem though- loads of tiny white lice that are everywhere on the surface. They seem harmless to the Pheidole but I'm worried that they may become a nuisance.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 17, 2011 7:37:25 GMT
(Log 39)I'm glad to say that nearly all of the pupae have eclosed, and there's plenty of callows. The colony is still eating but they only send a few workers to the surface as its getting cooler. This morning I was happily surprised to see Queen Omicron in the brood chamber, in the process of laying an egg- which was placed onto a small pile of additional eggs by a worker. Omicron left quite quickly after that, eager to hide, but I'm pleased to see that she's still laying eggs- even at this time of year, when we haven't turned the central heating on just yet.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 28, 2011 10:22:17 GMT
(Log 40)I have just averted a near tragedy, because I hadn't checked the Pheidole for a while and found that most of the soil in the set up was infected with a white fungus. I took action and removed all the soil at the point furthest from the nest, slowly working down to the Pheidole colony. The fungus seemed to be on the verge of entering the nest chambers as it was also a few centimeters deep within the soil. I hate to say this, but I had to remove most of the nest soil as well. There were no cave-ins during the process as the soil was mainly in one piece, so I was able to successfully remove the roofs of the two brood chambers. The workers quickly took action and moved their brood (Consisting of first and second stage larvae) to the final part of the nest. I went carefully through the discarded soil in search of workers or brood, and found none. Next, I removed the roof of what I believed to be the royal chamber, and found only a few workers inside- I then felt something and realised that I was holding over 50% of the colony population and Queen Omicron herself. I put this piece of soil down, but I had finished my job, there was no more fungus I'm happy to say. The colony will require about a day to settle down, so I put some honey in for them. I had a closer look at the piece of soil that Queen Omicron and most of the workers were nesting in, and saw that they all had slightly swollen gasters, a sign of feeding well. I then noticed an ant that was even more swollen, and looked closer- twice as long as the others with a huge armoured head, this was a single soldier who was probably working as food storage for the colony. I had little time to examine her as she quickly followed the queen out of sight, but this is the only soldier in the colony- meaning that they have not felt upset enough to produce more soldiers. I'm not happy that I had to remove the soil, but I am happy to see that the colony is unharmed, and even growing- there is roughly 100 workers in the colony altogether. I tried to take a photograph of Queen Omicron, but she was very fast and didn't stay in view for more than five seconds.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 28, 2011 18:39:41 GMT
(Log 41)Two of my Myrmica queens appear to have failed the founding stage, and have died. The remaining queen has taken control of the brood pile. As for the dead queens, I have given them to the Pheidole. They seem to have settled down now, with the queen and most of the workers hiding under a single small clump of soil with the brood. A number of workers are looking around, some carrying bits of soil in their jaws. When they found the Myrmica queens, they began to circle them with jaws open- they seem to know that these are queens of a different species, and don't want the threat of a rival colony. They have not made moves to eat the queens but it certainly seems to be on their minds. I saw the single Pheidole soldier again earlier, as she perched on top of the soil clump that they are nesting under. She seems to keep very close to her mother, as some sort of bodyguard. Which reminds me- remember at the beginning of the journal when I mentioned a soldier there at first? I think that she was more of a media or thereabouts, because this soldier is definitely bigger with a distinct form that looks very different from the first 'soldier'. If the final Myrmica queen dies, I will probably give the remaining brood to the Pheidole and other species of mine as a food source. Lets hope it won't come to that though. Since the Pheidole colony arrived with about 40 workers, and there is now about 100, I would say that they've done quite well. They aren't a demanding species, and the soldier castes are interesting to observe. Here they are, during the chaos of this morning. This is the soil that they're nesting in.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 29, 2011 11:57:14 GMT
(Log 42)I'm happy to say that the colony is nice and settled again. They seem to have divided into three 'encampments'. The first two contain small groups of workers who seem to be the foragers. One of these groups contains about fifteen callows. The final group is the largest, containing about fifty workers, the brood, the one soldier and Queen Omicron, who is occasionally visible. The dead Myrmica queens that I gave them yesterday have been eaten, and there is little evidence that they were there in the first place. They have been given a cricket today, which they will hopefully eat. I am still watching this colony carefully in case anything goes wrong, but they seem to be fine.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 14, 2011 20:21:41 GMT
(Log 43)One of my Lasius niger queens was found dead this morning (Presumably killed by the other queen who I was keeping her with, although they stayed together for a long time), with no obvious wound apart from a foot bitten off and a small hole in her belly. I gave her to the Pheidole this morning. Needless to say, the queen in question is now separate from her gaster. I earlier witnessed a worker carrying a ball of eggs, tiny even for ant standards- I wonder who laid them... ;D From this finding, I guess that either Pheidole queens don't slow down egg laying during the Winter, or my room is just warm enough for them to carry on as usual. The larvae are also very close to the pupa stage. Whilst changing a ball of damp cotton wool that had dried out, about three workers tried biting me for the first time- but their jaws are so tiny that I couldn't feel anything. I'm not sure if a soldier's jaws can be felt, but I don't intend to find out.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 26, 2011 11:16:01 GMT
(Log 44)The colony was successfully moved to a large test tube yesterday. It wasn't easy though, and required a lot of concentration on my part. The move was necessary, because they didn't seem to like the container they were already in- possibly why they moved so quickly. I started by gently prodding Queen Omicron towards it with a soft cotton bud, and she went in. When she found the moist cotton at the back, she decided it was suitable and made no attempt to leave. As I hoped, the workers began to swarm into the test tube to reach their mother, completing the move in less than fifteen minutes. Whilst I was attempting to guide the queen into the test tube, at least a dozen workers ran up the cotton bud and onto my fingers. They didn't try biting me, but they were running around with heads raised high and jaws wide open. I was able to carefully remove them, and they joined the others. They have settled down entirely this morning, and I found that the queen has even been laying a few eggs! Some workers are also trying to tunnel into the damp cotton. Here's a photo of the colony. You can see the new eggs to the right of the queen: And short video!
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Post by TenebrousNova on Dec 12, 2011 9:24:56 GMT
(Log 45)This colony still seems to be doing alright. There's a small pile of eggs, a few big larvae and about one pupa. I know that ant queens like to cram themselves into tiny spaces, but I still didn't expect to find Queen Omicron within an excavation of the cotton wool. She is able to walk and turn around, so she should be fine. There's about two small chambers in the cotton.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Dec 14, 2011 22:28:24 GMT
(Log 46)One of my Camponotus herculeanus workers unfortunately died, but this colony has made short work of the body. There's quite a large ball of eggs, with nearly thirty in it. This queen is very prolific for her small size. The colony has stopped hiding inside the cotton, but the queen will dart into the tunnel if the test tube is disturbed.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Dec 21, 2011 16:55:36 GMT
(Log 47)Sadly, the soldier appears to have died of natural causes today. It seems to me that Pheidole soldiers have a shorter lifespan than the normal workers do? This one was about five or six months old. Queen Omicron has still been laying a few eggs, and her colony is currently feasting on a small garden spider.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Feb 21, 2012 9:20:27 GMT
(Log 48)
This colony is back in a soil set up after doing badly in the test tube- the brood wasn't developing well and a number of workers died. I can see the brood chamber, where there's a clutch of eggs and tiny larvae- but there is virtually no activity on the surface (Which was covered in fungus outbreaks at one point).
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 20, 2012 10:29:17 GMT
(Log 49)I just removed the soil and discovered a mere three workers with the queen and a tiny clutch of eggs. I'm not sure what caused this, but I don't think this colony will be able to get back on their feet unless they raise this clutch of brood flawlessly. The workers have accepted a pair of fruit flies but I'm not too hopeful. I'm probably going to order another ant colony on Tuesday, but I don't know if I should try Pheidole again or have a go at Temnothorax nylanderi.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Mar 20, 2012 10:48:55 GMT
I would be wary about buying Temnothorax, as I found they didn't forage very well when I kept them. Have you considered a Tetramorium species perhaps, as they are a little bit bigger and active foragers
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Post by TenebrousNova on Mar 20, 2012 10:56:53 GMT
They do seem a viable option. Is there any particular difference between T.impurum and T.caespitum?
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Post by Wood~Ant on Mar 20, 2012 11:02:36 GMT
Not any great noticeable difference, though I don't think impurum is found here in Britain whereas caespitum is. Their size and colour are very similar, and I found impurum a nice species to keep.
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