Fleck's Camponotus sp. Colony Journal.

[fleck]

Hello!

Another journal for my Camponotus sp. colony.

The queen of this colony was found on a wall in my house. She's 13mm long, black all over, and has some golden sheen/glow on her thorax and gaster. Very beautiful, but the golden sheen isn't that visible on her workers.

History:
After catching the queen at the night of March 3rd 2012, I put her in a container with moist cotton, as I was out of test tubes. She successfully laid her eggs, and her first worker eclosed more than a month later. Since then, the small colony was moved into a test tube with around 4 workers.

The colony grew fast, and by July 2012, there were more than 35 minor workers! I made a plaster formicarium for them, and moved them in the beginning of August 2012, with around 40 minor workers and 2 major larvae.

Well, things sped up a lot, and they grew to around 100 minor workers and 3 majors by October 2012. They started tunneling deep into their plaster nest, and I had to move them again last month.

Now:
After moving them, they seem to be doing good, and haven't tunneled yet. But recently, they started becoming immune to the olive oil barrier. I think at least 5 minor workers escaped and died already... I ordered formicarium last month, and it's supposed to arrive in a day or two. I think it comes with Fluon or something like that, so hopefully that'll stop them escaping.

Pictures are being taken from my journal in the other forum. Will post it later or tomorrow.

[fleck]

OK, this post will be dedicated to pictures, not too much.




























Weird, the pictures came out smaller than I thought...

[Wood~Ant]

Hmm, perhaps you resized your pics a bit too small in photobucket? Still, you have a nice healthy looking colony there looking at your photos. ;D

[fleck]

Nah, that's not it. I didn't re-size my photos at all this time...

[Jenny]

Looking at your url, there is a 20%sp in it, which the host system has put there. On your other photos it goes straight to your named photo, after your name, so somewhere in the uploading process your photo host has auto shrunk them.

[fleck]

I see... Thanks! I'll make it just the right size next time.

[fleck]

Update. ( 11/11/2012 )

Nothing to note about this colony. I can't see them much right now, too much condensation on the walls due to lack of air flow.

Don't know when exactly, but the workers of this colony became escape artists all of a sudden. They've been escaping like mad in the last set up, and continuing in the new set up. Probably lost a dozen or so workers already. Since I was busy with exams, I just covered the whole thing with a big plastic cover, and put a heavy object on top to ensure no escapes can be made. I opened a crack every few hours to allow some air to flow in.

2 days ago, the start of the holiday, I found a perfect ( or so I thought ) thing. It's basically a piece of cloth with small holes, not big enough for the workers to escape. I tied it on top of the formicarium, and that seemed to stop the escaping for 2 days. But this morning, I found a workers running around. I checked and found that they bit through the cloth and made a hole big enough for them to escape... I taped the hole up and hope they would stop, at least until my dad comes home to get my ordered formicarium from the post office on Friday. I'll post the new set up once I get it on Friday.

[Smudge]

Might I suggest getting fine mesh its inexpensive and allows a good air flow

[fleck]

I know about fine mesh, I've been trying to find one of suitable size ( I don't want a whole roll ) and fineness.

Another 2 escaped today, but I couldn't find a single hole anywhere! I'm going to make a moat later.

[Zarbi]

Nov 12, 2012 3:19:37 GMT fleck said:

I know about fine mesh, I've been trying to find one of suitable size ( I don't want a whole roll ) and fineness.

One of the members here sells very fine metal mesh very cheap, but not sure if he sends it to other countries. His name is Odesssus, so you could send him a PM and ask

[fleck]

Hello!

My ordered formicarium arrived last week, but I only went to collect it yesterday. After getting home, I set up everything as fast as I could and hoped they'd move. I covered the new one with red vellum paper and went to sleep.

Nothing happened during the night, so I got to persuading them. I used my hairdryer and set it to as low as possible. I hair-dried the old formicarium for a few minute and that got the job done. They got all the brood, which wasn't that much, and moved to the new formicarium. The process took only around 10 minutes.

After they moved, I watched them for a while, trying the count the numbers of workers. Well I failed miserably in counting the minors, but I managed to confirm 4 majors!

The pictures are of after they moved and I gave them sugar water in the out world. I also got video of the moving, which II'll sort through before uploading onto YouTube.

The formicarium and the tube leading to the outworld.



Major and minor workers guarding the brood in the tube.



The workers enjoying their first sugar water in their new nest.


The queen at the entrance, surrounded and looked on by her workers.

[Wood~Ant]

I really like the photos of the workers drinking, and the queen has a lovely golden sheen on her body.

[Jenny]

Great photos Fleck, especially the Camps drinking, they almost look like nicos

[Quah]

Nice set up and photos. Those look distinctly like Camponotus auriventris, a very common black Camponotus species in Malaysia.

[fleck]

Thanks you two! And for the identification Quah! Some others have guessed Camponotus dolendus and Camponotus parius.

They're still packed into the tube... But I noticed a major foraging! First time seeing a major out of the nest, so I was surprised. When my Pheidole majors come out to forage, it usually means they're old and going to die... I hope it's not the case here...