Post by philip369 on Aug 15, 2013 0:28:29 GMT
Hello one and all!
I would like to start by saying that for a while I was looking to stop ant keeping and just watch from afar as I lost 3 colonies in my first year and a half of ant keeping. I lost my Lasius niger, my Pheidole pallidula and a Lasius flavus colony and it really put me of, the only colony to survive was my Messor barbarus (Funnily enough, the colony that I though would do the worst) and in my defeat I wasn't humble. I though that I really wasn't fit to look after them so I took a break for a month and that's all I could take. I had given my Messor to a friend who also keeps ants and he was the first one to say this isn't going to last long!
So I though how can I not lose a colony again and I did what I should have done right from the start and researched as much as I could and I haven't stopped, every opportunity I have I look for research papers and journals and pieced together all that I could about how to look after the species that I wanted to keep before I bought them and now I have finally got the species that I want and am looking after them to a level that I like and where I feel that they should be fine. (I would also like to say a special sorry to Jenant and Woodant as they where both very helpful to me in the beginning and I feel that I kind of let them down I just wanted to say sorry)
So after that wall of text I have 4 colonies that I am keeping at the moment and this journal is about Camponotus ligniperdus as the subject title suggests. First off these guys are amazing (if a little lazy) the size is just wow their first workers are bigger than my Messor are and there gasters swell so much they look like balloons as they drink honey water. The colour of the workers and queen is amazing as well like a very deep mahogany red covering their thorax with the head and gaster being black. As I say they mostly stay in their test tube and are usually only active at dusk for night time depending on how warm the weather is! They are never usually out for long periods of time usually spending only 5- 10 minutes foraging before running back to the test tube I suspect as the colony gets larger they will become more courageous.
So the research on this species goes as follows (I would like to say that this is by no means an expert account of these animals habitats or behaviours and this is what I have found out using the internet and some of the information was gained by watching them in my enclosure and that none of this information should be used as anything but as a rough guide). Their natural habitat is forested areas usually in wood nest or in soil nests nests near stones. They usually have a soil based larger nest with the wood or stone surface acting like an entrance. The stone/wood could also be used to 'sun' the brood of the ants as the warmer the brood is kept as with most ants the quicker they grow. Their diet is mostly dead insects which they should be fed a lot of as the larvae need a lot of protein to grow. Honey water is a must for the adults as this is their main food source my workers have also taken jam (as with all food given to ants make sure that nothing artificial has been added and that no herbicide insecticide or fungicide has been added to the food, as a note if it doesn't say on the packet that none of the above have been added they usually have). The first workers take around 8-10 week mine hatched in around 7 weeks with a basking stone added to the arena. For the habitat in the enclosure I used reptile coconut bedding mixed with shredded birch tree bark (both can be found on Amazon) I used these as they are mould resistance and hold moisture very well. Also they look very much like a forest floor.
As I mentioned before the stone/wood would be used to sun the brood I have found that a reptile basking stone mimics this really well if placed near to the nest/test tube (note make sure that that the stone doesn't completely cover the nest or the test tube the ants should be able to regulate the temperature of the nest as they see fit). I found that placing the end of the test tube with the water towards the basking stones works best but try it out with your own ants to find their preference. These ants are rather large so a large enclosure should be used. I am using a 3 foot by 1 foot fish tank it cost £100 from a local fish and tackle shop I even got the delivery for free as I know the guys there (its amazing what can be bartered after just talking to the guys at shops especially local guys just trying to get by) but I have only known them since I have started collecting ants. This is by no means the size that I suggest getting I only have this sized case as it is my show case.
Well that was a lot more text than I excepted! Enjoy the pics (they were taken on my iphone)
P.s. For the comments look for a comment board or click the link:
queenant.proboards.com/thread/7810/philip369s-camponotus-ligniperdus-colony-comments
I would like to start by saying that for a while I was looking to stop ant keeping and just watch from afar as I lost 3 colonies in my first year and a half of ant keeping. I lost my Lasius niger, my Pheidole pallidula and a Lasius flavus colony and it really put me of, the only colony to survive was my Messor barbarus (Funnily enough, the colony that I though would do the worst) and in my defeat I wasn't humble. I though that I really wasn't fit to look after them so I took a break for a month and that's all I could take. I had given my Messor to a friend who also keeps ants and he was the first one to say this isn't going to last long!
So I though how can I not lose a colony again and I did what I should have done right from the start and researched as much as I could and I haven't stopped, every opportunity I have I look for research papers and journals and pieced together all that I could about how to look after the species that I wanted to keep before I bought them and now I have finally got the species that I want and am looking after them to a level that I like and where I feel that they should be fine. (I would also like to say a special sorry to Jenant and Woodant as they where both very helpful to me in the beginning and I feel that I kind of let them down I just wanted to say sorry)
So after that wall of text I have 4 colonies that I am keeping at the moment and this journal is about Camponotus ligniperdus as the subject title suggests. First off these guys are amazing (if a little lazy) the size is just wow their first workers are bigger than my Messor are and there gasters swell so much they look like balloons as they drink honey water. The colour of the workers and queen is amazing as well like a very deep mahogany red covering their thorax with the head and gaster being black. As I say they mostly stay in their test tube and are usually only active at dusk for night time depending on how warm the weather is! They are never usually out for long periods of time usually spending only 5- 10 minutes foraging before running back to the test tube I suspect as the colony gets larger they will become more courageous.
So the research on this species goes as follows (I would like to say that this is by no means an expert account of these animals habitats or behaviours and this is what I have found out using the internet and some of the information was gained by watching them in my enclosure and that none of this information should be used as anything but as a rough guide). Their natural habitat is forested areas usually in wood nest or in soil nests nests near stones. They usually have a soil based larger nest with the wood or stone surface acting like an entrance. The stone/wood could also be used to 'sun' the brood of the ants as the warmer the brood is kept as with most ants the quicker they grow. Their diet is mostly dead insects which they should be fed a lot of as the larvae need a lot of protein to grow. Honey water is a must for the adults as this is their main food source my workers have also taken jam (as with all food given to ants make sure that nothing artificial has been added and that no herbicide insecticide or fungicide has been added to the food, as a note if it doesn't say on the packet that none of the above have been added they usually have). The first workers take around 8-10 week mine hatched in around 7 weeks with a basking stone added to the arena. For the habitat in the enclosure I used reptile coconut bedding mixed with shredded birch tree bark (both can be found on Amazon) I used these as they are mould resistance and hold moisture very well. Also they look very much like a forest floor.
As I mentioned before the stone/wood would be used to sun the brood I have found that a reptile basking stone mimics this really well if placed near to the nest/test tube (note make sure that that the stone doesn't completely cover the nest or the test tube the ants should be able to regulate the temperature of the nest as they see fit). I found that placing the end of the test tube with the water towards the basking stones works best but try it out with your own ants to find their preference. These ants are rather large so a large enclosure should be used. I am using a 3 foot by 1 foot fish tank it cost £100 from a local fish and tackle shop I even got the delivery for free as I know the guys there (its amazing what can be bartered after just talking to the guys at shops especially local guys just trying to get by) but I have only known them since I have started collecting ants. This is by no means the size that I suggest getting I only have this sized case as it is my show case.
Well that was a lot more text than I excepted! Enjoy the pics (they were taken on my iphone)
P.s. For the comments look for a comment board or click the link:
queenant.proboards.com/thread/7810/philip369s-camponotus-ligniperdus-colony-comments