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Post by Joona on Sept 29, 2013 10:48:03 GMT
Thanks I love watching them, I can't wait to add the big foraging tank lol.
I do not cover them wood, the ants do not seem too bothered by the light and to be honest I do not have the light on much only to see whats going on or take pics. I am building a set up at work so I can have them on the cupboard to see them as its quite high at the moment, and I am thinking of using tinted perspex on the front so its darker.
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Post by Jonzii on Sept 29, 2013 11:44:30 GMT
I asked Adam the same thing as he doesn't cover his, but he said it doesn't seem to bother them and is obviously not doing his any harm.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 29, 2013 11:49:50 GMT
Yes it seems they don't seem to mind the light. I just asked as in the wild their nest goes very deep into the soil and so is naturally in total darkness down in the fungus garden chambers.
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Post by Black Ant on Sept 29, 2013 12:07:22 GMT
I don't know if you've ever seen this Mark, and apologies for clogging up your journal but it is cool to see the size of a wild Atta nest.
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Post by Joona on Sept 29, 2013 14:13:18 GMT
I hadn't seen it, its kind of sad mine will never be allowed to get to that level. I could rent a house I suppose and let them go nuts lol.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2013 21:00:17 GMT
Great videos, I kept a pervious M. barbarus without covers or darkness and they thrived, I kept them in the 'man room' which didnt often have much lighting. I wonder if the fungus behaves any different in diffent types in lighting?
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Eva
Honey Pot Ant
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Post by Eva on Sept 29, 2013 21:22:48 GMT
Could watch them for hours These ants are most brilliant ones I've ever seen
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Post by adamjames20 on Oct 3, 2013 6:20:51 GMT
Hello Mark , noticed on your blog you are worried about feeding ants over the winter. As you know I collected a lot of willow leaves and froze them , well my Atta take willow but not that greedy compared to privet. But I was in a pinch as it was dark arriving home last night and they had used up there private leaves so I didn't fancy going out cutting lol so defrosted some of the willow leaves and placed them on the feeding platform, the leaves were slightly moist and defrosted well , but the amazing thing was the ants went mad for them , never seen them swarm to collect leaves before.
Thought it was just because they had used up there leaves but tried it again this moring after they had cut all night and they swarmed for the leaves again. Maybe try this with some of the leaves they don't quite fancy, it may help.
Adam
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Post by Joona on Oct 3, 2013 9:25:58 GMT
I collected some oak leaves and froze them, can you post a pic of the willow? I'm not to great with plants / trees lol I found a rose in my garden I never knew I had! Only lived in the house 3 years hahaha. I'm going over a local forest sunday on a bike ride armed with storage bags and freezer tubs. Privet and bramble are not a problem (love lazy neibours). I also found some wild roses by my work so there gonna be cut up when I'm on a late shift too cannot belive how the fungus is growing its mad how fast they grow!
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Post by adamjames20 on Oct 3, 2013 13:06:09 GMT
They do indeed grow fast , If you look on google type in weeping willow you will get plenty pictures mate , there are a few different willow tree types ha ha but weeping willow is the one I am using : )
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Post by Joona on Oct 3, 2013 13:28:23 GMT
Ah excellent! A house has one of these down the road from me and it over hangs there back garden and on to the street, my ninja suit maybe needed Hopefully my next post will not come from prison lol Thanks a lot Adam!
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Post by adamjames20 on Oct 3, 2013 17:08:23 GMT
Ha ha your welcome mate : )
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Post by Joona on Oct 7, 2013 18:51:24 GMT
Hi all, Just a quickie update, those who read my blog will know that the cutting has been up and down, but they are cutting daily for about 5 hours at a time. I think they must only cut what they need while there a small colony. The queen is still ok she just sits on the fungus with her head lodged in it most of the time lol The fungus has grown and grown the past few days and is now up to 6cm high, I never knew the ants take leaves inside the garden to add to it too! Learn something every day lol There are lots of bright orange workers appearing and starting work straight away, I have also seen the minims carrying eggs to different parts of the fungus. There is one big media worker in there too I don't think its a soldier but its bigger then the rest. And to prove they do finally cut after all my panicking Will update again soon and maybe add a video as I have just received a macro lense for my iPhone so I'm going to have a play later.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 7, 2013 21:58:37 GMT
Good old bramble leaves are always there when you need them, even in coldest of winters. So at least your colony will these to cut for their fungus garden. I love these updates as the pics compliment the journal entry.
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Post by Joona on Oct 16, 2013 9:33:43 GMT
Hey all, just thought I'd do a quick update on the Atta. They're cutting daily again and strip privet and bramble in hours. They now take all the leaves to the fungus and process it throughout the day, then repeat the process. When all the workers jump on cutting the tubes can some times get blocked but slowly the ants will unblock the tubes and take the leaf fragments back.
The fungus has changed shape and size its now tennis ball size but muffin shape, the queen stays on the left side of the sphere but I don't think I'll have much time with her for much longer. The ants are building fungus on that side I believe to enclose her in the fungus.
I have seen eggs being taken from the queen and being moved around the garden, and when I disturbed the set up a few days ago workers were seen carrying very big larvae and pupae which was great to see. They have also started to take substrate out of the adjoining fungus garden sphere and the bottom is clearly visible so I may take a bit of fungus from the main garden and try and start a second garden.
I purchased a soil warming cable last week and fitted that instead of the heat mats, it heats the incubator faster and more even although my dimming stat doesn't work with it so I may just buy a pulse stat and be done with it.
Well thats about all thats been happening. Take care Mark.
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