Aka's ants 2010

[aka ant]

This year has been great with finding the species I want. I found 2 species of 4 within 3 hunting trips. I found C chromaiodes in a partly rotted log 2 weeks ago. I found 90-110 workers and 70+ larva and some eggs. The second specie is not yet fully identified but I'm going with Aphaenogaster tennesseensis. collecting them was difficult due to the queen and many workers hiding in the center of a hard stump. I found 150-200 workers and 30-50 brood. Both colonies look like they have settled in great with few deaths. I'll keep you updated and hopefully get better pics.

C chromaiodes









Aphaenogaster tennesseensis. No queen pics yet.

[aka ant]

The queen.

[darradar]

fascinating i love the look of these ants..that queen is amazing

[Yope]

W0W...

[matt-man123]

Hey aka,

Could you give a few top tips in ant hunting because i always struggle and barely find any species, that would be very much appreciated.

Great pics by the way and nice queens



Matt

[aka ant]

Your best bet is to go into the woods and flip rocks and split open logs and tree stumps. I plan on posting about what equipment I use and where I go to find my ants soon.

[aka ant]

I moved the Aphaenogaster colony into a test tube with a foraging area due to lack of activity in the setup.

[matt-man123]

Wow fantastic pics once again AKA,

That sounds like a great idea and will help out many people

matt

[aka ant]

I forgot to give my Camponotus colony some water for a few days and found about 30 of them running around the foraging area.
I made a small video of them drinking water.

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[Karsten1997]

Whaha, nice video and pics!!

[aka ant]

(1) Both colonies increased activity in the foraging areas.
(2) Food demand for the Camponotus colony has increased substantially due to the large amount of larva.
(3) Aphaengaster colony is stable now and the queen laid a batch of eggs.

Statistics.
Aphaenogaster colony.
150-200 worker - about 30 deaths since captured.
20-30 eggs
5-10 brood

Camponotus chromaiodes colony.
90-110 workers - 5-8 deaths since captured.
30+ eggs
65-75 larva
10-15 pupa


Aphaenogaster brood pile.



Camponotus queen laying a egg.



Camponotus colony.

[Gortello]

nice pictures especially the one with the queen laying a egg

[aka ant]

Live feeding and live feeding gone bad!

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[aka ant]

Not much new has happened with my two colonies. The brood are growing fast and I should see new workers in my Camponotus colony soon.
Today I found a colony of C americanus. Beautiful queen with 50-70 workers and about 40-50 brood ( they are still moving into the ant farm so the count might be off).
My camera broke so I can't post any good new pics.

Pics of the setup taken by my cellphone.

[aka ant]

The C americanus colony lost two workers so far. This specie seems to like the nest much more humid than my other Camponotus colony. I find the location that the colony settled in is a bit difficult to keep moist but they seem to keep it at a level they like by placing drops of water all around the chamber and glass. The queen laid a batch of orange eggs!
I have yet to see them eat incests but they do love filling up on water, sugar water, and fruits.