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Original blog here . (Dutch)
Pogonomyrmex barbatus or the red harvest ant is a species that is mainly distributed in the South-West of the States, in terms of behavior they are a lot like their closest relative Pogonomyrmex rugosus . Barbatus prefers a more moist nest than rugosus, but that is not necessary, in some places these two families life very close to each other and during some nuptial flights, the males of barbatus will mate with the queens of rugosus and vice versa.
Like most other species, Pogonomyrmex will strip the close vicinity of the nest completely bald and the workers will also suppress all types of vegetation.
There are several theories why they do this, some say that it is easier to detect attackers, others say that it is to mark their territory, but so far no real answer has been found.
Like other American harvester ants, the bite of this species is very painful and it is best to avoid the ants, but sometimes this is difficult as they are often too keen to use it with every opportunity. They also close their nest every night with small stones to prevent intrusion from other ants.
Two pictures with my new camera, the colony has four workers at the moment and the queen just started laying eggs again.
(Click the pictures for more detail.)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3421/3199339556_6fd586a1d3.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3329/3216153284_15508cf4b5.jpg
Great ants McK. ;)
How are yours doing by the way?
She has 2 workers but not a lot of brood.
Yeah, the first year is extremely slowly with this species, just make sure they have a couple of seeds, a dry piece of mealworm and a water source.
A picture of the queen feeding on a piece of mealworm.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3429/3260847090_d8aa1bba91.jpg
Nice shot 8)
Looks like she is still doing great, sadly mine died...
Looks like she is still doing great, sadly mine died...
Ah that sucks, do you know why she died?
No... She was doing great, but a few days ago i spotted here outside of the tube, and that isn't a good sign.