miszt: (16. Mär 2008 13:12)

I do have this species Frico....this is my thread :)

Frico: (16. Mär 2008 15:56)

and you have waited how long to get workers?

miszt: (16. Mär 2008 16:22)

first generation was 12 months, I have some coccons still from last year that have not yet hatched

checkout The Ants, by Bert Hölldobler & Edward O. Wilson, theres a good section on colony growth which specificy talks about Camp hercs egg to worker development

I think you are confusing tropical species of Camponotus, which have a much fast growth rate

badman: (17. Mär 2008 06:57)

I find my herculaneus to be quite a shy colony, do you have the same experience? Especially in contrast to my ligniperda, which love to escape.

Also what foods do you like to feed them? i'm growing concerned about mine not eating enough, i've seen the workers walk right over a fruitfly and completely ignore it.

Frico: (18. Mär 2008 12:03)

miszt, have you readen any other members experience with these ants ans see how they'll discribe the development?They all say 2-2,5 months.(i read in the german forums)
plus, i have 6 colonies with Camponotus herculeanus and one Camponotus ligniperda and they all need 2-3 months to develop.
-If you give them the right treatment. Which include lots of food, warm temperatures, a cold hibernation...you said your cocoon from last year still needed to hatch.
you know, cocoons and eggs can't hibernate.They would die.
So either you didnt give them a cold hibernation( therefore they could hibernate too, which is extremely strange and unlikely)
Or they are dead inside and wont hatch anymore.
If you could quote that part you mentioned of "the Ants" that would be nice.
Im sure its something that can happen under extreme conditions or just for queens like i said.

-Frico

badman: (18. Mär 2008 18:30)

Remember there's more than one variety of herculaneus. linnaeus pennsylvanicus, ferrugincus for example. Also I don't think Miszt bought his from Antstore, so it is probably a different variety to the ones most people on these forums have.

miszt: (18. Mär 2008 19:25)

I wil post the quote in a few days, its stil in a box sumwhere

Only larva went into hibernation, the cocoons i have now formed a few weeks ago

And of course i hibernated them correctly!

I would like to see some evidence that they can develop in 2-3 months, that is certainly not my experience, or that of 2 of the most highly regard myrmycologist in the world...

What temp are you keeping the nest at? And what are you feeding them? I imagine it is possible to speed development by increasing the temp, upto a point, you should bear in mind however that increasing ther metabolic rate beyond there natrual state wil also decrease their life span

miszt: (18. Mär 2008 19:26)

And yep i didnt get them from antstore

Frico: (18. Mär 2008 20:28)

Okay, enough.This is getting ridicules.
I dont talk about Ants from Antstore! It doesnt matter where they come from!
I havent increased the temp to high or anything, their lifespan wont shorten(what an odd thing to say)
Up until now, these two highly regarded myrmycologist in the world havent spoken, you have and u havent quoted anything. So its just your word against mine.
Now i'll change that, here i have the scientist John Lossen pricer who specificly talks about Camponotus herculeanus and the varieties C. pennsylvanicus and C. ferrugineus.
He noticed that there werent any major difference between them.
But more interisting, that their egg to adult development were even long and took about 66 days. Link:
http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/reprint/14/3/177.pdf
(at page 4 he mention the 66 days)
And here is a quote from a guy in a german forum and his experience:

Ei zu Larve: 21 - 26 Tage(Tage=days)(Monate=Months)
Larve zu Puppe: 25 - 30 Tage
Puppe zu Imago: 28 - 35 Tage
Insgesamt/all together: etwa 2,5 - 3 Monate / 75 - 90 Tage (siehe auch Haltungsbericht von Tobias)
Link:
http://ameisenforum.de/europaeische-arten/28135-camponotus-herculeanus-haltungserfahrungen.html

So here i've given you a scientist, another guy in the internet who has ants and me saying its 2-3 Months.
Ive checked alot, i couldnt find any who supported what you said.

Camponotus is known for its long development, the other species mostly only need 1 month-1,5 month.Therefore 2-2,5 month is very long.

And remember, ther is the term "slow-brood".It's used for the larvas which hibernate.They cant grow during the winter, therefore they'll stay longer in the larva state.But still, not for 12-18 months.
Camponotus species love warmth more than other species, therefore the temp. should be around 25-30 degrees during summer.Sometimes they even take their cocoons outside when its hotter their, so they'll speed the development.

-Frico

mzfckr: (18. Mär 2008 20:53)

i dont know really who is right, but i do know that book ''The Ants'' is the best book in the world about it.so i trust more a very good book than a internet ''scientist''.

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]