badman: Camponotus herculeanus and Camponotus ligniperda (24. Sep 2007 00:18)

I have new colonies of both these species,

My herculeanus began with 9 workers, now down to 8 (1 died very shortly after arrival), the colony seems healthy, I have 1 larvae and a large brood. This colony is about 6 weeks old, but no larvae have hatched yet. They live inside an open ended tube with both ends blocked with sand. They do not explore or venture outside very much but eat and drink regularly.

Likes: Peas, fish flakes, insects. Dislikes: egg white, ant jelly, honey

My ligniperda colony began with 6 workers, 1 died straight away, 3 more died, leaving only 2 workers. This colony arrived unexpectedly about a month ago and were not kept in ideal circumstances for a couple of weeks. At first they were highly active and explored a lot. A worker escaped within 30 minutes of arrival, and I had 3 further escapes. Now they are in a proper home but with their depleted numbers I do not know if they will survive as a colony, which is a shame as this colony was very active and interesting. They currently live in their tube in the formicarium of a starter set. I have not seen them forage for several days. Large brood no larvae.

I don't know if it's just my colonies or whether it's a common thing, but the ligniperda seem a lot more active and like to explore much more than Herculaneus.
Likes: honey, fish flakes

miszt: (24. Sep 2007 00:21)

maybe try diffrent types of honey, my c.hercs are fussy about the type of honey they like, Apple Tree honey seems to be their favorite :) its ful of nutriants, so very good to give to them

badman: (24. Sep 2007 00:23)

thanks, didnt know ants could be so fussy! I'll have a look in sainsburys

miszt: (24. Sep 2007 01:03)

Interesting they like Peas, will give that a try :)

JimmyVe: (25. Sep 2007 14:47)

It a normal behavior that they do not come out much, this colonies are still very small, if they get bigger you would see them out much oftener.

If you can keep the last 2 workers alive i think they will do just fine, but that is not sure, there is allot that can go bad.

Good luck

badman: (1. Okt 2007 22:16)

the herculaneus have not been eating for a while but have been very active, out of the 8 workers only 4 have been living with the queen since i moved the colony into a glass basin. The others are living near the entrance to the tube under the sand, a lot of debris has been moved from underground over the last week, and only 10 days since relocation, the queen has followed them underground tonight. I'm pleasantly surprised how quickly they took to their new surroundings.

If anyone is interested this is what I used for ground material: bottom layer granulation, then a mixture of two humus bricks and a bag of sand/loam. on top I used a layer of yellow sand for contrast.

The ligniperda are alive but almost completely inactive.

Purifier: (2. Okt 2007 07:07)

The ligniperda prepares for hibernation i believe. It is at the time to give them their hibernation :)

badman: (2. Okt 2007 14:40)

is it cold enough? In england it is still quite mild here.

Would ants living in a tube survive hibernation?

Purifier: (2. Okt 2007 15:49)

I belive....you have to think that ants live in the earth and there are different temperatures like ON the earth. So it could be that you feel mild but in the earth its colder.
And ants have a "inner calender" and they know when its time for hibernation....

JimmyVe: (2. Okt 2007 17:39)

in deed, they have a bit a 'inner calender' ;) so they live like it, but temperature is a big part of it to.

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