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June 1
Today I have received another species from afar, this one hails from North Africa/ The Orient. This is Cataglyphis cf. viaticus, the desert ant. The colony consists of about 20 workers, 4-5 pupae, and of course the queen. They are absolutely gorgeous! I must log that they display aggressive behaviour and dig in the sand with their two forearms in the same manner that dogs dig for a bone. I have researched that these ants are not picky eaters and are often apt to accept different food sources. I will be most interested to see if this proves true. Anyways, I will post pictures in a few days as I wish for them to rest.
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June 2
I have to report noticing that the young colony has already taken refuge within the entrance of my signature nests (I think I may have over-watered it). There are 4-5 new eggs present which were not there before. This has happened in a matter of 8 hours, I am quite pleased with this.
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June 3
Some of the eggs have gone missing, and a few workers have died. This usually happens when a colony comes from a long transport. A friend had tipped me that these Cataglyphis prefer a drier nest, but I will have to see for myself. I will tamper with moisture levels until I find an optimal condition. The living workers and queen are all doing well, hunting live 5-8mm long crickets (they've eaten over 20 already) and storing honey-water in their abdomens. Anyways there are still a few eggs but nothing too exciting just yet. I am still waiting for the colony to properly settle. Here are a few pics.
Gorgeous species, I hope to have some Cataglyphis at some point (A species from the bicolor group), money allowing!
Best of luck with your colony Vasile!
P.s. do you worry about mite outbreaks with feeding live food??
Hey armyoforigin,
Thankyou! I've learned that to control mite outbreaks use sugary fruit in the outworld. I use raisins. When the ants feed on these fruits, some mites tend to latch onto the fruits. This makes it easier for me to remove the mites by daily disposal of the raisins. I put the raisins with fresh grapes cut in half as well to entice more mites to feed. These mites prefer fruits over ant hemolymph, and I use that to my advantage. :)
Very interesting! I have never heard of that before! =)
I discovered it myself when I noticed that nothing else seemed to be working. It came across my mind that in the wild these mites don't eradicate colonies and ants are still extremely successful, therefore they must like a different food source and have some form of predator(s). I never found the predators but I did find their "Achilles heel."