AntsNational: Re: Leaf cutting Ant Farm Project (4. Dez 2011 21:39)

Hello Vasile , yeah i know what went wrong , i was away a few weeks with work and my Nan was looking after things , but my boiler wasnt working and with the cold tempertures my bungalow resally got cold , by the time i had come back nearly all the workers had died and the fungus was looking really damaged. It had a bronzy colour and the remaining workers were not bothering with it , I warmed them up and things looked promising , the queen was being tended and i hoped all was going ok , there were only about 15 workers when i counted and no eggs larva or pupae. Well this i think is what has caused the queen to die :cry:.

Regards

Adam

Hey Adam,

I'm really sorry to hear that :( I've currently got my own colony and the temperatures in my room fluctuate quite a lot. At night it can drop to about 15 C and during the day can reach 25C. I've currently got a very small colony and you can check out my journal "Atta cephalotes Bicolor," I hope you have better luck next time!!

adam james: Re: Leaf cutting Ant Farm Project (5. Dez 2011 08:07)

Hello vasile , yeah my temperture flucuated but didnt go below 15 c , but it sure did when i was away , it was about 8c when i came home from being away :shock: I will try again next year , Goodluck with your colony , i have been watching on youtube , great stuff fellor =D>

Regards

Adam

AntsNational: Re: Leaf cutting Ant Farm Project (5. Dez 2011 15:14)

Thanks Adam!!! :) I'm about to update my log here on this site right now as well. Was a bit worried in the last 12 hours!

Cheers,
Vas

adam james: Re: Leaf cutting Ant Farm Project (2. Dez 2012 13:56)

Well Hello Guys , after the disappointment of losing my termites I decided to cheer myself up and buy another fungus growing species. This time I chose a ant species. My new Atta cephalotes colony arrived on Friday to my very excited state, I have kept this species in the past and had mixed success, the first time the colony did fantastic reaching a huge size with three football sized fungus gardens. The second time i tried this species the colony failed :(

But my colony seem fine and only hours after settling into there setup started leaf cutting. :P The colony contains a rather large queen, several hundred workers and a nice golf ball sized fungus garden.

Here's a few pictures below and a little video. :grin:

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My setup , clear acrylic spheres connected by clear acrylic tubing. Plaster of paris in the bottom absorbs moisture stopping any condensation puddles.

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Queen excluder , stops the queen moving from the two fungus gardens and into any others, this allows safe population control for times when the colonys population reaches too large. :D

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I was so excitied when the colony arrived, Atta have been one of my favorate ants species.

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Colony settling into there new setup. :grin:

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3cm long and rather stocky Atta queens are spectacular species to look at. :P

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Will update again soon guys , hope you liked :mrgreen:

Regards

Adam

Creature: Re: Leaf cutting Ant Farm Project (2. Dez 2012 16:28)

I love those Atta queens. They remind me of Aliens from movies such as Starship Troopers

adam james: Re: Leaf cutting Ant Farm Project (2. Dez 2012 21:43)

Hello Creature , i know they are impressive.

There jaws are rather big for there heads aswell and look menacing lol :P

Regards

Adam

suckgasse: Re: Leaf cutting Ant Farm Project (2. Dez 2012 22:33)

What a queen - impressing!

adam james: Re: Leaf cutting Ant Farm Project (3. Dez 2012 07:59)

Hello Suckgasse

cheers mate :D

regards

Adam

adam james: Re: Leaf cutting Ant Farm Project (10. Dez 2012 15:33)

Well guys the colony have settled down well, The queen is moving about allot more now and I have seen many eggs being taken away from her into the fungus garden. I also spotted several small clumps of small larva at the weekend so that was great to see. The fungus garden has increased slightly in size and the colony is taking leaves well. So far they seem pretty stuck on privet but have took willow and rose. They have also enjoyed a sliced apple I placed in for them and a steady stream of workers was seen traveling to and from it.

Here's few pictures and another video.

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Due to mold on the plaster, I had to remove it from the acrylic spheres, the condensation hasn't been a issue and in fact many of the workers have been seen licking it up of the inner walls of the chamber.

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Will update again soon guys

Regards

Adam

adam james: Re: Leaf cutting Ant Farm Project (21. Dez 2012 08:19)

Firstly Seasons greetings , hope you all have a great Christmas and new year.

Right here we go . The Fungus garden has grown in size and now fills half of the acrylic sphere it resides in. The colony still take privet leaves with great enthusiasm and are also enjoying the slices of apple I give them. As of yet they stay true to the privet and will not touch any of the other plants which my other colony's in the past seemed to love.

The Queen has been busy laying and this has become more evident with the increasing larva and pupae that are becoming visible bedded down in the fungus garden. I have watched the workers feeding the larva and its so interesting watching these young ants eating the white fluffy filaments of the fungus garden.

Here's a few pics guys and of course one of my video :grin:

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Workers tending fungus garden.

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Larva being tended by workers

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Her Royal majestry Queen Atta :P

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:grin:

Regards

Adam

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