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The time has come for the colony to move into a larger terrarium. Here's a few photos.
Here's the second part to the move.
A fourth box has been added where the ants are quickly growing a new fungus garden in it. The main fungus garden is crawling with soldiers now and the queen is still hidden from view inside the fungus.
The ants have had a fantastic summer, many new majors have appeared and the colony is now in the driver's seat when it comes to growth. They soon will be moved to a much larger terrarium which will be customized just for them. The colony now can strip entire apples and other fruits within 2-3 days as well as more fungus gardens have appeared. It's time to add some more boxes to this colony! The queen is doing very well, I gently separated her from the colony for a photo as well (with lots of majors wandering about, it was a difficult task).
A lot has occurred since my last entry. The colony has grown much larger and now contains thousands of ants as well as 4 large fungus gardens. The ants are voracious and will take anything. As it is winter, the colony faces its new threat which is a substantial amount of food to get through the winter. I prepared for the winter by harvesting all of the wild rose leaves in my garden (they are untreated) and oak leaves. Even though these leaves are now dried out, the ants still take them happily. There should be enough stock to last them throughout most of the winter. As for other food sources, I've been trying out different types of organic-grown vegetables and other plant materials at the local grocery store. They've been feeding on fresh broccoli, cabbage, kale, lettuce, spinach, and banana leaves. For a fruit supplement they've been feeding on apples grown in my garden tree, pears, grapes and sometimes even the rinds of lemons and oranges. As for grains and other dry foods, they've taken a strong liking to rolled oats, dry or semi-cooked rice and cornmeal.
The queen is now hidden deep within the largest fungus garden, the only way I can see her is if I decide to search through the garden itself, but this means tons of angry ants and very large soldiers which are quite the deterrent. I only did this once when I moved the colony to another larger terrarium with new, larger specialized acrylic boxes donated by a few friends at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum). The ants are voracious and require daily feeding. The colony will strip a large apple to nothing within 24 hours! Anyways, it's amazing to have seen such a force grow from a tiny gift (1 queen & 15-25 workers) from a friend in 2011.
Another thing to take note on keeping a large colony is their waste management system. I use a separate acrylic box for the colony to use as a garbage pit. The secret to making the ants automatically use this new box is to simply place two full tablespoons of their refuse (dead ants, dead fungus and other garbage from the original pit) into the new acrylic box. The ants should begin to use this new adopted chamber as their garbage pit. With large colonies, this must be emptied regularly. It would be wise to make sure to keep an eye out for the ants which work within the garbage pits as the 'garbage crew.' Once the garbage chamber is emptied and the live ants within are removed, the refuse can be used as a great source of nutrients for tropical potted plants (if you have any). I currently have avocado saplings and mangroves which are growing fast with this nutritious substrate. Other organisms which feed on this refuse are my large colony of mealworms (larvae of the Tenebrio molitor beetle, which can be found in most pet stores worldwide), they will eat anything.
After a long Canadian winter, the colony is ready for spring. This winter has been non-stop since November so fresh outdoor foliage hasn't been available in a while. I can't wait to get this colony on wild rose, bramble and raspberry again. The good thing is that the colony has been taking in banana leaves, raisins, rolled oats, organic roses, and avocado. There's many soldiers now and TONS of workers. Will post photos soon.
Any update pictures on the colony Vasile?
Hey Deansie,
I'll post some photos up this week, possibly even this evening. As the literary update goes, the colony has been taking in increasing amounts of assorted rose leaves, oak leaves, raisins and raspberry leaves. The fungus is expanding which is a relief as it had been declining during the winter months. All is well though!
Cheers,
Vasile
Looking forward to seeing the colony now Vasile, I know exactly what you mean when you refer to the "force" there definitely a super organism.
Looking forward to seeing the colony now Vasile, I know exactly what you mean when you refer to the "force" there definitely a super organism.
I couldn't agree more. How's your Atta doing? I enjoy reading your journals as well :)