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The pupa has hatched as of last night!!!! The queen has a beautiful little worker who's tending to the three larvae and eggs. I look forward to seeing her hunt in the next few days to come!
Here is a picture of the new worker, and of the larvae. :)
There is good and bad news with this colony.
The one worker the queen had has died. I'm not too sure why, but I have been looking into it. I noted that she was always foraging very frequently (she was well fed, her gaster was extended). At one point before I went to sleep I checked up on the progress and the queen was foraging out with the worker, where she found her daughter and carried her back to the nest. I think perhaps the worker may have gotten lost and stressed. It is a small basin, so I don't see how this was possible to get lost.
The good news is that the queen has 2 new larger pupae, 7 larvae, and a large new pile of eggs. The 7 larvae are growing very fast and will all pupate in less than 5-7 days. Both the queen and brood are very healthy. The death of the worker was a surprise to me. Here are some pictures of the worker a few days ago before she passed. She was very fast, alert, and very healthy. These ants are very active at night.
The colony has now reached numerous larvae, 4 workers, eggs, and 1 remaining pupa. There are about 12-18 larvae stuck to the ceiling of the test tube. Once the colony reaches 5-6 workers I will place them in one of my nests.
I have recently received two more Odontomachus bauri queens from Brazil to restart / continue my research journal on these ants. I noticed that once again, the queens have begun to build unique half-moon founding chambers as seen in the photos. One of the queens have begun to lay eggs and currently has one egg. The other queen is yet to lay. I noted that these queens require a higher level of moisture in order to create their founding chambers which suggests that they probably found their colonies in the wild in a muddy environment.
The queens currently feed exclusively on a homemade mixture:
1 part dry organic cricket powder
1 part water
2 parts honey
1 part sugar
Heat for about 45 seconds and stir, then allow to cool to room temperature before use. One small droplet should be sufficient for approximately 2-3 days. Clean after 2 days.
Anyways, until more updates, cheers! :D
Well to update, the queen has eaten her eggs on a few occasions, only laying one egg per time. She now has three though and hasn't eaten them. This queen must forage during the founding stage and accepts only small crickets and tiny baby cockroaches. Soft-bodied, pre-boiled prey makes for the best of meals. I'll post pics when the eggs hatch!
:)