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Hello all,
I recieved a colony of these yesterday, it consists of 1 queen & 2000 workers. They're being kept in a 4'x2'x2' custom made tank with about 1' deep of soil, rotten leaves, twigs and a couple artificial nests which seemed to have been ignored by the ants. Once put in the tank the ants came out straight away and a soldier seemed to be scouting the tank and I think it started two highways, after these two highways were created another one started near the front of the tank and they were taking bits of live food back but were also burying some of it near the the tube. Some of the workers stayed at the test tube building soil up around the entrance of it and made a smaller entrance. About 2 hours after these highways were made, two of them stopped, and one became less active but was still going, this highway soon became very active and the ants later moved the nest under a pile of leaves. There was some massive brood being carried to the new nest and I seen a couple big soldiers but unfortunately didn't get to see the queen. Now today I found the new nest seemed to have very little activity with only a couple workers coming out every couple of minutes to go some where else, watching these workers they walked about 1' away from the new nest to where there were hundreds of workers digging under another pile of leaves. At the moment they have stopped foraging but i've been told they may stop for a couple of days. This is all i've seen from yesterday to now, they are still digging at what I think could be a new nest but I will update if anything more happens. Also here are some pics of the setup, also some of the larvae, in some of the pics the ants cannot be seen but i'll try my camera to see if I can get it to focus on them.
http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l623/Kentuckyfrogler101/IMGP0277.jpg
In this second picture you can see the test tube, and to the right of it are the pile of leaves they moved to last night. But now they're currently working on the hole just below the test tube.
http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l623/Kentuckyfrogler101/IMGP0278.jpg
Here's the picture where the workers are carrying the big larvae, it took about 3 or 4 workers to carry each of these.
http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l623/Kentuckyfrogler101/IMGP0274.jpg
Thanks for reading :D
[Edit:Mod]
An update on the colony, they now have their nest at the front of the tank. They've been working on it since friday and it's about 8" deep at the moment and getting deeper everyday. I have a little peek behind the cardboard each night and last night saw a chamber where all the soldiers were sat. I tried to get a picture but the camera didn't like just red light and I didn't want to put the main light on while looking into the nest. They are taking alot of food aswell, they had a couple mealworms last night and some small crickets tonight and took all of it into the nest instead of burying it outside this time. Whilst feeding them tonight I also noticed some newly hatched workers wondering near the entrance of the nest, they can't be too long hatched as they were almost pure white. Also i'm not sure if this is normal or not but i've seen about a couple workers each day carry brood around the tank and back to the nest. Another upate in the next few days......
Another update, deep in the nest about 8" down is somthing quite large. I think it may be a hatching major due to the size but the hole at the front of the tank is to small to see for definate what it is. At the moment the colony seems quite healthy, the feeding response is extremely aggressive. All food is being taken except for mealworms so i've stopped putting them in, but with roaches 200 odd workers aswell as some soldiers swarm within minutes. I'm quite happy with how it's going so far, i'll do another update soon...
The colony is still doing well, food still being taken, and I realised mealworms were left outside the nest as they're too big. The ants seem to leave anything bigger than the nest entrance and cut it up to get it into the nest. I spotted a group of very large larvaes but the chamber they were in has now been covered up so I can't see in anymore. They're becoming more active around the foraging area, which isn't too far from the nest. I also haven't seen many dead workers carried off in the last week so I think the new generation may have hatched out.
Pics mate , more pics :P lol , Glad they are doing ok mate , hope they carry on to do so.
Regards
Adam
Thanks Adam :D I tried to get pics but my camera just wont focus on the ants, very annoying, the only ones I would have a chance of getting photos of is the queen or large soldiers. I'll try get some pics if the big soldiers come out to help with the food.
Harley
http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l623/Kentuckyfrogler101/IMGP0314.jpg
http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l623/Kentuckyfrogler101/IMGP0316.jpg
The best pics I can get, you can make out the soldier in both of them. I swear this soldier is the same one i've seen hunting with the workers for weeks. I hope if the colony gets bigger maybe more soldiers will hunt with the workers. It'll be three weeks this thursday coming that i've had the ants.
Hey Frogger , good pics , Think you will need a macro lens :wink: . Thats great that you have had them 3 weeks , they should be getting near the point of success. Keep us updated , glad there doing great so far.
Adam
Thanks Adam, wish I had a better camera haha I'll post updates again soon, definately by thursday.
Harley
Yeah, willbe great!