Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
Powered by phpBB Social Network © phpBB SN Group
Deutsche Übersetzung durch phpBB.de
Time : 0.039s | 44 Queries | GZIP : On
Colony A
Species: Tetramorium
Population count: Queen, two larvae, several eggs
the colony is kept in a test tube set up.
Colony B
Species: Tetramorium
Population count: Two Queens, several eggs
the colony is kept in a test tube set up.
Colony C
Species: Unknown (Aphaenogaster perhaps?)
Population count: Queen, 22 workers, two alate females, two larvae, several eggs
the colony is kept in a test tube. the test tube is placed in a sealed plastic container to allow the ants foraging opportunities.
June 25th, 2007
Colony A:
Checked on the Queen and discovered her larvae two larvae have grown. More larvae are present. It's difficult to count the exact amount considering their size and placement on the mound of eggs. She has still not shed her wings.
Colony B:
The two Queens have a much larger mound of eggs. For some reason they are keeping them stacked on the side of the test tube right next to the count plug. One Queen is always positioned under them while the other hangs off the cotton plug beside them.
This colony originally began with one Queen in a test tube. She had no eggs for several days until I placed the second with her.
Colony C:
I recently captured this mature colony from a log near the James River. The log was split right down the middle. I tried to split it completely but the ants began pouring out right after one gentle tug. The Queen was the first appear out of a small entry way on the surface. The colony was massive but buried deep within the log. I only managed to capture 23 individuals and some brood.
I have had the colony for 4 days now. They have had time to settle down and get used to their new home. The Queen has already begun egg reproduction -- I noted a nice fat clutch of eggs being tended by a worker.
I have moved their test tube into a plastic container. I opened one end which will act as their nest entrance. The container will be their foraging grounds. Right now I am only offering them sugar water. They seem to be only exploring at night.
June 26th, 2007
Colony A:
I counted seven large larvae and a mound of eggs. The Queen seems very sensitive movement which makes me reluctant to make my daily check ups. One good thing is that she isn't sensitive to light. I think I will spare her the stress and start checking on her every two days.
Colony B:
The two Queens have two separate piles of eggs, each still attached to the test tube wall. They both continue to watch them from their separate posts. I have not spotted any larvae yet. I hope these two can raise a successful colony together.
Colony C:
When I captured this colony I captured as many of the colony as I could and placed them in a square tupperware container. There was a lot of wood chips and partial bits of the original nest in there that made it hard for me to pick out individual ants. I spent last night retrieving the remainder of the nest from this tupperware and placing them with the original colony. The ants ran around like mad -- some of them found the test tube quickly while others tried to find other places to hide (there were none). The ants that were already settled in the test tube buzzed with excitement when their long-lost nestmests ran in. Everything settled down quickly. I gave them a bug I killed to eat and more sugar water. I saw two ants at the cotton ball soaked in the sugar water but the bettle hasn't been touched.
MINOR UPDATE: COLONY C
I placed the bettle closer to the opening of the test tube. The ants are now beginning a tender investigation. So far that don't seem too interested in the bettle. I'm going to run out in a moment to pick up crickets. I've raised this kind of ant before and they loved crickets. I don't like them very much as they make the nest smell really bad. The ants have also found the cotton plug soaked with sugar water and are gorging themselves on it.
June 29th, 2007
Colony A:
I decided to offer the Queen a bit of Nutri-Cal: a high-calorie dietary supplement I fed my dog who is a bit underweight at the moment. She is very small and her brood pile is very large. I want to make sure she's well-fed enough to provide for all of her offspring. I spotted her feeding off of the Nutri-Cal gel about an hour after it was offered. This will be my first and last time feeding her until her workers eclose.
She has no eggs now, only several large larvae. She must have eaten the eggs that did not hatch. I expect workers within the next two weeks.
Colony B:
The Two Queens have a massive egg pile. It is bigger than an invidiual Queen. I also gave them a bit of Nutri-Cal -- I'm sure they will need it! I expect many of the eggs and coming larvae to be eaten but merely producing and providing for them up until then will strip the Queens of a lot of their energy. They'll need to eat.
Colony C:
Barely any movement in the nest or foraging. They might be nocturnal foragers or just not used to being exposed to so much light. I will color the test tube red and see if activity inside the nest increases. I stayed over with friends for two days and the population seems to have decreased. I wonder if there was an escape while I was gone...
This journal was originally posted on a different forum. I don't find that forum friendly or enjoyable anymore so I will be continuing this here.
Hi and welcome here. I think this is a friendly forum ;) ^^
Wow this is indeed a very nice and interesting report. :D
But why do you feed the queens? Tetramorium base
claustral and need none to eat. What ever.....
I hope you continue your journal!
I fed the Queens because I heard that Tetramorium's some times go to find food. I don't know if that was true or not. I just wanted to be sure they would survive.
:)
Hi MilitANT and welcome.
Nice diary (maybe it is better to place it in 'experience' part of the forum)
It is not bad to feed the queens i also give my new queens some food to make sure they will survive, if they are not interested in the food they leave it but if they are hungry they can eat if they like. ;)
hi all
nice journal, feeding a lone queen during her hardest time when she is on her own just increases the chance that she will survive
Sithmaster676
July 6th, 2007
Sorry about the late updates. I have no been home lately. Been out with my lover often. :)
Colony A:
I spotted several naked pupae a few days ago and a few larvae. The amount of eggs she has varies from day to day. I believe she is eating them. I have had this Queen since the middle of June so I'm expecting workers within the week.
Colony B:
The Two Queens now have larvae. Their massive egg pile has almost disappeared. I believe they cannibalized their brood as well. Since they were so late to lay I don't expect pupae for another week. Workers should appear in two weeks.
Colony C:
Still barely any movement and absolutely no foraging outside of the test tube. Things don't look good. I added a bit of calcium sand to the test tube to encourage some sort of activity but that didn't work. I gave them a dead cricket and as I suspected they didn't go for it until night fall. After a day the cricket has huge chunks missing from it's body. I'm glad they are at least eating. Coloring the test tube red did not work -- they still wouldn't move. One worker was found dead yesterday. I can't see any eggs or larvae against the white of the cotton ball. I hope this colony survives but things don't look good.
If the colony does survive I will build them a ant nest that they can dig into. Hopefully activity will increase and the Queen will produce more eggs. It really isnt good to capture an established colony. It is a quick fix but the Queen and colony are just not used to be exposed and uprooted. I can't say I won't do it again but next time I will think twice.
In other news!
I captured five more Queens tonight. There was a small mating flight taking place under a street lamp in a parking lot. It was an odd event: the were two species out having their mating flights right next to a third colony. The foreign workers of the third colony were attacking and killing the Queens of the other two species and taking them back to their nest. I saw many winged Queens and a few males being slaughtered. I captured three Queens of one species and two of another. I didn't notice that the Queens looked different until I got home. I am debating whether or not if I should mix of the two Queens together. Because I don't know their species I'm not sure of pleometrosis will work and I don't want to lose any.
This is my second mating flight this week. Earlier this week I saw a mating flight happening mid-day on a tree stump. I think the males and females were from the same colony. I only saw one mated Queen and she ran away too quickly for me to catch her. I did captured one winged Queen which I thought was mated but she died when I got home. I think she was attacked by a spider before I captured her.
Nice journal man. I've also sworn off trying to capture colonies because many can't seem to handle the stress and go into 'self destruct mode' (i.e queen stops laying eggs, workers stop feeding, colony loses its 'motivation' and dies eventually.) I think starting with a single queen and rearing a colony in captivity works best. Somehow ants born in captivity don't really seem to take on the stress of transportation as much. Furthermore they're also a lot less light sensitive. Anyways keep us posted.
July 7th, 2007
Just a quick morning update. I forgot to mention I removed the two alate females from the aphaenogaster colony (Colony C). There was no chance they were going to mate and alates only put a strain on a colonies resources. Since the colony is so small, they had to be removed. I expected the workers to cull them instead they allowed them to live. I couldn't risk the unmated Queens possibly killing the mated Queen and attempting to start a colony with their sister-workers. A wild idea, I know, but I couldn't risk it.
I finally spotted the small batch of eggs the Queen has laid. I believe once they hatch into larvae the workers will start actively foraging for food. There will be too many hungry, eager mouths for them to sit still and do nothing.
Great jurnal :) looking forward to read more