ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Antchrist]

Well, the Camponotus vicinus don´t have a thread here so I had to start one.

Anyone else got this super nice ant (I do).....?

The once I got is from this summers swarming so they are just one queen and 6-7 workers.
If you guys have any questions feel free to post them here (a bout C.vicinus)...

[mtrein]

Hi Antchrist.

How big are they (queen and workers)? Are they aggressive? Post some pictures of your setup for them.

[Antchrist]

The queen is huge! 1,6-1,8mm and massive appearance.
Workers (minor) are 8mm and the majors are 15mm (dont have any of those yet).
The workers I have now are the first generation and are absolutely not aggressive. They cant afford to put up a fight
when they are only 5 workers. Workers (minor) are fast and good climbers. so far I only fed them dead bugs and honey.
Last night I gave them some more food options (fruit, crumbs from a bun, meringue and honey) all the workers went for
the honey, they tried the babyfood (crushed fruit) but did not like it that much and ignored the rest.

Then they had a feeding ritual with the queen (trophallaxis).

The setup is a Ytong nest times 3. I have one small starting nest with only 2 small rooms and that is connected to a larger Ytong nest with 7 big room witch is connected to a BIG Ytong nest with 15 large rooms.
You can see it here: Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar
Its an swedish webpage and the pics are not that good. It looks better irl....and I had to re build the original nest.
The Pogonomyrmex that lived there first trashed the nest (digging all the wrong places).

The formicarium is now created for the Campos so they can have the feeling of satellite nests witch they like.

The hole in the center is the entrance and all so the first Ytong nest. The red plastic is just so I can observe.
I will upload a new pic soon (maybe this evening)

[mtrein]

It looks really nice, well done. Must have been difficult and time consuming to create that formicarium, but it looks like it was worth it.

[Antchrist]

Thank you! Yes it took some time to do but if I done it right the first time....well it would not be so time consuming.
If you just have the creation on paper first (a good drawing), 100 backup plans when things go wrong you will get the project done in time...and yes, HAVE FUN!!!

[Antchrist]

Hmm...the queen is 16mm not 1,6...

The queen is huge! 1,6-1,8mm and massive appearance.
Workers (minor) are 8mm and the majors are 15mm (dont have any of those yet).
The workers I have now are the first generation and are absolutely not aggressive. They cant afford to put up a fight
when they are only 5 workers. Workers (minor) are fast and good climbers. so far I only fed them dead bugs and honey.
Last night I gave them some more food options (fruit, crumbs from a bun, meringue and honey) all the workers went for
the honey, they tried the babyfood (crushed fruit) but did not like it that much and ignored the rest.

Then they had a feeding ritual with the queen (trophallaxis).

The setup is a Ytong nest times 3. I have one small starting nest with only 2 small rooms and that is connected to a larger Ytong nest with 7 big room witch is connected to a BIG Ytong nest with 15 large rooms.
You can see it here: Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar
Its an swedish webpage and the pics are not that good. It looks better irl....and I had to re build the original nest.
The Pogonomyrmex that lived there first trashed the nest (digging all the wrong places).

The formicarium is now created for the Campos so they can have the feeling of satellite nests witch they like.

The hole in the center is the entrance and all so the first Ytong nest. The red plastic is just so I can observe.
I will upload a new pic soon (maybe this evening)

[mtrein]

Don't worry, I think everyone understood

[Antchrist]

Now I think some more of the pupas hatched. Must be 8-9 workers down there. Still just one worker in the foragingarea at the time.
They eat every mosquito I give them, one/day (drag them down the hole) but no honey for one week now. Hmmm...
Maybe they do eat honey but just during nighttime. My other ants go for the honey same minute I serve them but not the Campos.

The climate in the formicarium is now more like a rainingseason, subtropic, hot (30-33C) and moist. I give them one more month like this and
then it will be "colder" (20-25C) and less moist. Plug in the big fan (suck out moist and drag in fresh air) and unplug one of the heatingcables.

In nature climate changes and I think the ants like it that way. Maybe the queen will stop laying so many eggs (she got a lot) and take a well needed rest.
At least slow down a bit.

[Antchrist]

First big major born 3 April.
>40 workers now...