ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Andie]

Here's my new Queen wth her larvae that started to hatch about 4 days ago. She is in a tube at about 25c. I'm still unsure if i should be offering her food so i have put in a few dead fruit flies but she hasnt touched them. Ill keep a log here as they hopefully develop.

[Markus]

She doesn't need food until the first workers are there!

[Andie]

Thanks Markus, you did tell me that in an earlier post but ive been reading so much i got confused

[Markus]

No problem and good luck with the queen!

[Andie]

Just a little update, she now has an assortment of different sized larvae and looks like another batch of eggs too.

[SteveUK28]

Excellent stuff Andie, please keep the photos coming... Perhaps you could start a diary for them.

How are you keeping her at the moment? I can see she is in her test tube, but do you keep it covered? Somewhere hot? Just normal tempreture?

Thanks

[Andie]

I'm keeping her in a test tube with the usual water in one end, in a small cardbox box in semi dark, the tube is laying on a piece of polystyrene with a groove scoured out so the tube will rest in it without rolling about. The box is sat on some bubble rap and a piece of plywood with a small heatmat underneath it all. The temp is about 25 - 28c but i must get a stat connected for safetys sake. I have two queens like this but this one is more advanced.

@steve, did you join UKMantisForums ? only i am the owner of it and i seem to remember your name there. probably not eh ...

[SteveUK28]

Nope not me matey lol... Dont do them.. I do have Roaches and Locusts lol

[Andie]

It would have been a small world lol ...

[Andie]

Had a look today 2nd April and found that she has a nice collection of dolls. I was suprised as i wasnt expecting them to pupate so soon You can just see one starting to colour up.

[SteveUK28]

fab job mate... this is awesome... I think i might give these another shot..

[Andie]

I'm glad i bought 2 queens though as the other one must have eaten her eggs in transit. She has another clutch now but i wonder if her fat reserves will last a late first brood. I can see how nervous this species is when i open the cupboard to take a peek as they both rush around and try to bundle there eggs and brood together for protection. I have read that this fear in a young colony can lead to aggression so im thinking that i should place the test tubes in a small arena to minimise the risk of disturbance before there are workers.

Also ive been out collecting Taraxacum officinale seeds, dandylion, as its supposed to be sought after. Not much seeding yet but will be by next week i think.

[Andie]

Today 4.4.11 the first worker appeared, tiny little thing.

[SteveUK28]

Brilliant stuff mate, i have to say your photos are quite good. What camera are you using?

[Andie]

These pics were taken on a Panasonic TZ10 but i normally use an olypus DSLR plus 105mm sigma macro but i need a new flash