I've bought this species back in June from Xcom of lamarabunta.org, some of you might know him.
I think they are particularly interesting because they are able to increase greatly in numbers at places where most other invertebrates would perish.
They are also very impressive in size and the size difference between a major and a minor worker is astonishing.
The queen is also very beautiful and is a little bit smaller than a major worker, but you can easily recognize her by the scars on her thorax where her wings used to be.
Experience has thought me that the queen likes to take pauses between each batch of eggs - sometimes up to 3 weeks, so just like with most other ant species patience is required
Enough talk, here are some low quality pictures taken with my 4 year old digital camera.
(17/05/08) Having just received the colony, it seems that most workers were not able to cope with the bumps that come with travel from Spain.
(17/05/08) This picture clearly shows the difference in size between the two castes and in the middle you can see the very beautiful queen.
(17/05/08) This was their first nest, I let them choose between a completely dry test-tube and a test-tube with a water reservoir, they apparently made the right choice
(23/05/08) Noticed some interesting behavior today, the nurses are very obsessive in cleaning workers who enter the nest, the picture above shows a major worker getting overwhelmed by minors and getting licked all over until the last chemicals have disappeared of their bodies.
(23/05/08) Apparently there is always one worker responsible for the eggs and she keeps them locked between her mandibles and wherever the colony goes, she follows.
(27/05/08) Looking through the glass I noticed the first larvae squirming in the pile of eggs and so now I can start feeding the colony small animals which they will use to feed them.
(02/06/08) The larvae have developed even further and are constantly fed and nurtured. They also have a strange orange color which means they have been fed.
(02/06/08) The last stage of the larvae is soon to come, next they will develop into pupae and their bodies will take form in their small cocoons.
(06/06/08) Some minors have taken small stones and sand out of the forage area and have laid them on top of the larvae who then use it to lay still while they spin their cocoons.
(06/06/08) After a couple of hours the first pupae is ready and the workers quickly clean and lick it.
(07/06/08) After putting a piece of a large grasshopper in the forage area, it is impressive how the workers recruit others to help take the food into the nest.
The first worker that detects the food quickly runs in a straight line to the nest site and alarms every worker it encounters, this quickly sets off a stream of 'panic' in the nest and a lot of workers will run out and grab the prey. The majors will then bite the prey into smaller pieces with their impressive jaws and the smaller workers will work together to bring the pieces into the nest.
(19/06/08) Finally after almost a month, the first worker comes out its encasing and wanders about. It's a minor worker and is still light orange of color.
(15/08/08) The original nest was getting to small and I had to put them in a bigger one, the colony has about 70 workers.
(17/10/08) As of now, the queen is still taking a long break after a busy summer, she should soon start to lay more eggs.
