ANTSTORE World of Ants

[trueviper]

11th July 2015

Some bad news I'm afraid. Last weekend, a couple of days after the first worker eclosed, I noticed that a cocoon which had failed had been dumped outside of the test tube. And then yesterday when I checked on the colony I discovered that the first worker (the 2nd is still slightly smaller) had died during the night. I've given it some thought and can only assume that both events are possibly down to dehydration that may have been caused by too high a temperature from a combination of the heat mat and the recent warm weather. C.ligniperda are a Northen European species after all and can be kept at room temperature.
The water reservoir in the test tube nest is almost depleted and I've been waiting for there to be at least 2-3 workers before I offer them a new test tube with a fresh water reservoir.
The heat mat has now been switched off and I've placed a damp piece of cotton wool at the entrance to the test tube, in addition to the drop of water I offered the queen yesterday which she drank, to ensure the colony is adequately hydrated. Lesson learned and this colony will now be kept at room temperature only.
I feel very sad and disappointed that this has happened, I so want this colony to succeed

[trueviper]

It has become apparent with the help of anthill members that this queen has been wrongly identified as C.ligniperdus when in actual fact is C. herculeanus. My apologies to members for any confusion.

Of the 4 recent pupae, 2 failed due to possible dehydration and of the 2 workers that eclosed 1 died for unknown reasons although admittedly that may have also been due to the same problem. I have now removed the heat mat, which was cooled slightly with 3 pieces of cardboard and was placed under the floor of the vivarium, and out of direct contact with the test tube nest. Even though the heat was low and was only heating a quarter of the test tube nest it was still obviously too warm for this colony resulting in lost workers. The eggs and larvae however were evidently unaffected by the assumed high temperature.
The heat mat is now placed outside of the back wall of the vivarium, as advised by a forum member, and is now heating the air instead of the floor. The temperature is roughly 23-24 degrees and the colony seems to be behaving normaly.
There is a pupae present and small larvae and both the queen and worker tend to them constantly.
The test tube nest has been replaced and stopping the fresh water reservoir is a piece of aqua filter cotton instead of ordinary cotton wool. I've had good results using this in my C.vagus colony, the aqua filter cotton doesn't go mouldy and allows for very good prolonged evaporation making the water last longer without going bad.

The C.herculeanus is in the test tube at the top, the one below it is C.ligniperdus.

[loveiguanas]

The eggs appear to have hatched and there are now app.
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