Will's Camp. Pennslavanicus and Camp. Noveboracensis

Let us know of your ant colonies or queens that have passed away. We will grieve together but will also learn why your ants may not have succeeded.

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WillWithAnts
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Will's Camp. Pennslavanicus and Camp. Noveboracensis

Post: # 1121Post WillWithAnts
Sun Aug 02, 2015 1:46 am

Hello everyone! This is my camponotus journal.

This is my first year of ant keeping (2015) and I'd like to share my findings so far. I hope you enjoy!

Camponotus Noveboracensis
The first queen I found was scuttling across my driveway. Although I had a test tube in my pocket, she was very fast and smart; she wouldn't willingly climb into my possession. I used to pick up ants when I was smaller by putting my hands together and making a corral with my thumbs and forefingers, like this. Then ant would eventually walk up on my hand.
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I would've done that, but this was an ant species I've never seen before, she was slightly red, and she was huge (15mm) in comparison to the other ants that lived nearby. I wasn't about to test her weaponry. My brother brought me a bucket that we somehow managed to get her in and she calmed down enough for us to lead into the test tube setup I made. She was caught on the 16th of June. She now has 16 brood. She as had pupae for a couple of weeks now.

Here are some pictures of her today.
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Guarding the entrance.
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I think she is well on her way to a fruitful colony!

Camponotus Pennslyvanicus
One day my brothers and I were at the park. One of my brothers yelled "Will, I think I found a queen", and I rushed over to him. Sure enough, here is this huge (17mm) Camp. Penn. queen lumbering through the woodchips. She was slower, and easier to scoop up. Even though we caught her almost a week after the first, she now has 18 brood. She has shown to be quite a vicious and valiant guard, protecting he babies from a dead fly I tried to feed her. She simply attacked it and made sure it was dead before returning to her clutch. I wont try to feed her again for a few weeks.
Check her out!
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I hope you guys enjoy my little camponotus blog, but don't be too impatient for more; they are quite slow growing ants. Hopefully having two will keep up a good show! Ant love forever!

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Re: Will's Camp. Pennslavanicus and Camp. Noveboracensis

Post: # 1140Post antscanada
Sun Aug 02, 2015 8:09 am

Yes!!! Loving this first journal blog entry. I personally find Camponotus ants among my favourite ants to keep in North America, C. noveboracensis in particular. They're super easy to care for, so full of energy, look cool at their various worker sizes, and are quite large.

Keep up the great work.
Ant Love Forever.

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WillWithAnts
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Re: Will's Camp. Pennslavanicus and Camp. Noveboracensis

Post: # 1337Post WillWithAnts
Mon Aug 03, 2015 8:05 pm

Journal #2 is here, and with a thrilling event!

Yesterday when I took out my queens to show a friend, and I was baffled by the cutest little ant I've ever seen. Behold, my Camponotus "Nova" Noveboracensis's first nanitic!
Helping mom! :D
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I'm really sorry for the short and particularly bad writing in this post, but this is my second time typing it. :cry:

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WillWithAnts
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My Camponotus formicariums; how well will they work?

Post: # 1671Post WillWithAnts
Fri Aug 07, 2015 1:34 pm

Hello everyone! My brother and I made a pact to leave the ants alone until next Tuesday the 11th, so no new ant journal until then :(.

Contrary to that, I still have something you can look at if you want! I'm wondering how well my ant setups will work, any critiques?
The topic is in the forum for formicaria posts, so here is a link!
http://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=259

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WillWithAnts
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Re: Will's Camp. Pennslavanicus and Camp. Noveboracensis

Post: # 1763Post WillWithAnts
Sat Aug 08, 2015 1:45 pm

Domrom17 wrote:Your so lucky. I've always wanted to keep a camponotus species, but everytime I find a queen, she's always too fast for me. One time, I actually caught a camponotus pennsylvanicus, but before I could put her in her test tube, one of my cousins killed her. :cry:
Sad day for me...
Yeah, Ms. Nova was super fast, but the huge Camp. Penn. I found was too big to be speedy :lol:
Sorry about the Camponotus incident! :cry:

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WillWithAnts
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Journal #3 Tomorrow

Post: # 1837Post WillWithAnts
Sat Aug 08, 2015 11:13 pm

Okay, I have a confession to make: my brother and I broke our pact. We couldn't help but to take a peek at our Camponotus colonies. Journal #3 will be arriving tomorrow with our findings! :mrgreen:

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WillWithAnts
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Journal #3

Post: # 1962Post WillWithAnts
Sun Aug 09, 2015 7:57 pm

Journal #3!
Last night I checked my ants and I have a population count. Nova (C.Noveboracensis) has a total of six workers and a ball of brood. Penn (C.Pennslyvanicus) has two workers and about six pupa (one of which is ***** :shock: ). Nova's workers seemed hungry and were pulling at the cotton, but it was going to be hard to feed them without escapees. I decided to move them into the outworld this morning, so I could easily feed them. I blocked off the entrance to the nest, as that's a forbidden place until they have more workers. I fed them a drop of honey and some fish flakes, which they gorged themselves on. They were clearly full by the time I removed the honey :lol:. The colony was pretty alarmed when I tore their double test-tube setup in half and put them in the outworld. I was kind of jumpy because I'm very nervous about getting bit/stung/sprayed by ants for some reason. Small insects panic me when they seem to get aggressive :oops:. I'm working through it. They now seem very happy with their full gasters and newfound territory. Enough of my blabbing, here are some pictures!
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Queen Penn is quite the worry wart, so I'm not going to stress her out more to take pictures. Don't worry though, with that amount of pupae, her empire should be taking the reigns soon enough.

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Re: Will's Camp. Pennslavanicus and Camp. Noveboracensis

Post: # 2031Post antscanada
Mon Aug 10, 2015 2:12 pm

Wow! Fantastic updates. Feels great, doesn't it? :) Great photos, too! We'll be following these colonies along with you.
Ant Love Forever.

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WillWithAnts
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Re: Will's Camp. Pennslavanicus and Camp. Noveboracensis

Post: # 2054Post WillWithAnts
Mon Aug 10, 2015 6:31 pm

Aw man, my ants are glutted with fly and honey... which means I can feed them for a while! What will I do with my time :shock:?!

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WillWithAnts
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Re: Will's Camp. Pennslavanicus and Camp. Noveboracensis

Post: # 2067Post WillWithAnts
Mon Aug 10, 2015 10:22 pm

AntsCanada wrote:Wow! Fantastic updates. Feels great, doesn't it? :) Great photos, too! We'll be following these colonies along with you.
Thanks, Mikey, I really appreciate it!

I'm waiting for new news myself, but patience is the key. Hardly anyone came out of the test tube today. One of the workers is often working on closing the test tube off with loose sand I gave her, but everyone else was a home-body. It seems like another worker is close :). Also, I'll try to get some pictures of Penn soon!

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