BleedingRaindrops's Okinawan Ants
Posted: Sun May 28, 2017 9:55 am
Now that I'm keeping Five different species it seems appropriate to just make one big journal. I am super excited to be able to keep these girls. They are just a marvel to care for. It's been about two weeks since I had the Nylanderia and Camponotus queens, a week since I caught a pheidole and paratrechina longicornis queen, and two months since I caught a cardiocondylla queen.
Let's meet the girls.
First up is Anna.
I caught Anna along with her sisters Bella, Clara, and Donna (and two others who died the first night) just over two weeks ago in the second week of May. She is a Nylanderia sp. queen and is about 5mm long. I haven't seen any eggs from her yet but I'll give her some time to catch up to her sisters.
Next is Bella.
Bella was the first to give me eggs, producing eight of them the first night. I also saw her mate just before I caught her so I am 100% certain she is fertile. This photo is from two weeks ago because her test tube has a lot of scratches and her most recent photo is too blurry to see the eggs in great detail, but there are at least 20 now, likely more.
Then there is Clara.
I'm not sure why Clara has kept her wings this far but it certainly hasn't stopped her egg laying production. Look at them all! Clara was the second queen I caught while mating, so I am super excited to raise her.
And now Donna.
Donna waited a week before giving me any eggs, because she kept tending to a drone that had been captured with her. He survived for two weeks before he curled up! I had no idea drones could make it that far. After he died she paid much more attention to her brood, and I was able to remove him before he rotted. She is now tending nicely to them and they look just as numerous as her sisters'.
That's all for the Nylanderia queens. Now let's meet our Big Camponotus queen: Betty.
Not having a test tube large enough to contain, let alone capture her, I had to catch Betty in an old medicine vial I had used up. I wasn't even sure she was an ant when I first saw her because not only is she the largest and I've ever seen, she was the only one of her kind that I could see flying that night. I caught Betty on the same night I caught my Nylanderia queens. Check out the videos here.
https://vimeo.com/216004048
https://vimeo.com/216004321
Betty is 15mm long and Jet black, so I'm pretty confident she's Camponotus Pennsylvanicus, but I am all the way in Okinawa so it's possible that's not accurate. Either way, she's big, she's black, she's Betty the Camponotus queen. There's a bit of mold on her cotton ball, which she doesn't seem to mind just yet, but I hope to be able to give her a new container soon. Here's hoping she can hold out. I would love to be able to raise a Camponotus colony.
Next up is Emily.
Emily is a small myrmicine queen, measuring about 3mm, who I caught in the second week of March. I think she is a Cardiocondylla alate, but I have not been able to get clear enough pictures for a positive ID. She has not laid any eggs, and is beginning to become very sluggish, so I think I should feed her soon. She still has her wings, which only supports my theory that she was just a lone alate who happened to wander too far from the nest. I think it will be really cool to keep her for as long as I can.
(Post too long. Continued on next post)
Let's meet the girls.
First up is Anna.
I caught Anna along with her sisters Bella, Clara, and Donna (and two others who died the first night) just over two weeks ago in the second week of May. She is a Nylanderia sp. queen and is about 5mm long. I haven't seen any eggs from her yet but I'll give her some time to catch up to her sisters.
Next is Bella.
Bella was the first to give me eggs, producing eight of them the first night. I also saw her mate just before I caught her so I am 100% certain she is fertile. This photo is from two weeks ago because her test tube has a lot of scratches and her most recent photo is too blurry to see the eggs in great detail, but there are at least 20 now, likely more.
Then there is Clara.
I'm not sure why Clara has kept her wings this far but it certainly hasn't stopped her egg laying production. Look at them all! Clara was the second queen I caught while mating, so I am super excited to raise her.
And now Donna.
Donna waited a week before giving me any eggs, because she kept tending to a drone that had been captured with her. He survived for two weeks before he curled up! I had no idea drones could make it that far. After he died she paid much more attention to her brood, and I was able to remove him before he rotted. She is now tending nicely to them and they look just as numerous as her sisters'.
That's all for the Nylanderia queens. Now let's meet our Big Camponotus queen: Betty.
Not having a test tube large enough to contain, let alone capture her, I had to catch Betty in an old medicine vial I had used up. I wasn't even sure she was an ant when I first saw her because not only is she the largest and I've ever seen, she was the only one of her kind that I could see flying that night. I caught Betty on the same night I caught my Nylanderia queens. Check out the videos here.
https://vimeo.com/216004048
https://vimeo.com/216004321
Betty is 15mm long and Jet black, so I'm pretty confident she's Camponotus Pennsylvanicus, but I am all the way in Okinawa so it's possible that's not accurate. Either way, she's big, she's black, she's Betty the Camponotus queen. There's a bit of mold on her cotton ball, which she doesn't seem to mind just yet, but I hope to be able to give her a new container soon. Here's hoping she can hold out. I would love to be able to raise a Camponotus colony.
Next up is Emily.
Emily is a small myrmicine queen, measuring about 3mm, who I caught in the second week of March. I think she is a Cardiocondylla alate, but I have not been able to get clear enough pictures for a positive ID. She has not laid any eggs, and is beginning to become very sluggish, so I think I should feed her soon. She still has her wings, which only supports my theory that she was just a lone alate who happened to wander too far from the nest. I think it will be really cool to keep her for as long as I can.
(Post too long. Continued on next post)