Camponotus Novaboracensis Journal

[AntsOntario]

I think I might start updating daily.
So yeah, today was quite eventful! My tetramorium colony is growing really well. I think they must be at 20 workers by now. I caught them a moth in the yard today, than froze it for about an hour to remove anything dangerous. After that I let it thaw for about 5 minutes, and my ants seem to love it! There's at least 2 workers exploring the outworld at a time.
I did the same process for my camponotus colony. I gave them a small cricket. They're up to 6 workers now, and don't mind me exposing them to light. I also give both colonies my mixture every few days. My camponotus colony can't get enough of it, but my tetramorium colony seem to barley touch it. My Formica Pallidefulva queen who was recently IDed from Lasius to Formica is doing well also. Her 'dark pupa" is gone today, so I don't know what's happening. I think her larvae are having issues spinning cocoons, since she's pulling cotton on top of them. I think next year I'll be giving all of my queens a bit of substrate, since it'll be quite beneficial. My Formica Fusca queen is also doing well. Not too much to update about her.
I also made a fruit fly catcher thing haha. I just used a plastic red cup, cut up some apple, then put plastic wrap around it with tape and then poked some holes. It's super effective since I have around 60 right now. I'll probably go to a local petstore and get some mealworms down the line, but I think a diet of sugar, water & honey (I'll call it SWH from now on), fruit flies, small crickets & moths should be good for them right now.
If you live in the Peel Region/ GTA Area I'd be willing to sell you some of my colonies.
I'm going to start putting a lot of effort into these, since people are watching haha. I didn't think anyone would be interested.
Now that I can post pictures, it'll be way more useful, since you guys can see what I'm trying to say.
If you want more updates/want to speak to me personally I have an instagram "antsontario". Have a good day!

[AntsOntario]

Hopefully I have finally got the pictures to work. *Read the post on page 1 to see when the pictures were taken*

[Rhetorik]

Found something on antwiki that might help, explains why my formica is doing the same thing.
I'll have to add a substrate of some kind in the future.

"Unlike in other species of this group, worker
pupae most often lack cocoons in F. pallidefulva. Wheeler (1904) first noted this contrast between F. pallidefulva and F. incerta in Connecticut."

[AntsOntario]

Found something on antwiki that might help, explains why my formica is doing the same thing.
I'll have to add a substrate of some kind in the future.

"Unlike in other species of this group, worker
pupae most often lack cocoons in F. pallidefulva. Wheeler (1904) first noted this contrast between F. pallidefulva and F. incerta in Connecticut."

Oh okay, this makes sense. Thanks!
The larvae are spinning them, but only on half of their bodies. I've never seen this before.

[AntsOntario]

Hey guys. Not much to update since the last.

Camponotus Novaeboracensis Colony // 9 Workers - 25+ Eggs - 10+ Larvae - 5 Pupa

Tetramorium Sp. E Colony // 15 + Workers - Unknown - Unknown - Unknown (They filled their entire test tube with substrate, so this sucks. I'm going based on the last time I seen them. I know they had around 10 more pupa about to enclose.)

Formica Pallidefulva Colony // 5+ Eggs - 3+ Larvae - 4 Pupa

Formica Fusca // 0 Eggs - 7 Larvae - 0 Pupa

I'll be posting more pictures once I have my little photo shoots. I only expose them to cameras every 2 weeks to a month. It disturbs the queens a lot, so I try to avoid it.
I have some money to work with, $200 to be exact. How do you suggest I spend this? I was going to buy AntsAustralia's Ytong Nests. Size 1 & 3. Also their tweezers & syringe. Then I might go on THA and buy some fluon. I think that will be sufficient, but what do you guys think? I would buy AntsCanada's 'All You Need' pack, but the issues with their nests is there are no small sizes. It's only one size, so I don't think I'll even get to move in any of my colonies I got this year, until late next year.
(Yes, you might be like, "Jeez..$200 on ants?" Well, this is all I'll be ever spending on ants.

[AntsOntario]

Good news!
I went to Petsmart and bought some superworms. I got 25 for about $3. This morning I chopped 3 up, and cut them into 4 pieces.
My colonies we're pretty hungry. 1 Camponotus worker, and 2 Tetramorium escaped, so I really need to get some Fluon.
Anyway, I never knew the exact number of workers my Tetramorium colony had, but today I was amazed. 22 workers came out and attacked the small piece of superworm haha. That means there's possibly even more inside the tube. Anyway, I checked on them after about 20 minutes and when I came back I saw the superworm twitching. I had froze it for 2 hours prior to feeding, so I was a bit confused. I didn't feed the head, just the mid section. Further down the line I'll have them frozen for longer, I was just on a time crunch.
Now for my Camponotus. I gave them two pieces since they're at about 11 medium sized workers. In seconds 2 workers came out a dragged the superworm into the nest. I love their energy.
I also caught 1 Tetramorium queen, and a Formica. I never even knewTetramorium queens still flew this late into the year. They've been flying since May.
Here's their diet:

Camponotus
- Sugar Water (They really love it!) (Every other day)
- 2 Pieces of Superworm (Every 3 days)
- Apple (Every 3 days)
- Small moths/crickets (Every week, or whenever I can. They don't provide much nutrients.)

Tetramorium
- They'll eat anything haha!

Either than that, there's not much to add.


(Queen with 2 newly enclosed workers and small larvae)

[Rhetorik]

How do you suggest I spend this? I was going to buy AntsAustralia's Ytong Nests. Size 1 & 3. Also their tweezers & syringe. Then I might go on THA and buy some fluon. I think that will be sufficient, but what do you guys think? I would buy AntsCanada's 'All You Need' pack, but the issues with their nests is there are no small sizes. It's only one size, so I don't think I'll even get to move in any of my colonies I got this year, until late next year.
(Yes, you might be like, "Jeez..$200 on ants?" Well, this is all I'll be ever spending on ants.

Tough call

The Ytong nests look pretty good, the Aussie dollar is on par with our money so the prices aren't too bad. I've had my eye on the hybrid nest from AntsCanada, I was planning on filling most of the chambers with sand and they can excavate when they need more room. Hopefully, it works out.

Nice pic BTW...she looks angry lol

[AntsOntario]

How do you suggest I spend this? I was going to buy AntsAustralia's Ytong Nests. Size 1 & 3. Also their tweezers & syringe. Then I might go on THA and buy some fluon. I think that will be sufficient, but what do you guys think? I would buy AntsCanada's 'All You Need' pack, but the issues with their nests is there are no small sizes. It's only one size, so I don't think I'll even get to move in any of my colonies I got this year, until late next year.
(Yes, you might be like, "Jeez..$200 on ants?" Well, this is all I'll be ever spending on ants.

Tough call

The Ytong nests look pretty good, the Aussie dollar is on par with our money so the prices aren't too bad. I've had my eye on the hybrid nest from AntsCanada, I was planning on filling most of the chambers with sand and they can excavate when they need more room. Hopefully, it works out.

Nice pic BTW...she looks angry lol

That's a good idea. I think I might wait until version 3 comes out, since I'd hate if I bought the old version and then the new ones comes the next day haha!

[AntsOntario]

Hey guys. I'll be trying out a new way to update, so hopefully this makes it easier to read.

- CAMPONOTUS Novaeboracensis: They're doing really well.

Eating - They now have a diet of small crickets, honey water & mealworms.

Death Count - 1. I'm not sure why this worker died. I don't think it could be age because even if it was the first worker to arrive, it would have been only alive for 2 weeks. It seems like it's the smallest one. The rest of the workers and queen look fine and healthy.

Worker Count - 10

Brood Count - 10 - 15 Larvae (One seems huge.) 10 - 20 Eggs

Other - I really hope this colony pulls through. I think the escaped ant could have gotten some type of mite/sickness and died. I'll try to remove it ASAP. Their test tube is also a little moldy, so I'll have to change it. It's only because they are legit putting their food on the water portion, and not letting me remove it haha. (If anyone can tell me why the worker died (or why they think), that'd be great!)


- TETRAMORIUM Sp. E: This colony is great!

Death Count - 0.

Worker Count - 20+

Brood Count - 10 - 15 eggs! 15 - 20 MATURE Larvae! 1 - 5 Pupa

Other - I am beyond happy with this colony. They eat well, explore & grow so fast! Their test tube has a portion that has substrate, and they dug it up and made one big chamber underneath. They have an entrance and an exit. It's super great since it's near the water portion, so it always stays moist. (That could cause mold, but I haven't seen any yet.) All of their workers all still seem pretty young, so I think I'll probably have around 50 workers once the new generation arrives. This queen is an egg laying machine. It's great! I'll keep them in their 'Tubs & Tubes' setup over hibernation, then I'll give them AC's new hybrid nest that's scheduled to be released.

Same updates for my other queens. Although my Formica Pallidefulva has 5 pupa now. 2 spun cocoons, 2 didn't & 1 can't make up it's mind. What I mean by that is one half of it's body is in a cocoon, the other is *****. It's been like that for awhile now, so I don't know how it'll develop.

My new Tetramorium & Formica queens have laid eggs, so that's great news. My Tetramorium queen decided to keep her wings on though.

So yeah, that's it! Hopefully you all enjoyed reading this. Have a nice day !

[AntsOntario]

Today was feeding/cleaning day & the first colony to be fed we're my Camponotus colony. I always keep them in the dark, with a piece of paper wrapped around the test tube, since I don't want them to be disturbed every time I go into my garage. So anyway I looked into the entrance, and the ants we're all laying down on their sides.. including the queen. I had thought they had all died, so I quickly took the tube, slid off the paper, and then the colony went crazy with all of the workers jumping everywhere. Even the queen was running around. I've never seen this with any other genus. Camponotus apparently act dead when they feel threatened.
It was so cool to watch

Anyway, the Camponotus got some mealworm (cause that's all they'll eat),
The Tetramorium got a small cricket,
And my NEW Myrmica queen got some honey water. I never knew myrmica queens we're even in my area!
(They all got honey water haha)

That's all that has happened! I really want a Crematogaster queen, so I'll have to keep my eye's out. Once I get her, that'll end off my queen catching for 2017! If you know anyone that is selling them in the Toronto/Peel Region/Surrounding Area's (GTA - Greater Toronto Area haha! Please tell me