Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

[Hawkeye]

Hey guys!

How is everyone doing? Getting excited about diapauze almost being over?

Sadly the colony of harvester ants we have at school is doomed to die out. One of the pupils removed the test tube which housed the colony. It was connected by a tube to an outworld which in turn connected to a formicarium. Though the ants seemed interested they hadn't moved there yet, but I blame the winter rest period for that. They don't really have a diapauze but rather just take things real slow during the winter...

In the proces of removing the tube, he managed to kill the queen, likely by squashing her with the rubber tubing. The worker ants were trying relentlessly to drag her dead body to safety, but to no avail.

I managed to retrieve the test tube and capture the stray ants, but without a queen all they can do is live out their lifespan...

Moving and work have kept me insanely busy lately, so I've hardly been on the forum. I plan to order a new Camponotus queen in a week or two, so I can start raising a colony. Hopefully more successful this time.

On the aquatic front everything is splendid. I have 2 large tanks and a number of species of fish, which are all doing great! Some have even started depositing eggs, though I haven't seen any hatch.

I'll keep you guys posted and try to be online a lot more again

[CANant]

Hey guys!

How is everyone doing? Getting excited about diapauze almost being over?

Sadly the colony of harvester ants we have at school is doomed to die out. One of the pupils removed the test tube which housed the colony. It was connected by a tube to an outworld which in turn connected to a formicarium. Though the ants seemed interested they hadn't moved there yet, but I blame the winter rest period for that. They don't really have a diapauze but rather just take things real slow during the winter...

In the proces of removing the tube, he managed to kill the queen, likely by squashing her with the rubber tubing. The worker ants were trying relentlessly to drag her dead body to safety, but to no avail.

I managed to retrieve the test tube and capture the stray ants, but without a queen all they can do is live out their lifespan...

Moving and work have kept me insanely busy lately, so I've hardly been on the forum. I plan to order a new Camponotus queen in a week or two, so I can start raising a colony. Hopefully more successful this time.

On the aquatic front everything is splendid. I have 2 large tanks and a number of species of fish, which are all doing great! Some have even started depositing eggs, though I haven't seen any hatch.

I'll keep you guys posted and try to be online a lot more again

Aww I’m sorry things didn’t work out with the class colony. Do you plan on trying again with a new queen in the spring? Depending on their age maybe you could take them on a hunt for colonies outside at school.

That’s great to hear you will be getting another Camponotus Queen very soon!

I’m am so excited for my colony to come out of diapause. I check on them weekly and check their temperature daily. So far so good. 1.5 or 2 months to go.

[JustABitAntsy]

Hey guys!

How is everyone doing? Getting excited about diapauze almost being over?

Sadly the colony of harvester ants we have at school is doomed to die out. One of the pupils removed the test tube which housed the colony. It was connected by a tube to an outworld which in turn connected to a formicarium. Though the ants seemed interested they hadn't moved there yet, but I blame the winter rest period for that. They don't really have a diapauze but rather just take things real slow during the winter...

In the proces of removing the tube, he managed to kill the queen, likely by squashing her with the rubber tubing. The worker ants were trying relentlessly to drag her dead body to safety, but to no avail.

I managed to retrieve the test tube and capture the stray ants, but without a queen all they can do is live out their lifespan...

Moving and work have kept me insanely busy lately, so I've hardly been on the forum. I plan to order a new Camponotus queen in a week or two, so I can start raising a colony. Hopefully more successful this time.

On the aquatic front everything is splendid. I have 2 large tanks and a number of species of fish, which are all doing great! Some have even started depositing eggs, though I haven't seen any hatch.

I'll keep you guys posted and try to be online a lot more again

I'm sorry to hear that!
I hope if you start a new colony they do better!

[Hawkeye]

Hey guys!

How is everyone doing? Getting excited about diapauze almost being over?

Sadly the colony of harvester ants we have at school is doomed to die out. One of the pupils removed the test tube which housed the colony. It was connected by a tube to an outworld which in turn connected to a formicarium. Though the ants seemed interested they hadn't moved there yet, but I blame the winter rest period for that. They don't really have a diapauze but rather just take things real slow during the winter...

In the proces of removing the tube, he managed to kill the queen, likely by squashing her with the rubber tubing. The worker ants were trying relentlessly to drag her dead body to safety, but to no avail.

I managed to retrieve the test tube and capture the stray ants, but without a queen all they can do is live out their lifespan...

Moving and work have kept me insanely busy lately, so I've hardly been on the forum. I plan to order a new Camponotus queen in a week or two, so I can start raising a colony. Hopefully more successful this time.

On the aquatic front everything is splendid. I have 2 large tanks and a number of species of fish, which are all doing great! Some have even started depositing eggs, though I haven't seen any hatch.

I'll keep you guys posted and try to be online a lot more again

Aww I’m sorry things didn’t work out with the class colony. Do you plan on trying again with a new queen in the spring? Depending on their age maybe you could take them on a hunt for colonies outside at school.

That’s great to hear you will be getting another Camponotus Queen very soon!

I’m am so excited for my colony to come out of diapause. I check on them weekly and check their temperature daily. So far so good. 1.5 or 2 months to go.

Yeah we will be getting a new colony, but maybe place it somewhere else? Or try to create a more sturdy setup.

I'm sure the guy(s) responsible didn't mean to kill the queen intentionally, they likely were just clumsy. I suggested that for their punishment they will have to buy a new colony and give a presentation of how an ant colony functions (and how to take care of one.) Tell them to watch some AC YouTube clips for research hahaha

[CANant]

I suggested that for their punishment they will have to buy a new colony and give a presentation of how an ant colony functions (and how to take care of one.) Tell them to watch some AC YouTube clips for research hahaha

Sounds like a great punishment and fair too.

[Hawkeye]

I suggested that for their punishment they will have to buy a new colony and give a presentation of how an ant colony functions (and how to take care of one.) Tell them to watch some AC YouTube clips for research hahaha

Sounds like a great punishment and fair too.

Lol I figured that would kill two birds with one stone. Educate them (and hopefully get them interested in) and make them face the consequences of misbehaving.

[AusAnts]

i'm getting excited for my camponotus nanitics. She has 4 pupae and 2 larvae. They seemed to have developed quite fast though, 3-4 weeks to pupae stage. Shes a big girl as well about 2cm long. not sure of the species but they seem to be common in my semi-urban area.

[CANant]

Hi everyone!
I’m happy to report my colony is officially out of diapause! All are alive and doing well..brood included! I’m so happy and relieved.
Here’s a little update with pictures and videos (follow links).

**Please note: Imgur only allows 50 images/videos per folder so I have created a part 1 and a part 2.

To continue from the point after they entered diapause go to Part 1 and scroll down to February 23 and then check out part 2.
If you are new to my journal you can easily catch up from the beginning in Part 1.

Feedback, questions and comments are always welcome! Enjoy!

Part 1:
https://imgur.com/a/2kTk38Y

Part 2:
https://imgur.com/a/zQYRk90

[SYUTEO]

This might be one of the saddest updates here, when i came to check on my colony of Pheidolegeton diversus colony a few days back, i saw the queen had died . The workers also seem to be dismantling the queen into pieces to feed the brood, officially i have lost this colony...

[CANant]

This might be one of the saddest updates here, when i came to check on my colony of Pheidolegeton diversus colony a few days back, i saw the queen had died . The workers also seem to be dismantling the queen into pieces to feed the brood, officially i have lost this colony...

Oh SYUTEO that is just awful news... I’m very sorry