Welcome back to the Camponotus Crew! (New topic, old one got too long)

[SolenopsisKeeper]

I'm surprised that no one has posted here in such a long time. The og thread was very popular, new posts almost everyday and probably the longest topic ever on the forum at 169 pages long.

Credit to founder of the og thread and the people who posted there in the first ten pages: Hawkeye, CANant, Camponotus, Shinde, Tzakeran, Whitelotus, Alex07, Kherafox, Isoroku55, Warden and sartwell90.

Anyways, I'm planning to get more Camponotus sometime in the future, particularly C. nicobarensis and C. arrogans. My C. parius colony who has also been mentioned in the og thread is probably dying of old age or maybe something else, the colony's queen actually has a name, Queen Anthie.

RIP Queen Anthie, you will be missed.

Always hard when you loose a colony, especially if it’s one you raised from a single queen and watched it develop 10 workers, then 100, then 500, and so on.


I love Camponotus in my area, and it doesn’t concern many people due to the fact most Camponotus in my area DOES NOT bore through wood.

[SolenopsisKeeper]

New users would find the og thread and they would know it is popular, but this thread does not look like it is popular because it does not have many posts. It should get more active in the summer when camponotus nuptial flights are hapening.

Although I didn’t post back in the original, I truly hope it comes back(Maybe more active forum members?) I always find it hard to ID ants in places like Greece, Germany, and most of Europe due to the fact I don’t live in Europe. I would truly love a topic that was so long it had to be continued in series, due to the fact the more post, usually the more people, which means more colonies and stories to hear!

I just love that fact this exist, as I had a problem with my Camponotus plantas(Rip) and they ended up dying…

I just don’t have the emotional capacity to change my signature… really loved those colors. May they be remembered! What I do have a question about though, is I preserved the queen in alcohol(90%) and now it is yellow? I know the queen died because an introduced worker in attempt to save tge colony(all workers died) sprayed her with Formic acid… is this why the alcohol is yellow after the bodies have sat in it for a week?

[SavANT]

Sorry for the loss. But did you really have to preserve her

[SYUTEO]

New users would find the og thread and they would know it is popular, but this thread does not look like it is popular because it does not have many posts. It should get more active in the summer when camponotus nuptial flights are hapening.

Although I didn’t post back in the original, I truly hope it comes back(Maybe more active forum members?) I always find it hard to ID ants in places like Greece, Germany, and most of Europe due to the fact I don’t live in Europe. I would truly love a topic that was so long it had to be continued in series, due to the fact the more post, usually the more people, which means more colonies and stories to hear!

I just love that fact this exist, as I had a problem with my Camponotus plantas(Rip) and they ended up dying…

I just don’t have the emotional capacity to change my signature… really loved those colors. May they be remembered! What I do have a question about though, is I preserved the queen in alcohol(90%) and now it is yellow? I know the queen died because an introduced worker in attempt to save tge colony(all workers died) sprayed her with Formic acid… is this why the alcohol is yellow after the bodies have sat in it for a week?

The reason why the alcohol turned yellow is probably because the queen's body fluids leaked out. If you put your queen in when it has already dried then I'm not sure, maybe the queen's exoskeleton pigments leaked in the alcohol?

[SYUTEO]

Sorry for the loss. But did you really have to preserve her

She was one of the very first queens I caught. The species also has a very interesting coloration, they are black with silvery golden hairs and some have intersting patterns on their gaster. And depending on the lighting they can be more silver or more golden and I find that this even depends on the type of light.

So far she is the longest living queen I have.

[SavANT]

So sorry . Must have cost you a lot

[SYUTEO]

Yeah, it's very sad considering the fact that she is one of the few og colonies I have that are still alive.

Also could someone suggest names for my other ant colonies' queens? I'm bad at names.

[Antloverhuman]

Yeah, it's very sad considering the fact that she is one of the few og colonies I have that are still alive.

Also could someone suggest names for my other ant colonies' queens? I'm bad at names.

Can you describe the looks of the queens? It would help with naming

[SolenopsisKeeper]

Sorry for the loss. But did you really have to preserve her

Yes. I like to have specimens of queens so when I collect more I can know if they are physogastric. I also do that with the best looking queens, and she was one of them.

[SYUTEO]

Yeah, it's very sad considering the fact that she is one of the few og colonies I have that are still alive.

Also could someone suggest names for my other ant colonies' queens? I'm bad at names.

Can you describe the looks of the queens? It would help with naming

You can just look at my signature but just in case here are some of the queens' colors and their personality.

Solenopsis geminata: Bright red head and thorax and dark gaster. She seems to be very shy and doesn't like the light.
Paratopula sp: Bright orange, still has her wings on even though she has workers. During the founding stage she's very stubborn and picky.
Cardiocondyla sp: Mostly black with jet black gaster. She's also picky during founding.
Gnamptogenys sp: Mostly black, her exoskeleton seems to reflect light a lot. She's very aggressive and very willing to take down prey.
Anochetus sp: Mostly dark red to black. Interestingly her workers are a lighter color and are more red. She's rather willing to take down prey but she's more shy.