The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

so because they hadnt moved still I decided to take pics and that was the kick in the pants the first pic one worker went off to explore the new nest when i brought them into the light found it was nice and dark, she came back and told the queen and after all but the very newest batch of eggs she went in, while worker 1 finished moving the rest of the eggs. thats when worker number 2 noticed all the eggs and queen were gone while she was eating, I kid you not food was right infront of the eggs and the other worker moved them all while she ate and she didnt notice! she ran all around th tube moving her antennae quickly and when the first worker came to see if there was any eggs left thats when worker two thought she was telling he a great tragedy until worker one PICKED UP worker 2 and carried her into the new nest and she felt the eggs and queen with her antennae and instantly calmed down, it was an Interesting scene shoulda video taped it rather than trying to just take pics but hindsight. here ya are




One final note, the queen seemed to move far more easily in the plaster than the plastic it almost seemed like she was struggling to move untishe got her feet on the plaster and then it was smooth sailing.

Camponotus update:

Not much to report model colony. upto 3 workers ( 4 more literally about to become workers, i was hoping today before the update but with my luck tomorrow, loving the mix of fruit flies and crickets. As of now I have them on home made syrup. They prefer white sugar and water, over brown sugar and water or even raw sugar and water.
On pay day I'm going to try some fruits, but I'm half afraid of the pesticides people spray on stuff these days. Hoping a vinegar bath will clean it off enough not to worry.

I do want to try an experiment with some maple tree sap reconstituted with a touch of water to see if they would prefer something a little more natural in sugar.

TheRealAntMan wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 04, 2018 2:45 pm

Some very sad news to report . Before going to work today, I checked on my C. Pennsylvanicus colony to find my queen actually very strangely. She was moving her legs as if she were trying to shed wings even though she didn’t have any. I would have recorded it but I didn’t want to be late for work. I put honey and superworm guts in the AC portal for her. Coming back today I saw this:



She had died. I’m not sure what had happened yesterday her gaster was very physogastric. She was acting normally, laying eggs as normal and doing nothing else. Not sure what had happened.

Dude. That sucks. . RIP. Sounds like you were doing everything right. Gl on the next adventure. :/.

I don’t even know where to begin. There’s about 12 workers and 4 median workers, little larvae, and two remaining cocoons. I’ve tried moving them at least 4 times since the queen died but no luck. The water reservoir is super dirty, I’m surprised they still drink it. They eat normally but they’ve cut down on the protein. Here they are:


Here’s a good picture of the worker castes in the colony: