Hello fellow ant enthusiasts. I'm back after what seemed like a very long week with updates on my Camponotus Castaneus's. Let's take a look shall we.
Onto the first queen, I don't see any eggs and the queen still has her wings on. I've noticed this one looks a little smaller than the other queen's so it could be she hasn't mated. Hopefully she lays some eggs here soon or I'll have to let her go. One of the other queens also hasn't had any eggs either, but I'm going to keep them for a little while longer before releasing them back into the wild.
Now onto the good stuff. First looking at this tube I can see some tiny dots that look exactly like some eggs right next to the wing.
Upon further inspection she definitely has some eggs. SUCCESS!
She stands guard over them like an attack hound. So cute.
Onto the last queen I have I can see even more eggs!
You see those tiny dots next to her leg? TINY ANTS!
A closer look.
The blue really contrasts the ant's color and the eggs very well.
To me this is a total success. I was only expecting 1 or even zero queens to have eggs, but 2 out of 4 is amazing. The first queen appeared to have 3 eggs and the second had about 4. With any luck the other queens will lay some eggs soon. Thanks for checking out my ants and thanks AntsCanada for all the incredibly helpful tips on Youtube. You inspired me to be an ant keeper and hopefully I can inspire some people too. Thanks and good luck with your Anting.
Life is beautiful, big or small.
Founding:
4 × Camponotus Castaneus
3 x Random Queens yet to be identified
1 x Colobopsis Impressa
1 x Aphaenogaster
. With any luck I'll have 3 extra queens for the GAN Project if anyone in St. Louis is interested. This is going to be an adventure and I'll be back on soon!
