The inside of the wax worm was exposed directly to the ants, since I cut it in half.Batspiderfish wrote: ↑Sun Jun 03, 2018 7:24 pmThey might, but I really stand by offering small insects to small ants. Even though moth larvae have softer exoskeletons, they're still pretty tough and rubbery for a tiny Ponera. The natural food of Ponera are tiny springtails and the likes. I maintain that fruit flies are the best commercially available food for small ants and young colonies.AntsDakota wrote: ↑Sun Jun 03, 2018 7:14 pmYou're right. They didn't accept it. So I fed them a wax worm, which my Lasius niger colony seemed to enjoy, and hemolymph (if that's what wax worms have for blood) came spilling out when I cut it in half. Wax worms have a very soft exoskeleton compared to meal worms, so do you think they'll eat that?
AntsDakota's Ponera pennsylvanica colony
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Re: AntsDakota's Ponera pennsylvanica colony
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25
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Re: AntsDakota's Ponera pennsylvanica colony
About your pm, Ponera is the only genus of ants in SD that has that oblong body shape, and P pennsylvanica is the only Ponera species in SD. And yes, I did get a video of them, yet I don't have an account on imgur.com.
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25
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Re: AntsDakota's Ponera pennsylvanica colony
Oh, that was about Camponotus!AntsDakota wrote: ↑Sun Jun 03, 2018 8:38 pmAbout your pm, Ponera is the only genus of ants in SD that has that oblong body shape, and P pennsylvanica is the only Ponera species in SD. And yes, I did get a video of them, yet I don't have an account on imgur.com.
Why not get an account? Don't you want to show off pictures of your colonies?
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Re: AntsDakota's Ponera pennsylvanica colony
I added 2 more queens, so the colony has four queens, yet still no eggs.
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25
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Re: AntsDakota's Ponera pennsylvanica colony
I fed them 10 or 15 fruit files, and they took to them instantly. I haven't got to buying fruit flies until recently, so I haven't had anything to feed them since then. I'll bet that they'll start laying eggs now that they are feasting like queens!
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25
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Re: AntsDakota's Ponera pennsylvanica colony
All workers are dead, probably due to old age. One of the queens I believe was a different species, so she's been gone a long time. I believe Bala Real is also dead, since she already had workers, and now they died. The 2 queens I have left originally didn't have workers. I gave them fruit flies and they adore them. They just can't have enough!
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25
Re: AntsDakota's Ponera pennsylvanica colony
im sorry about Bala Real. are you sure that she was a queen because i can hardly tell the difference of looks just from pictures.
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Re: AntsDakota's Ponera pennsylvanica colony
All queens were about 2 mm larger than the workers, and they had big, fat gasters. I don't think this species is polymorphic, yet there are bigger ants here. They must be queens.
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25
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Re: AntsDakota's Ponera pennsylvanica colony
I found pictures of Camponotus discolor, and they match the ants I'm seeing 100%, both queens, workers, majors, and males. They are recorded in North Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa, so I am pretty sure that it's possible that they can survive here in SD.Batspiderfish wrote: ↑Sun Jun 03, 2018 10:10 pmOh, that was about Camponotus!AntsDakota wrote: ↑Sun Jun 03, 2018 8:38 pmAbout your pm, Ponera is the only genus of ants in SD that has that oblong body shape, and P pennsylvanica is the only Ponera species in SD. And yes, I did get a video of them, yet I don't have an account on imgur.com.
Why not get an account? Don't you want to show off pictures of your colonies?
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25
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Re: AntsDakota's Ponera pennsylvanica colony
There is only one queen left, and still no eggs. I fed her a couple of fruit flies.
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25
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