The start of rare and elusive Odontomachus relictus species PART#1

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Ryderw
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Joined: Wed May 16, 2018 9:53 am

The start of rare and elusive Odontomachus relictus species PART#1

Post: # 39267Post Ryderw
Fri Jun 29, 2018 11:07 am

June 26 2018,
I was looking for Pseudomyrmex as i have seen queen with wings with colony's a few day ago. I flipped over an old piece of plywood and seen this long black ant that looked like a queen of Pseudomyrmex. As a began to inspect the ant closer I realized it was a trap jaw! Trying to see if it was a queen or worker i seen another scurry by so a began to watch where they went in to their nest. I found where they where going so i decided to plan a time with a couple of people to capture this colony.At the time i had no idea of the rarity of this colony i just knew i wanted them because i always loved and wanted a trap jaw colony. So i was lucky enough to get about four people including my self to get there by that day. I already had a free setup waiting for my ants developing in a test tube setup right now so we started. We flipped up boards and caught as many as we could we ended up with about 20-30 as it wasn't a big colony. Now as you may know this method of capturing inst always 100% certain the colony will live on as you may not capture the queen. So once everything settled down the ants where getting used to their new home. I had an over sized test tube more like a small vase for them to nest in but to my supersize they decided to nest under moss patches in the sub strait in the tank(see pic #2).It was getting dark so after things like shower, dinner exe. it was time for me to go to sleep. But before I went to sleep I made a small bowl out of tinfoil and dripped honey in it for them to drink while they worked on their new nest.

June 27 2018,
To my supersize they didn't even touch the honey but i thought maybe because they just got moved and are a little shook right now they didn't bother with eating so i left it in there.I then started to look up what species this is and i was lead to believe it was Odontomachus brunneus by sites like inaturalist so i started to research more on that colony but to no a vale there was nothing much on them I had not yet established a food source as it was still devolving and growing in number to a more stable group size. So i decided to go look out in the yard for insects they might eat in about 10 min i found a mole cricket scurrying across my yard out of its home. I then proceeded to catch and pre-kill it then place it into my tank for the trap jaws. They seemed to love it within 5 min they discovered it and used their large jaws to brake off legs and other parts to take back to the nest(see pic #1). For some odd reason they ate what they wanted and instead of disposing of the remain they used it as a part of one their nest entrances! I wanted to try to figure what they like as the mole cricket was small I tried fruits. I had some one left over apple slice from my rabbits. They seem to not like it as much i only found one or two on the apple drinking. So i decided they may be more of carnivores then omnivores but I would still try different fruits as they do need sugar in their diet. So the day was winding down an in was about 5 o'clock and my brother flipped over a piece of rolled roofing and found a queen to the same colony nesting trying to start one of her own! i kept her in a separate camber but my mind instantly went to if I could introduce this queen to the colony and they would take her in as their own. I started asking around on sites and even posted here but I didn't get a respond yet and it was late so i went to bed.
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Batspiderfish
Posts: 3315
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 3:47 pm
Location: Maine

Re: The start of rare and elusive Odontomachus relictus species PART#1

Post: # 39269Post Batspiderfish
Fri Jun 29, 2018 11:21 am

You should update these parts on the original thread instead of making a new thread for every journal entry. Otherwise it's kind of like sending a new email for every paragraph/sentence of a message.
If you enjoy my expertise and identifications, please do not put wild populations at risk of disease by releasing pet colonies. We are responsible to give our pets the best care we can manage for the rest of their lives.

Ryderw
Posts: 42
Joined: Wed May 16, 2018 9:53 am

Re: The start of rare and elusive Odontomachus relictus species PART#1

Post: # 39275Post Ryderw
Fri Jun 29, 2018 12:06 pm

Batspiderfish wrote:
Fri Jun 29, 2018 11:21 am
You should update these parts on the original thread instead of making a new thread for every journal entry. Otherwise it's kind of like sending a new email for every paragraph/sentence of a message.
oh ok thanks for the suggestion so i just like reply to my message each time i want to update
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antnest8
Posts: 1438
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2018 2:11 pm
Location: Detroit, MI

Re: The start of rare and elusive Odontomachus relictus species PART#1

Post: # 39304Post antnest8
Fri Jun 29, 2018 2:42 pm

yes
Some of My Informative Sheets
https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=19099
Includes :
  • Ant Care Sheets
    Queen Hunting
    How To Identify Ants
Goal is to become #2 poster on the forum

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