Pheidole Journal

[Dghergejg456]

24 Jun 2023

A red and black Pheidole sp queen that I have brought a month ago has had her first worker! It was an amazing journey raising a species of ant this small. She is doing very well with around 4 eggs, 2 larva, and 4 pupa with 3 of them about to enclose. I will keep you updated on this Journal.

Pictures:
https://imgur.com/a/veVN6uF
https://imgur.com/a/fXmasTg

[Dghergejg456]

25 JUN 2023
Placed a bit of protein ant food in the test tube, but they didn’t eat it.

[antperson24]

25 JUN 2023
Placed a bit of protein ant food in the test tube, but they didn’t eat it.

Probably because the workers exoskeletons have not hardened yet, you should try again in a few days.

[Dghergejg456]

26 JUN 2023

A second worker enclosed, the queen laid more eggs.

[Dghergejg456]

28 JUN 2023

Third worker enclosed yesterday. Yay!
The queen laid another egg

Identification: I think the queen is Pheidole Xerophila. I will post the topic and link to images in the and id forum.

[Dghergejg456]

5/7/23

Bad news

The current test tube’s water ran out, so I directly tapped the ant into a new one. The ants arrived safely into the new test tube, but after checking on them a while later, they were missing SO MUCH BROOD! The colony only has 1 larva and 3 pupa now. PLS HELP

[antperson24]

5/7/23

Bad news

The current test tube’s water ran out, so I directly tapped the ant into a new one. The ants arrived safely into the new test tube, but after checking on them a while later, they were missing SO MUCH BROOD! The colony only has 1 larva and 3 pupa now. PLS HELP

Do you still have the old test tube? It's probably in there, you need to take a tooth pick and move it to the other test tube.

[Dghergejg456]

13/7/23

They are doing much better now, the queen laid more eggs!

The fourth worker just enclosed today, and I gave them some ant protein, which they ate a bit.

I may be moving them into a founding nest in the next few months, so are there any suggestions for small (really small) founding nests, or is it best to stay with tubs and tubes?

Here’s some pics of them, I am keeping them in a tubs and tubes setup.

https://imgur.com/a/sgjBViJ

[Dghergejg456]

16/7/23

Hello everyone, I will be going on a holiday soon for 5 days, so don’t expect me to reply on Wednesday to Sunday next week.

Unfortunately, the queen has stopped laying eggs. I could tell because all the eggs had grown into larvae. After moving them into a new test tube a while ago (check the topic review for that post), the queen adapted relatively quickly to the new environment and laid some eggs, which were much needed because a lot of brood was lost in the move.

Now, that she has stopped laying, I am pretty concerned. I think pheidole queens lay quite a lot of eggs regularly, but she is not doing so. The colony is not in trouble yet, but if you have any ideas for encourage the queen to lay eggs?

Thanks

[Dghergejg456]

17/7/23

Horrible news guys, the ants have penetrated the fluon barrier, and 2 of the workers escaped. I managed to catch one and put them back in the out world, but the other one disappeared! Now the colony only has 3 workers, and the queen is still not laying!

Help pls