Hikari's C. Pennsylvanicus journal

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xTNxANTMANx
Posts: 416
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2016 9:03 am
Location: Western Tennessee

Re: Hikari's C. Pennsylvanicus journal

Post: # 28354Post xTNxANTMANx
Tue Aug 08, 2017 12:54 am

Hikari wrote:
Mon Aug 07, 2017 11:13 pm
xTNxANTMANx wrote:
Mon Aug 07, 2017 10:50 pm
Hey, I have 3 Camponotus pennsylvanicus queens and just my opinion, I think something may be wrong. I don't think I have lost no more than 3 or maybe 4 nanitics and that's from all 3 of mine, and mine eclosed b4 yours did, that's of your journal is correct and I'm sure it is :D. Then again, I could be wrong. But anyways, work is calling me...ugh
No, I'm thinking something is wrong. Everyone else is saying the same thing, that nanitics should be lasting longer than that. I'm just trying to think of what I can do about it. I have no idea what would be causing it.
That's what I was saying LOL. I think something is wrong as well but I'm like you I have no idea. I house my Camponotus subbarbatus colony in my Atom C and they seem to be thriving in it. Whaat temp are you keeping them at and also, what are you giving them? I can see if i can help you pin point whats wrong if you would like. And if you rather pm me so we aren't using your journal lol that's kool.
Keeping:
Camponotus subbarbatus
Formica pallidefulva x2
Formica subsericea x4
Lasius sp
Tetramorium immigrans x2
Dorymyrmex bureni

Founding:
Formica pallidefulva
Unknown sp x2

Hikari

Re: Hikari's C. Pennsylvanicus journal

Post: # 28359Post Hikari
Tue Aug 08, 2017 2:20 am

xTNxANTMANx wrote:
Tue Aug 08, 2017 12:54 am
Hikari wrote:
Mon Aug 07, 2017 11:13 pm
xTNxANTMANx wrote:
Mon Aug 07, 2017 10:50 pm
Hey, I have 3 Camponotus pennsylvanicus queens and just my opinion, I think something may be wrong. I don't think I have lost no more than 3 or maybe 4 nanitics and that's from all 3 of mine, and mine eclosed b4 yours did, that's of your journal is correct and I'm sure it is :D. Then again, I could be wrong. But anyways, work is calling me...ugh
No, I'm thinking something is wrong. Everyone else is saying the same thing, that nanitics should be lasting longer than that. I'm just trying to think of what I can do about it. I have no idea what would be causing it.
That's what I was saying LOL. I think something is wrong as well but I'm like you I have no idea. I house my Camponotus subbarbatus colony in my Atom C and they seem to be thriving in it. Whaat temp are you keeping them at and also, what are you giving them? I can see if i can help you pin point whats wrong if you would like. And if you rather pm me so we aren't using your journal lol that's kool.
Nah, I don't mind using my journal. If anything, journaling stuff like this and troubleshooting might help someone in a similar situation later, if they run across my journal.

I can't think of anything particularly wrong I'm doing. It started in the Atom C, moving to the homemade formicarium didn't seem to help either, so I'm not sure if housing was an issue. She was fed the same exact foods as all my other colonies, who have been thriving off of it (honey, honey/sugar water combo, and an alternating selection of fruit flies, mealworm, or cricket). I'd think if anything was bad, it would have killed off the smaller ants like the Temnothorax or Myrmica first, but they're fine (and the latter are ravenous little things).

Temps were between 80-85°F in the warm spot. Used to keep her a bit lower, but she really loved the heat, and they still had a gradient where they could move off of it if they wanted (they never did). Terra is kept in the same gradient and is currently doing fine. There is Freya, but I'm thinking she just sucks at raising brood at this point.

But yeah, I'm completely at a loss.
-----

Update time
(8-7-17) At any rate, Maya has moved to a test tube, although when I took it away from the formicarium, she tried to make a break for it, lol. Luckily, she's big and easy to catch. I'm leaving it closed and covered overnight. Tomorrow I'll fashion her a new mini outworld, since I didn't think she'd need it anymore and gave it to the Tetramorium.

I dunno if I mentioned, but my first Tetramorium queen has workers now, hence the need of the outworld. Quite a few since I only checked on her once a week or so. They were hungry! Dragged both pieces of the cut-in-half cricket I gave them into the entrance of the test tube. The fruit seems to have gone over well with all the ants. They were extremely juicy once I thawed them out. The bigger Myrmica colonies also wasted no time coming out to eat (they are so easy to feed, I love them for that). Even Terra's single nanitic found her half of a cricket and took it back to mom (I wonder when the others will eclose?). I haven't seen the Tapinoma out eating yet, but they might prefer night foraging.

xTNxANTMANx
Posts: 416
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2016 9:03 am
Location: Western Tennessee

Re: Hikari's C. Pennsylvanicus journal

Post: # 28514Post xTNxANTMANx
Wed Aug 09, 2017 5:19 am

Come to think of it my first Camponotus pennsylvanicus queen I caught, I brood boosted her (curiousity) and they all eclosed around the same time as her nanitics. All was doing fine until I put their test tube into a foraging area I had made for them and the first week I would say they acted very strange. Kind of like there was something in there bothering them. This is the only instance where something weird like this has happened and I lost 2 workers I believe but after a bit everything seemed to be going fine. I even thought maybe I lost the queen after a while so I took my test tube out and uncovered it and boy was I wrong. She couldn't have been more healthy LOL. She was so full her gaster was stretching LOL. My girls are very well taken care of by the way :D. I haven't had anything like this happen though since. As you know, I too have the Atom C and my Camponotus subbarbatus colony is doing and growing great! By the way a friend of mine I met here in Tennessee also purchased the Atom C and Not only was it super late being delivered it was also very ugly. It had scratch marks all over it and even a tiny hole that he didn't even bother to fix. To top it off the water tower as he calls it was sticking out the bottom of it. It totally looks horrible.
Keeping:
Camponotus subbarbatus
Formica pallidefulva x2
Formica subsericea x4
Lasius sp
Tetramorium immigrans x2
Dorymyrmex bureni

Founding:
Formica pallidefulva
Unknown sp x2

Hikari

Re: Hikari's C. Pennsylvanicus journal

Post: # 28787Post Hikari
Sat Aug 12, 2017 2:11 am

xTNxANTMANx wrote:
Wed Aug 09, 2017 5:19 am
Come to think of it my first Camponotus pennsylvanicus queen I caught, I brood boosted her (curiousity) and they all eclosed around the same time as her nanitics. All was doing fine until I put their test tube into a foraging area I had made for them and the first week I would say they acted very strange. Kind of like there was something in there bothering them. This is the only instance where something weird like this has happened and I lost 2 workers I believe but after a bit everything seemed to be going fine. I even thought maybe I lost the queen after a while so I took my test tube out and uncovered it and boy was I wrong. She couldn't have been more healthy LOL. She was so full her gaster was stretching LOL. My girls are very well taken care of by the way :D. I haven't had anything like this happen though since. As you know, I too have the Atom C and my Camponotus subbarbatus colony is doing and growing great! By the way a friend of mine I met here in Tennessee also purchased the Atom C and Not only was it super late being delivered it was also very ugly. It had scratch marks all over it and even a tiny hole that he didn't even bother to fix. To top it off the water tower as he calls it was sticking out the bottom of it. It totally looks horrible.
I still don't know why people buy THA stuff the way they do. Maybe the bigger formicarium aren't garbage? Not risking buying one if they can't do the small ones right though. And yeah, the water tower in mine isn't evenly placed on the bottom either. I don't even use the water tower anymore. I drilled a hole in the side and just hooked a water test tube up. I haven't had a chance to work on my new formicaria yet because some things came up, but I hope I get a chance soon.

Hikari

Re: Hikari's C. Pennsylvanicus journal

Post: # 28966Post Hikari
Sun Aug 13, 2017 10:03 pm

I've been working a lot as of late, so I haven't had a good chance to update. Things have been pretty slow anyways. Here are some highlights (no specific dates cause I forgot)

- Sold four colonies. One Temnothorax curvispinosis, two of the Myrmica sp., and my recently matured Tetramorium. I caught two new Temnothorax and Myrmica colonies in acorns that same day, lol.

- My Ponera escaped. Well, the two workers anyways. The queen stayed behind. She never did lay any new eggs though, so I released her in one of my flowerpots.

- Maya's down to one healthy worker. There's a second one, but she just kinda lays on her back and wiggles her legs and antennae a bit. Two others appear to be dead. Hoping the newer pupa eclose soon (they're taking their time, but they also aren't heated as much as they used to be). She's still got a small pile of pupa, brood (which she guards like a dragon on treasure), and I've noticed new eggs, so she still has plenty of chances to bounce back as long as her and that one worker hold out long enough.

- Terra has four healthy workers and one dead one. I will be monitoring her closely as well. The one death could have just been a random fluke.

- Far as I can tell, my Formica queen still hasn't laid any new eggs, but she's got a large (stolen) worker force. I happened across a few larvae on my last pupa raid, so they're in there as well. Tossed them a cricket, since now they have larvae that'll need it. Wish I could feed them without them being like "OMGWTF?! THE WORLD IS ENDING". Seriously...they spook so easily. Hoping to get them a separate formicarium and outworld set-up soon.

I'm planning on (trying) to be awake for when Ant-Kit's page comes back up, cause I'm really curious on the sales and things they're offering. They had good prices last I checked, but the shipping's always kind of been a turn-off (since it'd be from the UK), but Ant-topia is still MIA, AC is too pricey, and I refuse to buy anymore THA stuff, so yeah...if I want store-bought it's either gonna be them or the Chinese ones. Still, if I can get some good deals, the cost + shipping may even out and make it worth it. Plus, I did just get a bit of money from the sold colonies last week, so I can maybe afford to splurge a little (though still can't go too crazy. I don't charge THAT much for my colonies, lol). I'll update later on if I end up buying anything or not.

Hikari

Re: Hikari's C. Pennsylvanicus journal

Post: # 29417Post Hikari
Fri Aug 18, 2017 12:54 am

(8-18-17) We had some nasty thunderstorms blow through today, but it brought some much-needed rain. Gonna go out hunting for queens tomorrow.

I separated my Lasius queens yesterday. I split the brood as evenly as I could manage. I also happened across an acorn filled with Lasius pupa, so I took about half of them and spread them across my three queens (boosting to around 10 each or so). Lo and behold, I saw callow workers tonight! Good thing I separated the queens when I did. I avoided them fighting.

Also boosted the Formica again, cause I could. It appears the queen is also laying eggs again, at least that's what I thought I saw in the mandibles of one of the workers. I hope the queen's workers end up as pretty as the ones I've boosted her with, but I still don't know her species. Either way, she's doing fine. Her several dozen adopted children seem to be taking good care of her (and if the workers have the eggs, that'll prevent her from being a fail-mom again, lol).

Also, I've decided which ants I'll be keeping, and which I'll be selling. I'm keeping all three Camponotus queens, mostly because only one is doing well (it's Terra). Maya is holding steady, and Freya might just overwinter with no brood at this rate (she is being fed at least, so I'm trying my best with her). I'm obviously keeping the Formica as well. I've decided to keep one of the Lasius, probably the first queen I caught cause she was a happy accident. Finally, I've decided to keep some of the Tetramorium, at least for now. That may change if I can get a Crematogaster queen within the next two months though. Gonna sell off the others. Not interested in keeping the Tapinoma sessile after all (omg, they try and get out constantly), and I figure if I change my mind on Myrmica later, they are suuuper easy to find in acorns around here, so I'll just catch new ones. I have recently discovered that Myrmica are capable of some rather painful stings though, so kinda puts a damper on them (getting stung was due to an accident though, and my fault, otherwise they've been pretty chill). As for the Temnothorax...well, they're just kinda there, not doing a whole lot. I have a bunch of founding queens, and they're easy to find, so if I change my mind later, not a huge deal.

But yeah, so hoping I can catch a Crematogaster! They're so cute! Wish me luck.

Hikari

Re: Hikari's C. Pennsylvanicus journal

Post: # 29839Post Hikari
Mon Aug 21, 2017 10:02 pm

(8-21-17) - It's been a while since I've updated on Maya specifically, so tonight is for her. I saw her out and about in their tiny outworld tonight:

Image

She was so chill, I got a lid-less close-up shot too:

Image

I wish I could say she's been doing better, but unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. She's just barely hanging on with one worker. She never bothered to eclose the new pupa. I eclosed them myself and found out why. Most were already dead. The sole survivor lasted a few days before also dying. Her last worker is still hanging in there though. Her larvae are turning a slight honey-ish color. I hope it's more due to the fact that they've been getting honey-water for sugar as of late. There are still two pupa in the tube, lighter colored, so they won't eclose soon, but I'm hoping they're healthy.

She got fresh honey-water tonight, as well as a cricket body (the legs went to the smaller ants). At this point, I'm just doing what I can, and hoping for the best.

Hikari

Re: Hikari's C. Pennsylvanicus journal

Post: # 30200Post Hikari
Sat Aug 26, 2017 2:29 am

Ok, so I've been slacking on updating this, but I've also been busy. I've met with two people this week to sell ants. They were both from the Ohio ant discord chat, so they knew what kind of ants I've had for a while. We didn't just exchange ants though...oh no, I gave them a tour of the local park (since I meet there for GAN stuff anyways). Showed them the Formica pergandei mixed-species nest, which is always fun to visit. It's gotten even more extensive. I want one of those queen so bad. XD Today I caught a new Formica queen. This one's quite a big bigger than my other one. I'll try and get pics once she decides to hold still long enough. She's super pretty. She did have a small dent in her gaster (I'm hoping not from me catching her, I kinda had to scoop her up), but I'm hoping it's minor enough to not cause issues. Though, it could have been from the fact that she was seemingly casually strolling through the F. pergandei colony of all things x_x Kinda surprised she wasn't attacked. But yeah, the person I was with today spotted her first, but was kind enough to let me keep her. I'm going to give her the new formicarium that's almost finished. She also got most of the pupa and some callow workers from the other Formica I have. Gave me a chance to clean out their filthy bead container formicarium. The put the dead bodies and pupa scraps on the cotton wick...you can imagine how funky that got. They recently got a new outworld, and that's where I sorted the workers into. A quick clean and the formicarium was back up for them, and after some confusion, they moved back in. They also now know their outworld (and honey waterer inside it) exists too, cause they've been too skittish to explore it otherwise. Win-win!

Anyways, quick update on Maya. Her last worker is gone, her most recent pupa was also dead, and she only has one pupa and some not-great-looking brood left. At this point I know it doesn't look good, but I'm still feeding her and taking care of her as best I can. Meanwhile, Terra has lost a few workers, but is still at four, so fingers crossed she can at least pull through. I wish the C.penn were as easy to care for as the Formica... *sighs* Oh! Freya was given to someone who's colony lost their queen, so here's hoping she can integrate with that colony. She was in even worse circumstances than Maya, with no brood at all, so I figured it was my last ditch effort for her.

Anyways, yeah, it's kind of a jumbled update, but hope it gives you an idea of what's gone on lately.

Gavinthesheep1234567
Posts: 76
Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2017 11:04 am

Re: Hikari's C. Pennsylvanicus journal

Post: # 30372Post Gavinthesheep1234567
Mon Aug 28, 2017 10:29 am

Hikari wrote:
Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:27 am
Quick update: Queen #5 was ID'd to be Lasius Umbratus. She's a social parasite type, which will present a rather interesting challenge, which I plan to accept. A host species for me to steal workers from has also already been found. Ironically, from the flowerpot colony I dumped out...ooops. Still, they're rebuilding and still around, so I'll go kidnap some workers tomorrow. At least this will give me something to do while my Camponotus take their sweet time doing their thing, lol.
Keep us posted on this one for sure
Keeper of
Camponotus

As Mike would say it's Ant Love Forever :D

Hikari

Re: Hikari's C. Pennsylvanicus journal

Post: # 30390Post Hikari
Mon Aug 28, 2017 2:32 pm

Gavinthesheep1234567 wrote:
Mon Aug 28, 2017 10:29 am
Hikari wrote:
Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:27 am
Quick update: Queen #5 was ID'd to be Lasius Umbratus. She's a social parasite type, which will present a rather interesting challenge, which I plan to accept. A host species for me to steal workers from has also already been found. Ironically, from the flowerpot colony I dumped out...ooops. Still, they're rebuilding and still around, so I'll go kidnap some workers tomorrow. At least this will give me something to do while my Camponotus take their sweet time doing their thing, lol.
Keep us posted on this one for sure
I thought I mentioned her, but she unfortunately didn't make it. I'll hopefully have better luck next year, if I catch one again, now that I have a host colony of my own to pull brood from.

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