Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

Discussions about the care and keeping of ants

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heyhowie
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2020 12:11 am
Location: Canberra

Re: Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

Post: # 66404Post heyhowie
Tue Jan 07, 2020 5:54 pm

So timings seem to have aligned for me this week.

Looking more into nuptial flights yesterday after reading through some of the posts here and found that sugar ants usually fly in Summer after rain in the evening. it had rained on Monday for the first time in months so I went looking at around 10pm last night. Im now the proud owner of 17 Banded Sugar ant queens (C. consobrinus)!

No idea what to do with them at the moment but will setup their test tube homes after work this arvo.

Hawkeye
Posts: 1557
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2019 4:38 pm
Location: Almelo

Re: Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

Post: # 66425Post Hawkeye
Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:10 am

heyhowie wrote:
Mon Jan 06, 2020 7:49 pm
Okay cool, makes me a little less worried, just seemed like a large amount to appear overnight. Ill keep an eye on her.

Any idea how long it usually takes a Queen to leave her test tube?
Do ants go through diapause (is that like hibernating?) in Australia?
Any good resources for checking when nuptial flights usually take place? Would love to catch my own.
Hey there! And welcome to the crew!
Since your queen now has access to food, she probably emptied out her gaster, ditching her stored foods and dissolved wing muscles in favour of the fresh and more nutritious fresh food supply.

Hawkeye
Posts: 1557
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2019 4:38 pm
Location: Almelo

Re: Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

Post: # 66426Post Hawkeye
Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:12 am

heyhowie wrote:
Tue Jan 07, 2020 5:54 pm
So timings seem to have aligned for me this week.

Looking more into nuptial flights yesterday after reading through some of the posts here and found that sugar ants usually fly in Summer after rain in the evening. it had rained on Monday for the first time in months so I went looking at around 10pm last night. Im now the proud owner of 17 Banded Sugar ant queens (C. consobrinus)!

No idea what to do with them at the moment but will setup their test tube homes after work this arvo.
Wow! Awesome catch.

SYUTEO
Posts: 1395
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2019 8:58 am
Location: Malaysia

Re: Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

Post: # 66434Post SYUTEO
Thu Jan 09, 2020 6:49 am

new update:
yesterday, i put a test tube in for my camponotus irritans colony to move into, and eventually they did, and all i saw was just 20-25 workers(including major/soldier workers)the queen and little to no brood.could this be due to mites in which i posted a reply all the way back in a previous post? note: they started out as a mega colony with about 40-50 workers and dropped down to a small colony to only 20-25 workers due to mites, so AntsCanada's golden empire mite problem just repeated itself, but onto my colony!

Thunderfluffy
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2019 1:57 pm

Re: Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

Post: # 66655Post Thunderfluffy
Sat Jan 18, 2020 2:04 pm

Hello,

I am new to ant keeping and last year I collected my first queen in the northern United States (Camponotus) she laid her eggs a day after being placed in a test tube set up but now it has been a few months and the eggs still haven't hatched. I assumed this was due to hibernation but this seems abnormally long. Is this normal and is there anything else I should do?

CANant
Posts: 379
Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2019 1:04 am
Location: Paris, Ontario

Re: Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

Post: # 66656Post CANant
Sat Jan 18, 2020 6:58 pm

Thunderfluffy wrote:
Sat Jan 18, 2020 2:04 pm
Hello,

I am new to ant keeping and last year I collected my first queen in the northern United States (Camponotus) she laid her eggs a day after being placed in a test tube set up but now it has been a few months and the eggs still haven't hatched. I assumed this was due to hibernation but this seems abnormally long. Is this normal and is there anything else I should do?
Yes this is perfectly normal for this area. Mine are in diapause now I’m in Canada near Hamilton, Ontario. Is there a place you can put them (in their tube with water of course) that stays between 5-10 degrees Celsius? They should stay this way until March/April (depending on weather in your area). Diapause usually starts in October/November.
Keeper of:
Camponotus Pennsylvanicus

Temnothorax ambiguus/curvispinosus (Acorn ant)

Lasius Interjectus (Larger citronella ant) with host workers: L. Americanus

🐜❤️

CANant
Posts: 379
Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2019 1:04 am
Location: Paris, Ontario

Re: Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

Post: # 66657Post CANant
Sat Jan 18, 2020 7:02 pm

SYUTEO wrote:
Thu Jan 09, 2020 6:49 am
new update:
yesterday, i put a test tube in for my camponotus irritans colony to move into, and eventually they did, and all i saw was just 20-25 workers(including major/soldier workers)the queen and little to no brood.could this be due to mites in which i posted a reply all the way back in a previous post? note: they started out as a mega colony with about 40-50 workers and dropped down to a small colony to only 20-25 workers due to mites, so AntsCanada's golden empire mite problem just repeated itself, but onto my colony!
Sadly this could be the cause. Mikey may have lost the Fire Nation the same way but he’s not sure if the mites came after when the queen died. Very sad. Do any of your ants have mites currently? Does the queen?
Keeper of:
Camponotus Pennsylvanicus

Temnothorax ambiguus/curvispinosus (Acorn ant)

Lasius Interjectus (Larger citronella ant) with host workers: L. Americanus

🐜❤️

Thunderfluffy
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2019 1:57 pm

Re: Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

Post: # 66660Post Thunderfluffy
Sun Jan 19, 2020 12:40 am

CANant wrote:
Sat Jan 18, 2020 6:58 pm
Thunderfluffy wrote:
Sat Jan 18, 2020 2:04 pm
Hello,

I am new to ant keeping and last year I collected my first queen in the northern United States (Camponotus) she laid her eggs a day after being placed in a test tube set up but now it has been a few months and the eggs still haven't hatched. I assumed this was due to hibernation but this seems abnormally long. Is this normal and is there anything else I should do?
Yes this is perfectly normal for this area. Mine are in diapause now I’m in Canada near Hamilton, Ontario. Is there a place you can put them (in their tube with water of course) that stays between 5-10 degrees Celsius? They should stay this way until March/April (depending on weather in your area). Diapause usually starts in October/November.
Thank you, I await the arrival of the nanitics.

CANant
Posts: 379
Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2019 1:04 am
Location: Paris, Ontario

Re: Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

Post: # 66667Post CANant
Sun Jan 19, 2020 4:28 am

Thunderfluffy wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 12:40 am
CANant wrote:
Sat Jan 18, 2020 6:58 pm
Thunderfluffy wrote:
Sat Jan 18, 2020 2:04 pm
Hello,

I am new to ant keeping and last year I collected my first queen in the northern United States (Camponotus) she laid her eggs a day after being placed in a test tube set up but now it has been a few months and the eggs still haven't hatched. I assumed this was due to hibernation but this seems abnormally long. Is this normal and is there anything else I should do?
Yes this is perfectly normal for this area. Mine are in diapause now I’m in Canada near Hamilton, Ontario. Is there a place you can put them (in their tube with water of course) that stays between 5-10 degrees Celsius? They should stay this way until March/April (depending on weather in your area). Diapause usually starts in October/November.
Thank you, I await the arrival of the nanitics.
No problem! The eggs will continue to develop once they are out of diapause. :) What species of Camponotus do you have?
Keeper of:
Camponotus Pennsylvanicus

Temnothorax ambiguus/curvispinosus (Acorn ant)

Lasius Interjectus (Larger citronella ant) with host workers: L. Americanus

🐜❤️

User avatar
antnest8
Posts: 1438
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2018 2:11 pm
Location: Detroit, MI

Re: Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

Post: # 66672Post antnest8
Sun Jan 19, 2020 4:39 pm

Hello again!

I haven't been on recently but I think with a new phone I can actually keep on top of the forums. Still, hello!
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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