Ant Colony Journals

09/10/08 unfortanatly this year has not been good for me i caught 3 l.niger queens after the nuptial flight out side my house in july and through the corse of the rest of this year they all died i dont know what i did rong any one got any tips for keeping queens alive till they get there first workers (i used test tube to house them)

day#1 found 2 queens i with wings one without.also a question how long will a unmated queen live?

08/29/08 Found a queen decided to keep her.Put her
in my sponge ant farm.

08/30/08 No eggs yet but its only the second day Queen seems to move lots i decided to put in a peice of moist cotton
hope this works as a feeding place.Ill keep you updated everyday.

09/1/08 Moved her to a test tube with moist cotton hope she lays
me some eggs well i cant see any eggs but they could be on the cotton.

09/2/08 Got some pupae from a wild nest they should hatch into ants in about a week

09/8/08 unexpected my first worker is here.

09/13/08 onother worker let them have a foraging area but desided to use it as a nest

10/1/09 well the queen died

8/25/08
Finally!
I've always had many colonies of Odontomachus in my back yard.
At times I'd find very many queens and males of this species,
but I could never find a mated queen...until now
I noticed Odontomachus love wet an warm places, such as rotten wood. So about 5 months ago I placed a small rotten log out in some bushes, hoping to attract a small colony seeking a new home, and it worked
I had captured the colony with 20 workers, 10 coccoons, a few larvae, and of course, the queen.
They now live happily inside a plaster nest where the queen has laid several new eggs. I always find it fun to place a cricket into the plaster tunnels, wait, and then hear a series of small but suprisingly loud clicks coming from the closing jaws of Odontomachus.
8/31/08
I had to move these guys out of their plaster nest for my fire ants who are growing rapidly. They now live inside a small container full of moist soil, they seem to like it and have made a few tunnels next to the walls so I can see em. I can also see 2 batches of eggs now so the queen must be happy.
9/10/08
Still doing great.
Even thouh they only have maybe one or two larvae.,

07/13/08
Found a Crematogaster sp queen crawling on the edge of my house around 6pm at night. There was a light rain the night before. I put her in a test tube.

07/16/08
She finally laid her eggs. It's hard to tell but she has laid about 5 to 8 eggs.

08/17/08
3 new babies have arrived. These acrobat ants are very cool looking

6/21/08
Flipped over a mat I had outside and found a new colony of Tapinoma melanocephalum
that had recently budded off from their main colony.
There was no brood and the queen still had a small gaster.
There was about 50 workers and I captured 20.
They are now resting in a test tube now feeding off sugar water.
6/22/08
The queen has already begun laying eggs and they have around 7 eggs.
3 injured workers have died.
8/28/08
These guys grow just as fast as fire ants!
They started out with 20 workers and already have 100+ workers. Thats pretty fast for a colony with only 1 small queen. I'd say there are now 50 pupae and larvae, and of course many, many eggs.

6/15/08
Captured Technomyrmex albipes queen (Florida's most common pest ant)
last night. This morning she has already laid an egg.
6/16/08
Looks like she has around 20 eggs now
6/19/08
She now has about 30 eggs, I didn't feel like waiting longer so I captured some
pupae from a wild colony. It should take 2-3 weeks for them to hatch...
6/20/08
Well, she didn't make it
A fungus had infected her and her head split!
Her eyes turned white and now there is a white stick of fungus
sticking out of her head.
Creepy!

6/14/08
Saw several carpenter queens running around outside, so why not start another colony?
Caught one and placed her into a test tube. I hope she'll survive.
6/14/08
That was fast, she already has 5 eggs after only 5 hrs since placing her in her
tube.
6/15/08
Was taking out the garbage early this morning and found several Camponotus workers
carrying brood, snatched some larvae and 1 coccoon to give to my queen.
6/20/08
First worker!
She has 20 eggs now, 3 coccoons, and 4 other larvae. All is looking good.
Hopefully the worker will start foraging soon...
7/05/08
All of the larvae have coccooned, and she now has 2 small workers.
I gave them a fly yesterday and now there is nothing left of it.
The queen's eggs have hatched so she now has are around 20 small larvae and 3 coccoons, it would be 4 but one of them has turned into some sort of egg capsule. Ant parasite? The
tube is starting to get very moldy, im gonna have to make a small plaster nest for them to move into.
7/09/08
The plaster nest that I had made broke, from being to dry maybe.

06/12/08
Found Monomorium pharaonis queen floating in my swimming pool along with 3 drones. I put her in a tube. I hope she lays some eggs.

06/14/08
She has laid her first eggs .

07/09/08
There is a giant pile of eggs now. The queen is doing well.

07/15/08
Her first 4 workers have arrived

07/23/09
There are about 8 workers. Tiny little guys The queen is doing well.

06-10-08
Found a Dorymyrmex flavus queen floating in my swimming pool. I put her in a test tube with plenty of water. I hope she's fertile. pic below

06/12/08
She has laid her first eggs!!!!! Looks like about 3 or 4 eggs.

06/13/08
Looks like there is about 8 eggs now .

07/09/08
It's been about a month a the queen is looking good . She has a giant pile of eggs, larva and pupua. She sits on top of the eggs all day.

07/15/09
Her first 2 workers have arrived.

07/23/09
There are about 10 workers now. The queen is doing well.