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Written by Marcus Smith
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Tuesday, 04 September 2007 |
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I know its wrong, but I can't help it. Today I'm excited, I caught 2 centipedes, cut off their heads, and put them as food for the MR's and MB's. Personally I don't like centipedes, so its alright. Now, I put the larger centipede body in with the MR's and the smaller one in with the MB's. Whats interesting was the reaction that both nests had. It was one of excitement in the MR colony and a threat response from the MB's. 
Firstly, The MR's. One of the foragers was wandering around the feeding basin when I put the centipede in. It found it pretty much straight away, then after attacking it briefly (yes the centipede bodys carry on moving) it went off to the main nest, and was swiftly followed back to the centipede by about a dozen ants. They then proceeded to attack it and kill it. Its now being dragged up the tube into the main nest area. There was a moment of merriment when one of the ants dropped the centipede and picked up another ant thinking it was the centipede there then ensued a push pull batttle between the two, highly commical.  The MB's on the other hand definately treated it with a threat response. The ant that found the centipede continuely attacked the centipede in a dance like duel. After a few minutes, it disappeared into the nest area and got reinforcements. Practically every ant from the nest went on the attack, although some of the larger ones were quite reluctant it seemed.
 The second queen LN I caught has buried itself in and is now doing fine.
 Myrmycas feeding on the centipede and meal worms.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 03 November 2007 )
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Written by Marcus Smith
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Tuesday, 04 September 2007 |
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I havn't written for a couple of days, not much too report until today that is.
The title of the blog is Life and Death, and thats with good reason. Yesterday i had my first ant death, and hands up all those that guessed it was a Messor Barbarus that drowned! Yep, I woke up yesterday morning and checked the ants, only to find an MB face down in a small (and I do mean small) drop of liquid. Now, I have read on other sites, mainly AHW that this is a common occurance for this species. Although I was a little sceptical, I can now confirm it to be a truth. Do NOT put liquids in with your Messor Barbarus unless it is soaked up by cotton wool for instance. Poor little bugger. I'm still worried about the MB's not really quite sure how well they are doing. Patience I suppose.
The Myrmica Ruginodis are absolutely storming at the moment. I think with the introduction of more protein foods (crickets) they have increased the size of the nest even further.
 The picture shows the three nurserys within the formicarium. There was previously only one. In nursery 1 (left) are larvae (J shaped eggs), in nursery 2 (center) are small larvae, and in nursery 3 (right) are pupae and eggs. The queen is also living in nursery 3 now. You may think that there are 4 chambers, but the chamber above the center nursery is actually all the same thing. If I had to estimate how many eggs are currently in the chambers if would be about 60, and when hatched that would double the number of MR's. Yay!
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 03 November 2007 )
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