Tetramorium Caespitum

The TC's, or Pavement Ants are doing very well indeed. The colony has now (within the last few weeks) gone into a hibernation state. Only a few of the little buggers are seen out of the main nest, looking for water or food. The colony itself is really big now, and I think that its probaly got more numbers in it than the Myrmica Ruginodis (Red Ants) did at their height of numbers. Remembering that this colony started out with just 5 workers and the queen, and I didn't hold out much hope for them, well, they are doing so so well. In fact, its a bit scary because they are such a small ant, I would not want to knock over, or have an accident with their farm...and they bite.

Messor Barbarus

The colony is at last showing some signs of waking from their slumber. I have to say though, that they are not a very intelligent species. In fact, they are thick! I have been regularly spraying the basin area of their set up with water, and leaving grass seed for them. Now, I have not once seen an ant in this area. The day before yesterday, I take a look at them and think, hmmm, they just don't look happy to me. So I spray some water right into the entrance of their plaster nest tubing, which had previously been blocked off by them. The ants in the nest area can obviously detect this, and start going bonkers. Within 10 mins there are a number of workers and the queen all drinking the water at the nest entrance. So I guess they must have been thirsty. My question is this, when they go into hibernation, do they have workers that are sent out to collect water to keep the colony going? Its an interesting one. Anyway, in the morning (yesterday) I look at them again, and the whole colony have moved to the entrance of the basin area right in the beginning of the tubing...I might take this opportunity to removed the lid of the plaster nest (sealed with silicone) and clean out the nest.

Camponotus Ligniperda

Not much at all to report here, they just sit in the tubing, moving occasionally. I suppose they are still in hibernation.

Lasius Niger

Disaster! They all died. I don't know why. I think they just ran out of food. Its sad, because this queen I caught in the summer last year, and she had had 5 workers. I think in the end, they just were not willing to dig themselves out of the little chamber they had buried themselves in. I watered them regularly (not so much that they drowned). I would have to cast an eye towards the medium. I think the sand is just too fine. It sets very hard when its come into contact with water, almost like concrete. Its very difficult to know what to do in this situation. Anyway, I will now wait again until the summer to get another queen or two. This time though, I will keep them in test tubes until the spring so that they can develop nicely.

Well thats the update my friends, as you can see, not much to report. I will post again shortly, take care for now.