Acromyrmex Octospinosus (Arrowing)

[Arrowing]

A quick update
As Andrew advised to give them as much different leaves as possible we gave them a true feast

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-populus (poplar)
-salix alba (willow)
-senecio inaequindens (the yellow flower)
-taraxacum officinale (dandilion)
-ligustrum (privet)
-rubus and rubus idaeus (black and raspberry)
- a half grape and the inside (white) of an orange
Everything remains untouched

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Thanks for the reply Andrew !
You are spot on they are indeed from Origin Ants I got the chance to look at his private collection and it was truely amazing! Also got a lot of intresting information and feedback!

My girlfriend reorganised the setting (she removed the hygrometer as we will return it to the shop and will replace it asap) in the meantime she made the opening a bit smaller on top and the stone collecting stopped.
So at the moment they are all in the nestbox lightly active moving some bits and pieces arround the fungus
So enjoyable to watch, they are less active then yesterday and not active with feeding the fungus since we moved the food further away. I think they didnt like the disturbance. We didnt like feeding them in the nestcube because of the fluctuating humidity it causes by opening and closing the lid

[Acromyrmexbob]

Nice one. Julien is a good friend, I have stayed with him several times.
As long as the colour is good in the fungus, grey on the outsides, then dont worry about the lack of feeding. I wouldnt worry about the fluctuating humidity when you open and close the lid of the nest chamber, these changes are very short term and inconsequential.
Will be interested in seeing how this goes.

[Arrowing]

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Today we replaced all the leaves with fresh ones and added a nice looking (wild, unknown) pink flower.
Also added a half leave of chicory.

The (old) leaves were untouched (24hrs)

The only thing they cut (through the night) was the inside of an orange.
We now replaced this with the white inside stuff of mandarin.
Also sometimes we see 1 small ant on the half grape

1 worker is busy with placing little stones on top of the nestbox. 1 or 2 are taking out the thrash (from nestbox to the feedingcube)
Other workers and the queen are on or nearby the fungus
Furthermore no activity.

[Arrowing]

Update on our colony day 4

Yesterday evening the ants were very active, piling up stones on their rooftop,...
seems that something is still not to their liking,...

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We placed a more stable stick up against the nestbox, which they apparently do not like since they keep walking on de glass nestbox instead.
We removed all the leaves and replaced them with fresh ones while adding some different kinds of lettuce
We noticed that they took a little bit of blackberry leaves (3bites).
And they take the white of a clementine (citrus x clementina)
Also took 4 dried rose petals, we hope that this indicates that the humidity inside the nestbox is high enough?
Since they take the dry stuff and leave the grape/apple/fresh leaves mostly untoched?

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I think overall its a good sign that they are building the fungus with materials. And still dump some thrash
The activity is also in waves, sometimes we dont see any movement and then suddenly they start running around, with some starting with the stones again and adding some materials in the fungus

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How does the fungus looks to the experts?

[Acromyrmexbob]

Fungus is perfect. Dont worry, you've got early keepers jitters. Everything that can go wrong is expected to go wrong. You have a very good, healthy colony, your approach is perfectm keep it up, no worries. Well done!
Activity at the beginning always goes in fits and starts. Thats because the fungus is small and so does not take much feeding. Once enough material is gathered, the foragers then start doing other stuff with their spare time. This all stops when the fungus grows and gets more demanding.

[Arrowing]

Thanks Andrew!
Im relieved now (you are correct we are too worried )
I will keep updating on a daily basis!

[Arrowing]

Update on day 5

This morning we noticed that the ants cut 3 small blackberry leaves and the lambs lettuce
Also the white of the clementine was almost depleted
So we went on a leaves hunt this afternoon and replenished their feeeding box
A small tray is filled with dry stuff (rose petals, oats and white of clementine)
As fresh we gave blackberry leaves, iceberg lettuce, populus, a half grape and privet
Also we tried something new, Rosa pimpinellifolia (local rose that growes in the sandy dunes) and Hippophae rhamnoides (also grows localy)

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Also worth mentioning
The fungus has grown on the grey part (to much damp so no picture)
They slowed down on the pebble building on their nestbox
A lot of nestbuilding seems to happen during nighttime and taking out the thrash during daytime

[Acromyrmexbob]

Good stuff. Whats Lambs Lettuce? Wouldn't bother with Iceberg Lettuce, they dont take it.

[Arrowing]

Hi all

Update on day 6 and 7

The ants are building the fungus taking clementine white, dried rose petals and dry oats.
They leave the fresh leaves mostly untouched (privet, blackberry leaves, apple, grape, iceberg lettuce, populus and everything else I tried before)
I keep refreshing it daily but its uncommon they are cut
So it indicates humidity inside the nestbox is good?
They never drink from the through (maybe i should put sugar water inside?)

They almost stopped putting stones on top its also full

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@Andrew; "lamb's lettuce" is "Valerianella locust" apperently also know as "corn lettuce"

[Acromyrmexbob]

Your humidity is fine by the condition of the fungus. Leaf choice is complicated but for you it is not a concern. Try removing all of the leaves and when you put privet in, put nothing ese. All that is happening is you are giving them a wide choice and they are selectingf their favourite. I normally remove their favourite and see whats next on the list, in this way building up a list of your colony's favourites.