Jack's final gambit Atta colony.

Let everyone see the story of your colony(ies) over time. Pictures, developments, success and failures, what works / what doesn't, and your plans for expansion as time goes by!
Post Reply
Shamual
Pupa
Posts: 142
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:27 pm

Re: Jack's final gambit Atta colony.

Post by Shamual » Wed Jun 08, 2016 1:23 pm

Ah I see, I have an iPhone 6 plus ;) I never thought of using photo bucket, I'll try that later. Thanks deansie.

User avatar
Andyj
Site Admin
Posts: 505
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 7:26 pm
Location: Sunny Devon
Contact:

Re: Jack's final gambit Atta colony.

Post by Andyj » Thu Jun 09, 2016 10:48 pm

Hey Jack no need to apologise for over reacting, if you hadn't posted your concerns, we would have learnt nothing from your experience. :)

Formica123
Sub-Major
Posts: 596
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2015 3:59 pm
Location: England
Contact:

Re: Jack's final gambit Atta colony.

Post by Formica123 » Fri Jun 10, 2016 3:50 pm

Jack converted them to an aquarium setup and since the fungus has grown significantly, here's the pic:
Image
I keep over 20 species of ant, inc. Acromyrmex Octospinosus
Owner of AntKeepingShop (www.antkeepingshop.weebly.com)

Atta solider
Worker
Posts: 475
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2015 9:30 am

Re: Jack's final gambit Atta colony.

Post by Atta solider » Fri Jun 10, 2016 4:52 pm

Nice set up jack

User avatar
Deansie26
Major
Posts: 1237
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2015 3:30 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Jack's final gambit Atta colony.

Post by Deansie26 » Fri Jun 10, 2016 7:52 pm

Good to see you have got them going Jack, let's see how they crack on during the next 12 weeks :)

Shamual
Pupa
Posts: 142
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:27 pm

Re: Jack's final gambit Atta colony.

Post by Shamual » Fri Jun 17, 2016 12:36 pm

Thank you for the complements guys, After I had the little false scare a couple of weeks ago, I moved the tank on to its own separate table, I also increased the average temperature by about 2-3 degrees, It was about 22-23 degrees Celsius, but I've kicked it up to 25-26. I also do a water change about once every 2 weeks, As it moulds very fast since the dead fungus sort of just floats on the surface instead of sinking. Plus it makes the water turn a horrible yellow colour, which is not appealing to look at, at all.

But here's the interesting part. Since I've moved them onto their own separate table and increased the temperature, they have cut treble the amount of leaves and the fungus has grown by about a quarter. It also looks a hell of a lot healthier with a nice green outline on the edge of the fungus. I've found that they don't cut any leaves during the day at all. But they do all their work overnight. Ill go to bed and by the morning the majority of what I put in has been reduced to stalk. however I have noticed that they feed the fungus throughout the day, every day.

But here's the even more interesting part. They are cutting vigorously and then about 1 night a week they wont cut at all! they don't leave their nest and just wait until the next night, then they continue as normal! There isn't a set day that this happens, but hey I thought it was interesting, Since this "fast" only lasts for 24 hours im assuming its not an issue.

Anyways im confident enough to say that they are in a very good place at the moment. And I will continue to feed them on a rotation diet of their 3 favourite leaves, Bramble, Privet and Laurel. They show no interest in orange peel, or apple.

Shamual
Pupa
Posts: 142
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:27 pm

Re: Jack's final gambit Atta colony.

Post by Shamual » Fri Jun 17, 2016 12:38 pm

Oh and I forgot to mention that they hate the presence of any sugar solution, be it organic honey or sugar water. They simply fill the dish that the sugar solution is in with soil from their tank.

User avatar
Acromyrmexbob
Site Admin
Posts: 2199
Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2015 10:32 pm

Re: Jack's final gambit Atta colony.

Post by Acromyrmexbob » Sun Jun 19, 2016 5:56 pm

Jack, some interesting stuff there.
The 'fast' day is because your colony is at a size where the ants are able to gather more leaves than the gardeners need so the fungus has been fully satisfied and they stop gathering. In the wild this is a defensive measure where they would seal the nest during this time to stop predators entering. Very young colonies often only forage for a few hours every 2 days or so. When people have these colonies like this they often mistake this as a problem and constantly interfere with the ants.
The reason the anys are rejecting the honeyed water etc is because this colony you have is firing on all cylinders!! They dont need this. All of their requirements are being met by the fungus and the sap eaten by the ants when they are cutting the leaves. So well done jack, I like the simplicity of your setup, it looks great.

Shamual
Pupa
Posts: 142
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:27 pm

Re: Jack's final gambit Atta colony.

Post by Shamual » Mon Jul 11, 2016 10:30 pm

Right quick update, really happy still, the fungus is still growing nicely, and since it sort of toppled I got to have a nice look at their "brood chamber" but I noticed something, and to do it justice I need to tell a little back story,

So they've been in this new setup for about 2 months now and when I initially moved them I had to physically place the fungus and ants into a smaller glass cube. As you can imagine, a lot of the ants were less than willing to co-operate and several left the garden all together. I managed to get the majority of them into test tubes along with some help from friends (so they could be added to the new foraging area later) but along with the other stragglers was my colony's only soldier, I assumed she was a soldier because she was very big, about 1 cm in length and looked like a traditional cephalotes soldier I have a picture of her some where. But when I picked her up I must have squeezed her too hard because I later noticed her limping and even later then that she was dead.

But as I looked in the brood chamber tonight I saw a massive pupae, literally the same size as the last soldier, and it's been about 1 and a half months since the last one died, so did they raise this new one as a response to the last one dying, or is it just a coincidence? Either was it took me by suprise.

Oh and the queen is still alive and healthy.

User avatar
Deansie26
Major
Posts: 1237
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2015 3:30 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Jack's final gambit Atta colony.

Post by Deansie26 » Wed Jul 13, 2016 5:55 am

Hi jack, glad there doing wel now-always takes them a while to settle after a move. Sounds like a soldier pupae, let it nip your finger-if you bleed it definetly is ha ha :twisted:

Post Reply