A. octospinnosus multiple queens from a captive swarm

Ideas, techniques, problems and issues associated with keeping Leaf Cutting Ants in Captivity
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Leafcutter
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Re: A. octospinnosus multiple queens from a captive swarm

Post by Leafcutter » Wed Jan 11, 2017 7:55 pm

Is this the same Colin who came to collect my Atta colony?

Atta cephalotes (2019)
Camponotus detritus (2018)
Camponotus maculatus (2018)

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Acromyrmexbob
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Re: A. octospinnosus multiple queens from a captive swarm

Post by Acromyrmexbob » Wed Jan 11, 2017 8:47 pm

No, he was Colin the manual worker, a different species to this Colin. This Colin used to sit in the rain forest at night impersonating Frogs and got so good at it that one of the guys from the University of West Indies came out with him to learn how to attract frogs by calling to them.

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Re: A. octospinnosus multiple queens from a captive swarm

Post by Deansie26 » Wed Jan 11, 2017 10:23 pm

Nothing to add but an interesting read! :geek:

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Re: A. octospinnosus multiple queens from a captive swarm

Post by PAKOC » Thu Jan 12, 2017 7:20 pm

Christ, how can I live up to that intro???? :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

Yes, the trips to Trinidad (all 12 of them) will always have a special place in my memories, just wish I had more leisure time to take it all in. I think that through my current line of work, if I went tomorrow, I'd be more appreciative of ALL the various aspects of the rainforest and not just hellbent on finding ants, frogs and occasionally fish... so much other stuff barely got a glance.

If any of you ever want the experience of a lifetime and something you will remember forever... try going out with Andrew to see if Eciton burchellii play nice with others ;) The extent of our safety precautions went as far as tucking our socks into our trousers lol - and I thought the "Atta dance" was funny to watch! (That's when an Atta soldier clamps onto your fingers and you jump about waving your hands).

Anyway, thanks for the info Andrew. Bit of a quandary with this colony now as I probably couldn't tell which queen was which and my colonies still get a lot of soil in their nest chambers so I only snatch glimpses of the gardens as and when I can. I could see a few springtails in there today so perhaps I might move the colony to new premises again, or give them a new chamber to move into. This did spur me on to have a look into the other colony and the garden has pretty much filled a 12x6x6" tank so they are looking good. One of their preferred winter foods seems to be teasel leaves, if that's any use to anyone?

I like using a lot of soil in their tanks because it allows them to take control when I am too busy. I often end up working silly hours in the summer months and can't always be so vigilant. The soil means the ants can block holes or open holes to change humidity or airflow as and when they see fit. Once or twice a year I will sit a new tank of soil beside them and if they want to move, they will. Sorry, but this is lazy ant keeping and being able to see the garden etc. just doesn't bother me any more. However, I have been looking at a few threads here and have to say I've been encouraged to have a go at a few ideas I have seen!!!

Not sure what to do with this colony but I'll keep throwing food at them and see if the garden keeps growing. The fact I can see small larvae is encouraging and I'll keep an eye out for co-operating sub-queens. Hopefully I can add more info about this soon.

I might even sign up again with a better name than PAKOC... Could have been PAKLCAC (People Against Keeping Leaf Cutting Ants in Captivity)!!! :)

Colin

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Re: A. octospinnosus multiple queens from a captive swarm

Post by Acromyrmexbob » Thu Jan 12, 2017 10:40 pm

Okay, so because Colin has mentioned the name Pakoc again I need to explain where this has come from. Around 15 years ago Colin was the moderator of a forum dedicated to Keeping Octopus and other cephalopods. We were talking one day and I mentioned that I thought people who were really into their hobby were very angry when they were criticized, even if the criticism was based on fact and was reasonable. Colin kind of agreed but in order to test this hypothesis I sugned up to this forum as Pakoc (meaning later!). I started a new thread and wrote that it amazed me that people on this forum were keeping Octopus even although they all knew Octopus could not be bred in captivity so they were contributing to the habitat destruction of the creatures they claimed to love every time they bought a new one which would have to be wild caught. This seemed to me to be at odds with their stance of saying they were passionate about Octopi yet helping to destroy their environment. I ended by saying if they truly were passionate about Octopus then they would spend the money they had spent on their marine setups helping to conserve the reefs where the octopus were found and not keep damaging it. The reaction was explosive. I think Colin said there were more posts on that thread in a few days than any other on the forum. The members were incensed and the argument raged, even although I only actually posted one more reply. It got to the stage where people were researching the name Pakoc and trying to get information about me. Someone found this to be some sort of ancient god (by chance) and deductions were made from this. I wish you could have seen the carnage that was caused by this post which actually stated a perfectly reasonable point of view but forced the members to defend their hobby which they did with great passion! Anyway, PAKOC stood for People Against Keeping Octopus in Captivity!! :lol:

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Re: A. octospinnosus multiple queens from a captive swarm

Post by Deansie26 » Thu Jan 12, 2017 11:11 pm

Ha ha that was a great story ha ha, a valid point though ;) Colin you really should have joined up and tried to repay the deed to Andrew, would have been funny. The name is funny, I did google it the other day but it brought up Prince Albert Kennel and Obedience Club lol.

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Re: A. octospinnosus multiple queens from a captive swarm

Post by Atta solider » Fri Jan 20, 2017 8:18 pm

Wow very good read about crushing 50workers to get the new queens and males out of the nests lol

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Re: A. octospinnosus multiple queens from a captive swarm

Post by Kevin Cymru » Fri Jan 20, 2017 9:24 pm

Hi All

Fascinating subject.

Many years ago I had an Acro colony which at its peak was very strong. This colony produced both winged sexes and they would hang around in the nest, occasionally coming on the surface. I remember observing several winged females foraging and cutting leaves.
Due to a move from London to West Wales I had to transport them. I decided to leave them at my parents until I got sorted in the new home.
About a week later I made a special trip to pick them up and take them to Wales.During the journey they were very quiet and although I had removed most of the water from the moat around their tank I cannot remember any escaping.
They arrived safely and everything was set up in their new home.
The following morning, around 6:00 am I went in the room to see if they were ok and to my disbelief there were flying ants everywhere !!
They were mostly running up the curtains, where the light was just coming through, and small groups were tussling with each other, presumably males over females. Their behaviour reminded me of our native Myrmica species nuptial flights.

I can only think that the vibration of the 4 or so hour journey caused them to fly early the next morning. Maybe it replicated some sort of ground disturbance and this caused the winged ants to leave en mass ?
This colony was later rehoused in a larger tank and persisted for a further several years, producing more winged ants but a nuptial flight was never recreated again.

Maybe one day I will obtain another colony - I still have the tank stored away in my shed !!!

Hope this was of interest and I look forward to your comments.

Best wishes

Kevin

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Re: A. octospinnosus multiple queens from a captive swarm

Post by Acromyrmexbob » Sun Jan 22, 2017 8:19 pm

Kevin, very interesting account of a swarm being caused by certain factors, not clear what they could be. The vibrations could have triggered this. I would suspect the most likely association between the vibrations from your car and the triggering factors in the Rain Forest is that rain experienced underground would be a rapid series of impacts caused by the rain drops hitting the ground, hence reaching the ants underground as a series of vibrations. I like this very much, a really interesting observation. Once swarmed your report suggests that mating took place. So it may be that the task is to trigger the swarm naturally which will lead to mating behaviour.

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Re: A. octospinnosus multiple queens from a captive swarm

Post by Kevin Cymru » Sun Jan 22, 2017 9:34 pm

I only wish I had taken a video of the swarm, but I think I was half a sleep and not expecting to walk into a room of flying ants !

I also remember this colony fighting amongst itself on one occasion. A battle ensued along the pipe to the feeding area. I thought it may have been caused by something on the food that had been given and the odour of this caused the fighting ?
Have you ever observed fighting within a colony ?


Kevin

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