Anyway here are a couple of dodgy pics of them going back home again (note the dead worker I left there as a warning to the others :-P). The holes are only the size of a sewing needle.
Showing posts with label outworld. Show all posts
Showing posts with label outworld. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Aggie's escapees...
I tend to have several escapees from both Aggie and Betsy's colonies at any given time. They always go back though! One of Aggies wasn't so lucky a week ago and perished on the piece of sticky tape that I had put over the holes to prevent (ha!) them escaping.
Anyway here are a couple of dodgy pics of them going back home again (note the dead worker I left there as a warning to the others :-P). The holes are only the size of a sewing needle.
Anyway here are a couple of dodgy pics of them going back home again (note the dead worker I left there as a warning to the others :-P). The holes are only the size of a sewing needle.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Charlene is officially a Mummy!!
Finally!! It has been approximately 2 months since Charlene laid her first egg, and I was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to amount to anything.
Today I caught her first worker emerging on the camera which wasn't easy seeing as though she has kept walking up and down her tunnel and getting in my way, and also because I had to put my camera in the outworld to get a reasonable view of the happenings inside. So anyway as I took the lid off I noticed one of Aggie's workers had escaped again and decided to visit Charlene's outworld, so had to catch it first and return it to it's rightful home (and tape up more holes!).
This is Charlene on the 2/2/2012
11/2/2012 10.30am
10.30am
10.30am
10.30am Good view of Charlene's next worker - you can see it's eyes quite clearly in this picture
12.30pm
12.30pm
12.30pm
12.30pm
12.30pm
12.30pm
12.30pm
2.00pm Hooray, hello there little worker!
Today I caught her first worker emerging on the camera which wasn't easy seeing as though she has kept walking up and down her tunnel and getting in my way, and also because I had to put my camera in the outworld to get a reasonable view of the happenings inside. So anyway as I took the lid off I noticed one of Aggie's workers had escaped again and decided to visit Charlene's outworld, so had to catch it first and return it to it's rightful home (and tape up more holes!).
This is Charlene on the 2/2/2012
11/2/2012 10.30am
10.30am
10.30am
10.30am Good view of Charlene's next worker - you can see it's eyes quite clearly in this picture
12.30pm
12.30pm
12.30pm
12.30pm
12.30pm
12.30pm
12.30pm
2.00pm Hooray, hello there little worker!
Aggie update
Aggie and her workers love to move house!!
In the last week they have resided in their original red covered test tube, then all moved out to under the mouldy cotton wool ball and now they have dug out a lovely home under the water cotton wool ball, which is quite convenient for me because I can see them there much better :) Unfortunately, it's not so great for photos, but here's a little shot of where they are these days.
It looks like they are going really well - there are at least 15 or 20 workers and a lovely large ball of larvae and eggs!
In the last week they have resided in their original red covered test tube, then all moved out to under the mouldy cotton wool ball and now they have dug out a lovely home under the water cotton wool ball, which is quite convenient for me because I can see them there much better :) Unfortunately, it's not so great for photos, but here's a little shot of where they are these days.
It looks like they are going really well - there are at least 15 or 20 workers and a lovely large ball of larvae and eggs!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Aggie's Ant Family
Aggie (Nylanderia queen?)and her colony are still happily residing under the mouldy cotton wool ball... The colony seems to be increasing in size too - I don't like to bother them though so I cant be too sure of numbers. Today I put a small piece of banana and meal worm in their outworld and within one minute workers came to check it out. Here is the first lucky (hungry) worker.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Ants update!
I haven't updated for a while because nobody has been doing anything much!
When cleaning/feeding/watering Esme and Darlene (Banded Sugar Ants or Camponotus Consobrinus) I noticed that Esme seems to have less eggs than before? She's the stressy one, so perhaps that's it? Also her gaster (butt) is smaller than Darlene's. They are both refusing any foods except for honey water or fruit juice. Here's a couple of pics for comparing the two of them.
Darlene (big butt)
Esme the stress head (small butt)
And one of Esme and her eggs
Today when cleaning one of Betsy's (Nylanderia) workers escaped. I caught it and put it back in the formicarium (ant farm). Anyway a minute or so later I noticed another worker walking around the outside and caught it and put it back in. The thing is, I'm not entirely sure that it was Betsy's worker after all! It seemed to be really exploring like it had never been there before! oops.
When cleaning/feeding/watering Esme and Darlene (Banded Sugar Ants or Camponotus Consobrinus) I noticed that Esme seems to have less eggs than before? She's the stressy one, so perhaps that's it? Also her gaster (butt) is smaller than Darlene's. They are both refusing any foods except for honey water or fruit juice. Here's a couple of pics for comparing the two of them.
Darlene (big butt)
Esme the stress head (small butt)
And one of Esme and her eggs
Today when cleaning one of Betsy's (Nylanderia) workers escaped. I caught it and put it back in the formicarium (ant farm). Anyway a minute or so later I noticed another worker walking around the outside and caught it and put it back in. The thing is, I'm not entirely sure that it was Betsy's worker after all! It seemed to be really exploring like it had never been there before! oops.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Charlene is considering a move.
Last night, Charlene decided to have a wander up the tube connecting her delightful specimen container to her outworld. She changed her mind before she got there though! I don't think she wants to move out yet.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Things are changing...
I tried to get Charlene (aka The ant formerly known as C - still don't know what species she might be?) to move home yesterday, but she appears to be more than comfortable in her specimen jar.
Some photos of Charlene and her eggs and the outworld she could call home if she wanted...
Some photos of Charlene and her eggs and the outworld she could call home if she wanted...
Where did Aggie go?
29/12/2011
I had a look with a torch to see if I could see inside Aggie's (aka The ant formerly known as A) red test tube and found that she and her family had moved out! As I couldn't see them anywhere I had a small poke around and found them hiding out under the damp cotton ball in the outworld I'd made for them. The photos aren't much good, but it will give you an idea of where they are now. It looks like there are at least 5 or 6 workers with her now too :-)
I put a little bit of chopped up mealworm in there for them to eat. They didn't seem interested though, but I might have just missed seeing them eat..
The outworld.
The hidey hole.
I had a look with a torch to see if I could see inside Aggie's (aka The ant formerly known as A) red test tube and found that she and her family had moved out! As I couldn't see them anywhere I had a small poke around and found them hiding out under the damp cotton ball in the outworld I'd made for them. The photos aren't much good, but it will give you an idea of where they are now. It looks like there are at least 5 or 6 workers with her now too :-)
I put a little bit of chopped up mealworm in there for them to eat. They didn't seem interested though, but I might have just missed seeing them eat..
The outworld.
The hidey hole.
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