u/Dlcoates1

Past 2 days I’ve been keeping an eye on this colony, currently staging. Rain expected in the next couple days, so I’m guessing flights will be sometime this week.

Pogonomyrmex Occidentalis: Officially moved into the mini labyrinth. Massive growth recently. Went from around 40 workers to over 60 in a couple weeks with the queen popping out more non stop. I’ve started feeding small mealworms once a week, still feeding fruit flies every couple days as well. Also started giving them access to some sunburst nectar which they seem to enjoy, and has had a noticeable positive effect on the overall health of the colony. Slowed down on the seeds for now since their seed stores are stocked for the next month or two at least.

Pheidole Californica: Colony had a slight drop off after settling into the bifurcated hearth. I’m attributing that to older workers though, or stress from shipping. Still around 25-30 strong with soldiers. Also gave them access to sunburst nectar as well. Their main diet is chia seeds, with some dandelion sprinkled in, and the occasional 2-3 fruit flies for now.

Tetramorium Immigrans: This queen was caught 2 days ago. As I’ve priorly mentioned I found her while she was being attacked by 3 workers from another colony. Even though she’s injured, she seems to be recovering nicely. She’s got a small clutch of eggs, and has been actively grooming herself on the occasion while also caring for her clutch. Since she’s still founding there’s no real update I can give on her for now.

Also, question to the community, are there any other ant species you guys would recommend that do not require diapause? Mainly wanting non diapause species as I still don’t fully trust my ability to put ants through diapause, especially since I don’t have the proper setup to do so currently.

First photo is an obvious one. Camponotus modoc soldier.

Second photo, unsure of species. 1-2 mm in size. Want to say tapinoma due to heart shaped gaster?

Third photo, lasius (niger or neoniger?)

4th & 5th photo maybe formica? Super fast little bugger so I’m assuming so.

For the record, taxonomy is not my strong suit. I get easily confused by tons of different info (autism)

So apparently I misidentified them before, but here’s a Lasius virgin queen and drone. Now that I know they’re lasius, not sure I’m going to keep them, as I have more colonies of tetramorium nearby than I do of lasius. Not exactly sure what species of lasius she is, but a nice catch/spot none the less.

The queen I managed to save yesterday seems to already be settled in the test tube. She was actively grooming herself when I took this photo, and if you look on the mesh next to the water reservoir (I’m using a THA genesis insert) you can see she’s got a small clutch of eggs! My only hope is that they aren’t drones.

Again I arranged the layout a bit differently this time. Before I set it up the way you would standard landscaping, tallest in the background working towards smallest in the foreground. This time I arranged it with pitchers on one side, drosera on the other to act as a funnel in a sense, with the flytraps in the center which will hopefully allow them to feed a bit more. So far it seems to be working to a degree, I’ve noticed more prey in the traps, and larger prey usually at that. Time will tell if it continues on like this as that open space will be the perfect zone for more of the filiformis to pop up.

Purp, flava, and Leucophylla were samples collected with permission from department of natural resources from a local bog where they are non native. The swaniana was purchased from Californica Carnivores. The Catesbaei (if it’s still there) was purchased from Courting Frogs owned by Jerry Addington.

Flytraps purchased mainly from california carnivores with the exception of the B52 which was purchased from Lowes.

All drosera were obtained from California carnivores.

Little culture I started 2 weeks ago. It’s been progressing nicely. Love seeing those heads grow massive. Not as much of a fan when it comes to that algae spot, but it’s still not currently an issue. Good amount of growth though in that short time!

Found my first wild queen. She’s in rough shape due to being attacked by workers from a rival colony. Managed to get them off of her but she came out of it battle scarred. I’m hoping she will pull through but given how things can be with queens I’m not 100% sure she will. Got her in a genesis test tube setup for now, will see how she does and update in a bit. If she does pull through, I’m naming her Trinity.

So as the title and video explains, little confused as to why I’ve only got one worker of this size, at my current colony size. I know size variation is normal, and that they have no caste, however it makes no sense as to why it’s just the one? She’s been around since the 25-30 worker mark by the way (currently at 57 workers). I was under the impression they didn’t get their variated workers around the 100 worker mark.

Before anyone starts saying “that’s too much space” or anything of the sort, this is a 40+ worker colony. At that number, they absolutely hate being in a test tube setup and will do everything they can to escape. A mini hearth, or in my case a bifurcated mini hearth, will give them plenty of room and help them feel more comfortable at those numbers, and provide more than enough room to expand. This current colony is right at home in this formicarium and has given no indication of wanting to move.

I seem to be having an issue trying to look at buckeye’s website all of a sudden. Both on and off wifi. Anyone else experiencing problems?

Update: It’s back up.

Question for you all, but first some info.

I planted some strawberries in a 6” pot with an 8” depth. I was told and researched that strawberries only need around 4-6” of depth for their roots as usually they create a lot of runners. Well, my strawberries have formed a root ball at the bottom of their pot and I got roots starting to grow out of the drainage holes attempting to dig deeper.

My question is, how large of a container do strawberries truly need? I would love to be able to give my roots plenty of room while keeping the fruit suspended above the ground if possible, as I can’t hang anything due to apartment rules.

Last week I showed my version of a “simple setup”. Just thought I would show you guys the growth since.

As priorly mentioned, this setup is ONLY to enlarge the heads I currently have, and to encourage a jump in size and hopefully induce sporing. As you can see, the result has been achieved. In the second picture the heads are much larger, new heads have started growing, and the color has perked up.

If you notice however, there is also a thin layer of algae forming. This cannot be prevented in this setup, but it can be reduced via aeration. Once the amount of growth you want to see has been achieved, it’s best to transfer it to a peat:perlite mix.

1:15 pm PST I gave my Pogonomyrmex Occidentalis their first cricket. They immediately swarmed it and dragged it into the nest.

8:05 pm PST Practically all that was left is the husk. They cleaned out most of the innards, they ate all the legs, they’re still cleaning it up but with how picked apart it is I suspect by tomorrow it will be completely gone or I’ll find the remains in their landfill.

Well guys, after 5 years of these plants sitting in this pond liner, it was time to pull everything out, divide some up, pot up the extras for sale, add some fresh mix, and do it all again! Pics are peak growth last year, compared to the new arrangement. This time I decided to use the pitchers and the drosera to create a funnel, with the flytraps laying in center. Hopefully this works as I intend by giving them a lot of extra room and allowing them to feed more.

Mini hearth is already coated with fluon, hydrated, and ready to go. Will be feeding dandelion and chia for now, alongside knocked out fruit flies (refrigerated) since they’re smaller.

I’ve been looking forward to this growth for a while! It’s going to be fun watching them swarm larger pray.