I'm very interested in raising a Red Harvester Colony. I'm in Central Texas and I've lived around these lads my whole life. My dad and I used to see them in the deserts where he grew up and he told me stories about how he used to watch them with his buddies. Since then I've fallen in love with their colonies and behavior.
I live near 3 active colonies I know of, so I have a few general questions that I'm finding difficult to answer through my research.
Are the Pogonomyrmex barbatus queens fully claustral? If they aren't, what kind of changes do I need to make to sustain her?
I've seen July or August listed as their Nuptial flight period, does anyone know if this is accurate or where I could go to find out? Is there a certain time of day I should be looking? As of right now I'm going to check the colonies out every weekend at 5 am.
This will be my first time trying to raise a colony full colony out of a terrarium, though I've already succeeded with a test tube setup using some Solenopsis Invicta (Imported Reds).
These guys are huge... I worry a test tube setup won't suffice, so will just a larger test tube work?
Tiny red ants streaming out of a crack in the ground: https://imgur.com/C5kp0yt
Clips of the war: https://imgur.com/prfPO9R
The ants were making war last night near my house. Thousands upon thousands of tiny red ants were attacking a big black seed harvester ant colony (possibly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messor_pergandei). Beats me what the tiny reds are. They are around 1/8th the size of a black harvester ant. When I found them the tiny red ones had overwhelmed the harvesters and had formed a plug on top of the colony entrance, however the tiny red ants don't like light so once I shined my flashlight on the colony for a little bit the black harvesters came boiling out by the hundreds and formed into a massed ring army around the entrance about a foot across. Then when I took my light away to go get my tablet and shoot some pics and video the reds went swarming in on top of the harvesters.
When I got back and shined my light on them for a bit from the side the harvesters broke en mass towards my light, fleeing with a few larva in some of their worker's mouths and a few of the winged mating forms.
I saw this happen to another harvester colony a year ago. When I got back the next morning it had been wiped out by the reds.
The weird thing is that the tiny reds don't even seem to be coming from a colony, just streaming out of little cracks in the dry ground and forming seething tendrils that reach out and encircle the harvester colony. When I checked later there were no tiny red ant colonies in the area. Indeed, I'm not sure if I've ever found a colony of the reds, perhaps because they are so light sensitive.
Needless to say I’m gutted just under a year my queen has died... I’ve read so much about how often they just (seemingly) randomly die that I’m accepting of it. But... I have about 30-40 workers now, and 3-4 majors and I’d love to be able to save them.
Has anyone had any success passing a colony on to a parasitical queen? If so any suggestions about the best species to try with?
I have had 3-4 Harvester Ant nests close enough to my front door that I could reach any of them with a rock. A month or so ago we had a record freezing period, and now none of these are showing any life. Yet along a road near me I found many that were reviving well. I'm wondering if age and therefore depth of the site helps survive heavy freezing. Any research on this? Thanks!
Hay, I live in Oklahoma and have at least 4 vary large colony's of red harvesters ants, not far from where I live. But no matter when I go out they never seem to be have there flights. Does anyone know when they do?
I was wondering if there was a species of harvester ant that didn’t go into hibernation or have a rest period. Thanks.
I'm fairly certain this is some type of harvester ant. Only, I don't know which type. Found in Bountiful Utah, measures in at 9 mm, found with only one wing and running away from a nest. Thanks!
https://preview.redd.it/5p0d6llf8rr51.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7387ab888deb664c345b5817ecbb50678b163a24
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I'm kind of worried. It was supposed to be two day shipping but apparently things are running behind. I don't know when she will arrive at this point but the package isn't lost, it's still being tracked. Just really slowly.
I have a harvest ant farm and I have been noticing some interesting behavior/skills. They have started to dig a new tunnel and rather than start on one side and dig one direction all the way to their adjacent tunnel. They started digging from each end and appear to be meeting in the middle. This behavior really had me a little mind blown that these ants are able to determine their physical location relative to where they need to be. As well as their ability to communicate this calculated approach throughout the colony.
like getting my thumb smashed by a hammer for 12 hours. it was a good time, would recommend.
I'm really stressed y'all, I feel like I'm doing something wrong.
Anyway I have her in one of those cricket keeper things. She's inside a tube which is placed inside of the box. Typical tube setup with cotton balls and water. Seems to be mold free and sanitary. Straw is pushed through the cotton to make an exit for her to go out and forage. Tin foil is around the tube to keep it dark. I have petroleum jelly higher up around the sides of the foraging box to make sure she can't escape.
I have three types of food in there, because I want to give her all she could possibly need, I don't want to take any chances. She has some torn off insect legs, a bit of honey, and some assorted seeds to choose between. When I first got her she went for the honey and drank a whole lot. I haven't seen her touch anything else.
I leave her alone almost all the time, I only check on her very rarely. Of course I'll observe her if she's out and about, but if she's in her tube I leave her alone.
I've had her maybe.. four days? No eggs yet, but she's still alive and seems to be okay.
Does all this sound good? Any obvious mistakes I'm making? How long can she go without laying eggs before I should worry? Thanks y'all.
