This category is for posts dealing with Myrm’s ant colonies
Happy New Year 2020 to all my readers/visitors/supporters. Thank you so much for your continued support on my website. My ants have celebrated the New Year – by staying in their hibernation beds, except, that is, for the Lasius umbratus. They have remained fairly active so far this winter, though in greatly decreased numbers. The Lasius niger and […]
Happy New Year 2020 Read More »
Hello, and welcome to another update on my captive ant colony journals. I had not posted an update last week as there had not been much activity. Instead, I wrote an article about the evolution of ants. To be honest, there is not much activity still. However, here is an update on all three colonies. Lasius niger, Lasius umbratus,
Captive Ant Colony Journals Update – 18 Nov 19 Read More »
Hello once again to another weekly update on my three current ant colonies. They consist of Lasius niger, Lasius umbratus and Myrmica rubra. Lasius niger This colony recently celebrated its two-month birthday, that is from the birth of the first worker ants. If we were to go from the day the queen laid her first egg,
Myrm’s Ant Colonies Update – 4 Nov 19 Read More »
Currently, my 11-year-old Lasius umbratus colony nest in two nesting boxes linked together by a short length of plastic tubing. The colony used to be quite a bit more populous than it is now. It is possible that the queen is ageing and, therefore, unable to produce as many eggs as she once was. Alternatively, she just did
Moving Ants into a New Home Read More »
Welcome to another Myrm’s Ant Colonies Journal update. In my previous journal update, I informed you that my four-year-old “Magenta” Colony of Lasius niger suddenly died out, during the night. It was a complete mystery to me then, and it remains so now. Well, I had another, similar, scare a few days ago. Myrmica rubra I
Myrm’s Ant Colonies Journal – 8 Oct 19 Read More »
A couple of days ago I gave my Myrmica rubra colony a new foraging box, as their old one was too small, and getting very messy. This new foraging box was actually one I found in my garden shed, one which had been part of a starter kit I purchased last year but had only used
Myrm’s Ant Colonies Journal – 30 Sep 19 Read More »
The Lasius niger colony continues to grow, with 18-20 worker ants now present. As I type this there are two new callow workers motionless in the test tube; they were born within the past hour. The queen is looking healthy and I can see the pale elastic membrane between her abdominal plates. This means that either her crop
Colonies Update – 26 Sep 19 Read More »
Last night I saw a worker from the new Lasius niger colony, emerge from the test tube and investigate the protein jelly I had placed in a small feeding dish, located right outside the test tube entrance. When I checked again about half hour later, there were two ants eating the jelly. This is great news as
Ant Colonies Update – 21 Sep 19 Read More »
My new Lasius niger queen now has 7 workers with her, with one of them having only hatched a few hours ago. There are approximately ten, maybe a dozen cocoons remaining, with some first moult larvae present too. A new ant farm I ordered specifically for this new colony was ordered on Friday, and dispatched
Approximately eight weeks ago I captured a newly mated Lasius niger queen from this year’s mating flights. I had not intended to capture any queens this year, but I was in my garden and saw this de-winged queen running about where I knew there to be an established colony of ants. Not wanting her to be caught
New Lasius niger colony – first workers. Read More »