Tulip, the eastern black carpenter ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) is a median worker. She likes to hang out at the highest point of the driftwood branch. Like most elderly ants (she is nearly 2 years old) she no longer enters the main nest. (I think older ants avoid the nest chambers to prevent disease) she spends a lot of time looking up… she has escaped twice. On her first escape I gave her the pink dots. #antVideo#withNarration#namedAnts
I haven't seen the queen of my Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony for months. Her daughters built her a secret chamber deep in the log where nosey ant-keepers can't poke lights or cameras (to be fair she HATES light, good for her.)
Nice to see signs she is still around as the colony endures winter (simulated by me sticking them in a wine fridge)
She produced a small clutch of larvae: "openers" the extra crew needed to open the cocoons for the spring population boom.
My carpenter ants are always stepping on each other with their cute fuzzy feet. I think the sensation of nest mates touching each other is calming to them, they seem to go out of their way to walk on top of each other. #video#antvideo#ants#carpenterAnts
This carpenter ant escaped when I was cleaning their outworld. Now she desperately wants back in. This is why I don’t worry much about escaped ants they always come back — though she has attracted a crowd to the lid and you can see them sticking their antennae out to touch her. #ants#AntVideo#video
Kuching is a city of about half a million people located on the third largest island in the world. The Dynomyrmex gigas can be found in the city some of the time. Here is a photo from iNaturalist of an ant in traffic on her nuptial flight. She would have come from a colony of at least several thousand ants.
I think this is a queen not a drone since the drones have very small heads.
It's fascinating to me that these ants aren't exactly rare in this part of the world.
She was “escaped” for 2 min and in that time found a ‘thing’ she simply must bring back to her nest. It’s bigger than her body— I think it’s a dead fruit fly.
Look at this big beautiful carpenter ant major from my Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony! I picked her up with the paint brush and just let her wander around on my hand for a bit. She's so gentle and curious.
It's been a few days since I've opened the enclosure for her colony, so she must have been lost in the apartment for several days. She managed to not get eaten by a spider or by #pica! (yes Pica will eat ants)
Strange things are afoot in the carpenter ant nest this afternoon. A group of workers have seemingly turned against this particular larvae. They are all just biting it over and over... though not doing much damage? What could cause this? Maybe the larvae has died? Maybe it's infected? I will see if they really dismantle it or if it's just a bite fest. #camponotus#antvideo#withnarration
I'm hooking up the new outworld for my Camponotus pennslyvanicus colony today-- I did a trial hook up for like 3 seconds and already 3 of them got into the new space. Husband wanted to watch them explore so 3 are currently trapped until I re-hook the nest.
You might think the restricted access would make them wary... knowing this colony, they'll be even more excited to get in!
There is a choice hiding space in this new area... I just hope they don't hang out in the connecting tube.
OK last video I'll share. This is Myrmecia piliventris one of those very independent and large Australian ants with a lot of personality. Crazy Legs shows how he feeds her and it's so adorable the way she creeps out of the nest as soon as she smells the honey. #antvideo
I know it's hard to believe but I mostly keep this account to try to get people to watch my ant videos. (why I want people to watch ant videos is a question I can't really fathom...) I made a really good new video today with a time lapse that shows how heat sensitive Camponotus discolor are. They move their pupae constantly to maintain ideal development conditions.
The pogo girls dote on their little brothers. Constantly cleaning their wings and fussing over them. Male ants are not very useful until they fly to mate, I even caught a male alate stealing a shelled seed from a larvae. (Which is like mugging a baby for their bottle!)
The poor thing can't shell seeds on his own or collect food, so I guess that's what he's reduced to when his sisters aren't feeding him mouth to mouth. #withnarration#antvideo