The Tower of Power?

I love working up designs for nests.  From the simple to the convoluted, it’s just interesting to see what works and what doesn’t.  Struggling to find the right balance of moisture, airflow and access to foraging areas, etc.

Here is the latest incarnation of the acrylic/plaster combination design.  This model is much more slim the previous boxes and a bit taller.  In effect, it is a more economical use of space and more appropriate for smaller species and colonies.  The chambers and tunnels are smaller, though could be smaller still for the species I currently have in there.

This shot shows you the tower itself and the flexible tubing I used to connect a foraging area.  Out the right side you see the water tube.

In this shot you can see the nature of the lid.  I had to make sure there was a way for the moisture rising from the water basin below to escape efficiently.  Therefore I used the same mesh mesh covering sealed with crazy glue and lined with tape.  All in the design is much the same as my prior post just smaller. 

Below you can see a shot of the inhabitants.  If anyone has any ideas on the species, please chime in.  I haven’t had a chance to get a good shot of them yet.

 

 

 
Sony A-100, Sigma 50mm 1:2.8 Macro Lens, cropped & resized in PSP8

They Live!

My Pogo queen’s brood are starting to hatch!  It’s a wonder to see the majesty of nature at work, right here in the garage.  This is just such a great hobby.

 

Sony A-100, Sigma 50mm 1:2.8 Macro Lens, cropped in PSP8

Heavenly Tahoe

At Lake Tahoe this week and discovered it is an ant lover’s paradise.  You literally cannot walk across the street without coming across dozens of ant hills.  And there are some species here you just don’t see in such abundance back home and some you don’t see at all.  Such as this lovely lady we captured during lunch one day.  We were at the top of Heavenly village’s gondola ride about 9000 feet up and there she was on the patio.  Had to take her.  Not sure if she’ll survive as it’s REALLY hard to take proper care on vacation, but I am hopeful.   So we called her Heavenly based on where we found her.  Here she is:

 

Pogo Mama

I’ve been really unlucky for a few years finding a fertile Harvester Ant queen.  It is primarily due to the fact that I just don’t have either the time or maybe the passion to commit to driving out to areas where they are plentiful.  Or it may be since they are fairly common right here in the LA basin that it seems ridiculous to go out to the desert searching for them. 

Well that misfortune has been interrupted for the time being.  My oldest son stumbled across such a queen a few weeks ago in where else but my mom’s drive way.  Low and behold, there she was one hot day, just excavating a newly found nest in a crack in the drive.

We quickly, though patiently scooped her up and brought her home.  I’ve always felt odd about gathering ants from their natural habitats and bringing them into captivity, though I am fairly certain, a colony in that location had a very minimal chance of survival.

However, her chances may not be much improved as captive ants require a lot of patience, attention and luck just the same.  So, without further ado, here is the lovely lady we brought home.  I’ll detail her setup another time.