My
Lasius niger colony decided to move during the weekend. This colony have more that 250 workers but it is quite difficult to accurately estimate the exact number at the moment. However, they became too many for the test tube that they have inhabited for two and a half years (
see them in the test tube here).
They thus packed up the brood pile and moved into the ytong formicarium. Below are a few pictures of the main area that they occupy.
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| Ytong nest with link to outworld (bottom left) |
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| Chambers occupied, all on bottom level |
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| Main chamber with queen eggs and small larvae (right) and chamber linked to outworld with large larvae (left). |
The pupae are in a separate chamber from the larvae and the eggs.
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| Chamber with pupae. |
It seems that there is almost one new ant every day. Today I saw 3 newly emerged ants starting to turn black. I think the increase in growth may be in some part due to the high quality protein I feed them (
home grown flies).
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| Very new ant between other pupae |
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| Two new ants turning black on broodpile |
Looking forward to see the colony evolve.
R&C
