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Well its that time of year again, and after several large T-Storms my yard was filled with these. Thought I'd share...
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Pogos
- Thread starter MrMatt
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I only held on to four of them and plan to 'thin out' the weaker ones as time goes on. They are pogonomyrmex barbatus incase anyone was wondering. Here is a picture of the 'brooding chambers' I have them in right now.
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Uhmmmm, not an ant??
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Yes, gen... an ant 
more specifically a red harvester ant. The one pictured and other three I have are queens, just after their nuptial flight.
more specifically a red harvester ant. The one pictured and other three I have are queens, just after their nuptial flight.
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So you can start an ant colony with one of these right? How do you know if an ant is a mated queen?
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Yesgenious_gr said:
Well, you can dig them up looking for the fat one, (very painful) or wait for the nuptial flights... Only prenup queens and drones have wings, durning their nuptial flight usually following a heavy rain in spring or fall they fly twords the moon (or any other light) for one heck of an orgy... the drones die and the queen land and shed their wings. If you know when they are flying you can leave a light on and wait for the queens to start shedding their wings, or for several days after a flight you can find the queens wondering around searching for a home, or even starting to dig. Queens are generally distinguished from workers by being much larger and fatter. I'll try and take more pictures for clarification. Hope this helps.genious_gr said:
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I would be extremely interested in getting some of those. Too bad they don't live anywhere near me! Nice find.
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Here are the pictures. First two are of workers. Second two are of drones (Each box is .5cm X .5cm)
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These last two pictures are of a Prenup-queen. They are just around twice the size of a worker. On a side note, There are also colonies of what I believe are Pogonomyrmex occidentalis in the grasslands not far from where I live. The workers of these colonies are about twice the size of the workers pictured above. I hope to collect some of those queens soon also.
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They are like any other invert pet; fun to watch. Ants however can be very interesting with their social behaviors, something you don't see with other 'more common' invert pets. Also it makes good year-round food for horned lizards.Elizabeth said:
With pogos, the mandibles are the least of the worries. Pogo's like most New World Tarantula's threat originates from their abdomen. Pogos IMO and from what I have read have one of the most painful stings of all Hymenoptera, even IME rivaling the Tarantula Hawk's.
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Here is a link that may help. http://p211.ezboard.com/bantfarm What info where you looking for?Navaros said:Hey Matt,
Do you know of any infor online about setting up an ant colony?
Thanks for the link! Well, the basics really. I have never kept ants before so I need to start from square one. I would like a colony of honey pots because they are really cool and I can't think of any others that would be as interesting to keep, maybe you can give me some better ideas? Honey pots seem like they would need a LOT of space. Same with the Pogos. And then you have their sting as you said so they are kinda out.
Well, the basics really. I have never kept ants before so I need to start from square one. I would like a colony of honey pots because they are really cool and I can't think of any others that would be as interesting to keep, maybe you can give me some better ideas? Honey pots seem like they would need a LOT of space. Same with the Pogos. And then you have their sting as you said so they are kinda out.
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Foster queen
Well all four queens began laying eggs and doing well until last week when one died. She was on the bottom of the stack so I was slow on cleaning out the entire cage as not to disturb the others, when I did I noticed there were still two viable pupae. I had heard that if you separate workers from their nest they loose their scent and can be accepted by another colony. So I figured I’d try it, and figured it had been long enough so I put them in with another queen. When I opened her nest she of coarse became frantic and started piling her larva in the corner. When she came across the two orphans she stopped and began checking them over very careful then ran away she then stopped turned around and gave them another very thorough check, grabbed them and put them in her pile. It was interesting to see her decide if she should accept them or not.
Well all four queens began laying eggs and doing well until last week when one died. She was on the bottom of the stack so I was slow on cleaning out the entire cage as not to disturb the others, when I did I noticed there were still two viable pupae. I had heard that if you separate workers from their nest they loose their scent and can be accepted by another colony. So I figured I’d try it, and figured it had been long enough so I put them in with another queen. When I opened her nest she of coarse became frantic and started piling her larva in the corner. When she came across the two orphans she stopped and began checking them over very careful then ran away she then stopped turned around and gave them another very thorough check, grabbed them and put them in her pile. It was interesting to see her decide if she should accept them or not.