Post B4VBMBYOhJ28aW5S52 by rlstone4dems@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by rlstone4dems@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #B4V0Tid91EtvhjhHKC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-03-22T00:42:48Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Who is 4.5 years old, has 600 daughters and 500 eggs ready to go for spring?This queen carpenter ant. I’ve known this bug longer than some people— and I like her better.
(DIR) Post #B4V0cDxaQ5O3BkJXqy by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-03-22T00:44:18Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
She's in her prime, they can live for over a decade and I hope to see if she can live that long.
(DIR) Post #B4V0gFzgndcAefDkq8 by waitworry@sakurajima.moe
2026-03-22T00:45:00Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird big girl
(DIR) Post #B4V0yGg8zagLzVfPxA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-03-22T00:48:18Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@michaelgemar Yes! That happened to my Pogonomyrmex queen a year back and she started laying eggs that grew up to be sons. It was kind of sad since it meant the colony was over. She must not have mated enough? Or maybe she got sick. She was only two years old. Normally it takes much longer for that to happen.
(DIR) Post #B4V21Ac26SNs02gxDU by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-03-22T00:59:55Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@hi_cial At least 10 years. Maybe much longer. We don't really know how long they live. She seems to be doing great. The colony is huge, though I'm trying to get them to grow it slowly since IDK where I'm going to put 10k ants.
(DIR) Post #B4V28kXgumB1SgH7hY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-03-22T01:01:16Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@leonardof @michaelgemar Ant queens can already sort of do what people in Iain M. Banks culture do with their mental menus.
(DIR) Post #B4V2fjchLyHkAPLUvI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-03-22T01:07:23Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
During her first two years of life she hung around the egg chambers, but then a couple of years back her daughters decided to move all of the eggs and larvae to another log, so her log is just for her, the ants to care for her (and who whisk the eggs away) and maybe just a few dozen most recently laid eggs. She also has an extensive collection of majors hanging around especially at the entrance. It's the queen's apartments. She has an army of nannies for the little ones.
(DIR) Post #B4V2lQvLmzx3uTmsVM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-03-22T01:08:24Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
I would be so much more impressed with human queens if they had this many kids and a set up like this one with big beefy daughters ready to defend them. Might even get more interested in monarchy if they could do that.
(DIR) Post #B4V37E6O8qWOVwLGm8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-03-22T01:12:21Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@michaelgemar I think they like keeping all the larvae of the same age in one place for efficiency and her log was too small. And like most queens she didn't want to move. But I've seen this in the wild too. The larvae are a target of predators, so keeping the queen separate is probably safer in the long run.
(DIR) Post #B4V5nNosbNmgivNklE by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-03-22T01:42:20Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@michaelgemar As it turns out I have video of when they first moved into the log!Dottie passed away nearly two years ago. She was one of the first wave of workers and saw a lot of change. I might mark another ant or two this spring as it's interesting to see what they get up to... they are NOT all the same. Very different personalities. https://www.tumblr.com/futurebird/693122523813085185/remember-that-ant-i-marked-with-paint-so-i-could
(DIR) Post #B4V5pXs2ChvcTVtAHY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-03-22T01:42:43Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@pixel Nearly 5 years old!
(DIR) Post #B4V6avxcSI6Und66sq by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-03-22T01:51:19Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@sueellenfast "Logingham Palace" is perfect.
(DIR) Post #B4VBMBYOhJ28aW5S52 by rlstone4dems@mastodon.social
2026-03-22T02:44:39Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Ants are so cute...
(DIR) Post #B4VD1s2RkGTWB9aDLc by GoblinQuester@dice.camp
2026-03-22T03:03:20Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird This was so interesting! Long live the queen!
(DIR) Post #B4VFiIDB1ZpjQLxTZQ by jackemled@furry.engineer
2026-03-22T03:33:24Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Carpenter ants are very polite! There were a few colonies of them living in the back yard of a house I used to live at. They kept very clean & they never had loud parties or anything. They're good neighbors.
(DIR) Post #B4VGlm8yIGqn51DRgW by phl@mastodon.social
2026-03-22T03:45:17Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird I genuinely thought ants lasted like one year. Ten though? That's so cool!
(DIR) Post #B4VJe3cZjF1upb4erw by Heliograph@mastodon.au
2026-03-22T04:17:30Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird oh wow a superinterestng thread 😲🙏 thanks I had no idea about #carpenter #ants #carpenterAnts
(DIR) Post #B4VKbWqYiDxyYeyO36 by steter@mastodon.stevesworld.co
2026-03-22T04:28:15Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @michaelgemar Interesting. There are usually 1-6 ants having at the honey I leave for them on a frozen yogurt seal set on the non-biz side of the sink counter. When the weather changed, it was like a sale was on, and a lot more visited. Since I decided to try honey, they have mostly not looked elsewhere for food, like inside of my coffee maker, though if I neglect to rinse a plate, it is like I opened up a new wing of the ant diner.BTW, I think I saw the queen - a large version of that ant - show up to eat once, then disappear.10K ants, eh? Swell. I guess I'm going to need more ant munchies.They own Oregon. I've seen the deed.
(DIR) Post #B4VOerf0BSrrnOPgzw by Tom_ofB@23.social
2026-03-22T05:13:40Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird aww, so nice. I tried cultivating a colony once (Camponotus Herculeanus), maybe 15 years ago. But my diy Formicarium wasn't very good and despite three hatched eggs it never picked off and the Queen died ;_;Got the queen from a large colony that lived in a dead chinmey pipe in my inlaws' house.The German common name is Rossamameise, horse ant, dunno the etymology.I love the Camponotus for their dimorphism, i.e. the soldier ants. People consider them pests, people are stupid.
(DIR) Post #B4VbBHuhJGBDw1ywgy by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-03-22T07:34:02Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Tom_ofB Sometimes queen ants die even with the best care. Don't beat yourself up about it too much.
(DIR) Post #B4VlO4hQkW86G6VpQ0 by WTL@mastodon.social
2026-03-22T09:28:23Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird I did not know that they could live that long. Cooool.