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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2009 15:10:27 GMT 1
22 August 2009, Saturday... I wonder if that male ant ever lived it down that he was duffed up by a bunch of girls? Well he lived it down ... down in the L.Umbratus nest !
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Post by Myrm on Aug 27, 2009 12:50:00 GMT 1
27 August 2009, ThursdayWell, there has been a lot of activity here over the past few days. Two big fat flies flew into my room so I swatted then and put them both into the umbratus tank. Moments later they were both smother in yellow an black ants alike. They certainly love those flies. A little while later there was an almost panic rush to get the cocoons from the sand nesting box into the plastic tube. The ants moved them so quickly that I was actually quite shocked and wondered what on earth was going on. Had something got into their nest and alarmed them? Half hour later the queen emerged from her chamber and stood on the surface of the sand where the cocoons had been. Ah! I see! It was a "Quick, tidy the place up! The queen is coming!" It reminded me of Drew, on hearing his mum coming up the stairs, rushing around to make his room tidy like he had been told to before she came in. ;D The following morning the queen had retired back to her chamber to recline on her chaise-longue like Madam Récamier (if you are not sure who she is, look here: www.atticmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/gibbs-davidrecamiersmall.jpg). There was now a large mound of obviously newly-hatched-from-egg stage one larvae where she had been. She's still laying loads of eggs. w00t! The pile of cocoons grows ever larger. Read even more regular updates on my Twitter page: twitter.com/SwedishAnt
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2009 14:35:34 GMT 1
yeah for myrm. ;D
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Post by Myrm on Aug 31, 2009 12:59:15 GMT 1
31 August 2009, MondayBy far my most active colony of the 5 I have; workers constantly foraging, extending or repairing the nest, as well as cleaning up. The queen often emerges for a leg stretch and is always accompanied by half a dozen or so Lasius umbratus workers. It is, generally, speaking the umbratus workers who seem to tend to the queen more so than the niger workers. I wonder if it is anything to do with the fact that the queen, being umbratus herself and therefore the natural mother to the umbratus workers, has more of an attachment to the umbratus workers than to the nigers. The niger workers by no means ignore her and there are always some near her and constantly tending to her brood. It is odd seeing the umbratus workers alongside their bigger (generally about twice as big) niger step-sisters. It's almost like soldiers amongst workers. They have been eating a lot recently too, which is good to see. They love bluebottles and houseflies. They also loved the honey-water I gave them, though it seems Lasius niger have a sweeter tooth than their umbratus step-sisters. Read even more regular updates on my Twitter page: twitter.com/SwedishAnt
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 15:39:49 GMT 1
Are/is (what is the right?) the umbratus smaller than the Nigers? What collar are the Umbratuss?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 15:51:20 GMT 1
I have a question. How do you feed your ants sugar and honey water myrm?
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Post by Myrm on Aug 31, 2009 16:12:01 GMT 1
Are/is (what is the right?) the umbratus smaller than the Nigers? Hi Dane. The correct word would be "are"; Are the umbtratus smaller than the nigers ("are" because you are talking about something in the plural). umbratus are smaller than Lasius niger. They are similar in size to Lasius flavus. Collar? I think you mean "Colour" (spelt "color" in the US). Lasius umbratus are yellow.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 16:13:59 GMT 1
really? Okay thanks
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Post by Myrm on Aug 31, 2009 16:16:52 GMT 1
I have a question. How do you feed your ants sugar and honey water myrm? Hi Extremely Naughty Bin Lid I do not feed my ants sugar. I guess you would just pour the sugar into the feeding dish or on the tank floor, wouldn't you? When I give them honey-water I have a little plastic bottle top into which I place a piece of cotton wool. The cotton wool is soaked in the honey-water and a bit of the honey-water is poured into the bottle top to act as a reservoir. The reason for the cotton wool is two-fold; 1) Prevent the ants from drowning; they can walk on the cotton wool and drink directly from it. 2) The cotton wool acts as a wick; as it dries out it draws up honey-water into itself so that the ants always have some available.
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Post by Myrm on Aug 31, 2009 16:22:18 GMT 1
really? Okay thanks No problem, Dane. I would just like to say how impressed I am with your English. considering you are only 13, your command of the language is very good indeed. Here in the UK we are very lazy when it comes to learning another language; it seems to be inbred into us that we think everybody should learn English I am teaching myself Swedish and have a long way to go, but if I can learn Swedish to the same standard that your English is at, then I would be very happy indeed.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 16:30:28 GMT 1
your embarrasing me myrm Anyways i have had english in school since 3 class so i have had plenty of time to learn it (Pleny of time for someone my age) Also i lived in Zimbabwe when i was 5, and there we spoke english.. at the time i was going to learn it in school i had forgot english but becouse i had learned it once alredy i only had to hear the words ones and i could remember it i was the best in the class to english but know the other are just as good as me (some of them at least ) ... we are also having dutch (German?) we got that in 6 class, and we had the opportunity to have french now (7th class) By the way, myrm how did you get the idea to learn swedish?? Also when you can understand swedish you should be able to understand danish and norway, if they are speaking slowly
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Post by Myrm on Aug 31, 2009 16:43:19 GMT 1
... By the way, myrm how did you get the idea to learn swedish?? Also when you can understand swedish you should be able to understand danish and norway, if they are speaking slowly Hi Dane I have started to learn Swedish as I have a friend in Sweden. Whenever we communicate he always has to use English which I think is unfair. So I decided to learn Swedish. ;D What is the Danish for "Naughty Bin Lid"? ;D
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Post by Myrm on Aug 31, 2009 16:56:36 GMT 1
Bah! Norwegians! They are just fake Swedes!!! ;D
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 17:24:41 GMT 1
Lol Oh okay thought it was something like that Frække barn (pige if its a girl dreng if its a boy frække pige, frække dreng
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2009 17:29:11 GMT 1
I meant sugar/honey water. Sorry about that myrm. Thanks. ;D
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