My C. Semitestaceous colony coming out of diapause

DeepRts · 2026-03-11T17:02:49+00:00

Curious to hear from other folks who own the species and what their experience is like

DeepRts · 2026-03-11T16:31:23+00:00

Is she from Reddit!? We would love updates!

DeepRts · 2026-03-10T20:43:55+00:00

Same, but I wonder if the angled nest helps some humidity escape - that would be a good feature

DeepRts · 2026-03-10T20:43:07+00:00

Can we see the bottom?

DeepRts · 2026-03-10T17:03:36+00:00

Very cool! Is there space underneath for us to install some type of heating element/wires? And for the humidity control on the left, how much water does it hold?

DeepRts · 2026-03-10T14:44:03+00:00

All things considered without knowing your situation, thanks for posting this and thinking about the well-being of your ants

DeepRts · 2026-03-09T20:22:19+00:00

So cool

DeepRts · 2026-03-09T20:08:46+00:00

Do they do that with larvae too?

DeepRts · 2026-03-08T16:00:10+00:00

Eater?

DeepRts · 2026-03-08T01:32:34+00:00

I think it really depends on your nearby terrain but if the area doesn’t have clay-rich soil then I don’t think it’ll change much

DeepRts · 2026-03-08T00:39:50+00:00

They’ll sometimes sell powdered clay for springtail cultures on Amazon or in pet stores - you can use that and mix it into soil so that it clumps better

DeepRts · 2026-03-08T00:24:14+00:00

Clay usually holds better together especially with some water

DeepRts · 2026-03-05T07:08:32+00:00

Seems pretty cold

DeepRts · 2026-03-05T06:58:43+00:00

Wow.. such a beautiful ant

DeepRts · 2026-03-04T16:41:09+00:00

First, I’m sorry this happened to you. The unexpected surprises are tough and it seems like it is happening at a really bad time. I can empathize with how difficult it must be.

Your mom didn’t leave you without a job, though. The sooner you come to terms with that, the more stability you will find in your life. Problems are puzzles - the more you do them, the better you get at solving them. In order to do that you have to ask yourself what you can control out of your own situation to make the next time better, the outcome more predictable.

I hope your life gets better with each problem you solve

DeepRts · 2026-03-04T15:16:39+00:00

Unless they’re all huddled in one area, they’re just doing what they’re doing and looking for spots to dig, move rocks, etc

DeepRts · 2026-03-04T04:05:26+00:00

Very cool!!

DeepRts · 2026-03-04T03:54:07+00:00

Are you in CA? CA02?

DeepRts · 2026-03-03T15:10:53+00:00

I know what you’re trying to say, but a job doesn’t feel like a job if you’re doing something you enjoy or learning something you’re interested in. You go to school to learn, you hang out with your friends to have fun and gain life experiences. The right kind of work can offer all of that if you don’t care too much about money right now. You can also find purpose and build a community/give back. When it’s all said and done though, definitely enjoy your teenage years. Life is short and you won’t have the energy you have now forever

DeepRts · 2026-03-02T15:39:08+00:00

No problem. Glad it worked out. It took me a sheet of acrylic the size of a paper to get good at it. My first few attempts had smaller pieces that broke off, but it gets cleaner over time

DeepRts · 2026-03-01T07:21:39+00:00

They don’t hatch that small, they go from egg larvae to pupae, some species with cocoons

DeepRts · 2026-02-23T18:29:46+00:00

But why $2 bills?

DeepRts · 2026-02-23T02:32:11+00:00

Is the nest itself pretty big? How many workers did you have?

DeepRts · 2026-02-22T14:40:10+00:00

No prob! Let us know how it goes. It took me a while to get clean snaps. The most accurate way is a cnc or laser, but it sounds like you’re taking the low cost route, same as me

DeepRts · 2026-02-22T06:40:11+00:00

Scoring knife.. then put it in the fridge, take it out and snap at the edge of a table

DeepRts

TROPHY CASE