Quick Tulip update: Didn’t see her for a few days and started to worry since she getting up in years for an ant. Just spotted her in the lower chamber doing some patrolling around. She’s at least two years old. Still full of life. #namedAnts#tulip#ants#tuliptheant
Tulip escaped again! She’s too smart! I caught her but she almost got taken by the house spider. She is home safe. I’m so glad she’s ok. This ant will be the death of me. Why do I have such bad sneaky little ants?? #namedAnts
This is Tulip, the median carpenter ant worker. Today she enjoyed some wet cat food. I can’t seem to find Pepper, the ant with the green spot, I think she might have cleaned the paint off (she was very dusty) — stay tuned for more important Tulip updates. #tulip#ant#namedAnts
Tulip is about two years old. It's been nearly two years since I marked her. The queen of this colony is 4.
This is Pepper, the carpenter ant. Since she was the most recent to escape she now has the green mark of shame (and a name “Peppermint”) She is a very small minor worker. She climbed the tweezers to explore my hand. She has been returned to the colony and it will be interesting to see if she is as bold as Tulip. (who has a pink dot, and who is quite a bit larger— although neither are majors.)
Pepper is the most dusty ant I’ve ever seen. #namedAnts
Tulip, the eastern black carpenter ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) is a median worker. She likes to hang out at the highest point of the driftwood branch. Like most elderly ants (she is nearly 2 years old) she no longer enters the main nest. (I think older ants avoid the nest chambers to prevent disease) she spends a lot of time looking up… she has escaped twice. On her first escape I gave her the pink dots. #antVideo#withNarration#namedAnts
Exactly one year ago I used "bee safe" paint to mark three ants. I marked one with a white dot, another with yellow and the third with pink (Dottie, Daffodil and Pinky/Tulip)
Dottie and Daffodil died in the fall... but Tulip lives! I just saw her.
Tulip is a little cryptic it seems. I have not seen her for months! She's well over a year old now, possibly as old as two. I will keep an eye out for her.
With Tulip I caught her from the outworld and marked her. So, she is less bold and crazy... maybe that's why she's lived longer? Both Dottie and Daffodil escaped multiple times and hung around the lid trying to get out. Some ants are just like that.
Others want nothing to do with anything as scary as the lid and hide when the lights go on.
I have not seen the queen from this colony for months. But I see new eggs so I know she's in the log. #namedAnts
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to remember an ant, a colony member, a sister and a worker: Daffodil the Eastern Black Carpenter Ant. Daffodil loved to explore, she loved to escape and that's how we first got to know her, and suspecting that the same ant was escaping over and over she was given her yellow colors and her name. #namedAnts