#colonydevelopment

[trinethramnews]

MLA KP Vivekanand : కాలనీ వాసులంతా ఐక్యతగా ఉన్నపుడే కాలనీ అభివృద్ధి సాధ్యం

MLA KP Vivekanand : కాలనీ వాసులంతా ఐక్యతగా ఉన్నపుడే కాలనీ అభివృద్ధి సాధ్యం

[nutritiontechnologies]

Temporary accomodation

Some previous students at RIBE had built and operated a BSF net house located outside the backdoor of the RIBE buildings, constructed from bamboo poles, twine and green netting. Sectioning off the adult enclosure from the pupation and grow-out trays, their small-scale research focused on BSF as a waste processing system, and provided an ideal starting point for the Nutri-Tec project. Since provisional contracts with the Research Institute were signed on the 17th June, we’ve been using the net house for early colony development, harvesting eggs from the wild and growing out the larvae in the net house, allowing the larvae to pupate inside, emerge, mate and lay eggs in a loosely controlled environment. However, because the net house is now 2 years old, and had suffered thorough 2 rainy seasons already, it had developed a pronounced slouch and looked like it may collapse under the next heavy weather. To prolong the life of the house a little while, we tied a corner of the house to a branch of a strong tree about 15ft away. However, although it corrected the house’s lazy lean, the rope also provided an un-obstructed highway to the net house for a colony of weaver ants which lived in the tree. Weaver ants are fascinating creatures, building some of the most complex nests in the ant world. They are also voracious eaters. So as we observed the population of adults in the net house rapidly decline, we investigated possible causes and we found weaver ant nests both inside (see picture), and columns of ants making their way to and from the tree via the newly installed ropeway. After watching the ants for some time, we discovered the reason behind the plummeting BSF population – attack and removal of the adult BSF by the ants. The ants would attack the BSF adults as they were resting on leaves or on the frame and netting of the house, killing and removing them.

This compounded the problem that we had already faced with these ants; that they often found the BSF egg clutches in the egg collectors before we did, and carried off the eggs to their nest before they hatched. On a number of occasions we found the remnants of egg clutches crawling with ants, and a procession of weaver ants marching away from the clutch site proudly holding the eggs aloft in their mandibles. And, despite implementing ‘anti-ant’ measures (putting the feet of the egg collector units in cups of water), the ants bridged the tiny moats with their bodies and continued to assault the egg clutches. So although the temporary structure provided an excellent jumping-off point for our colony, and an opportunity to test-run our harvesting and production systems, it was clear that we needed to move fast and get a permanent structure in place to safeguard our adults and eggs. Read more about the challenges and objectives of the project at http://www.nutri-tec.co.uk/our-company