I decided to create a journal for Melophorus Sp., although I am not 100% certain if I have caught the right queen. This species are very similar to the Camponotus Sp., 3 different size of castes and spins cocoons. Anyways, here is the journal.
19/12/2015
I found this queen on a hot summer afternoon. She is not that big, around 5mm.
20/12/2015
She is possibly this Melophorus Sp., have yet to be confirmed.
19/1/2016
Due to the condensation of the container, her first batch of brood all died while still at larvae stage. I have relocated her to a test tube setup for the time being. So on the day after rain, I managed to dig up some pupae from a wild Melophorus Sp. colony. I put them in with the queen and to my surprise, 3 of them have eclose the day after. I was very fortunate to witness a worker and the queen busily assisting a new worker to eclose that night. The last step actually requires the queen to fully free up the young worker. So, my conclusion is that even if this queen is not this species, at least she is a species knows how to undo the cocoons.
Edited by antmaniac, January 20 2016 - 3:05 AM.
