3 replies to this topic

[TheCrazyAntLady]

I've done some research but I haven't gotten a straight answer from much of anything. Only assumptions and no actual evidence. I want to know properly because I've been considering putting two queens in a test tube together but I don't want to start an ant war. Any info would be helpful. Thanks! 😁

[Mettcollsuss]

Tetramorium immigrans is pleometroic. They will cooperate to raise workers, but once workers eclose, they will choose a favorite queen and pick off the rest. I experimented with this in my Tetramorium journal.

Edited by Mettcollsuss, January 3 2019 - 1:08 PM.

[AnthonyP163]

I agree that they've been mostly pleometrotic, however I've had three queens cooperate for 11 months. I've also observed that it's often the queens fighting, not the workers killing one. This could mean that if they're separated, they might be okay. I am experimenting with this for the next few summers, and me and a few others are going to use formicaria that allow workers to pass through tunnels but not the queens. 

 

So again, pretty much assumptions but if you were to keep them in regular setups, yes the queens would fight. 

[VoidElecent]

AnthonyP163, on 03 Jan 2019 - 9:24 PM, said:

I agree that they've been mostly pleometrotic, however I've had three queens cooperate for 11 months. I've also observed that it's often the queens fighting, not the workers killing one. This could mean that if they're separated, they might be okay. I am experimenting with this for the next few summers, and me and a few others are going to use formicaria that allow workers to pass through tunnels but not the queens. 

 

So again, pretty much assumptions but if you were to keep them in regular setups, yes the queens would fight. 

 

My brother and I managed to collect a good number of T. immigrans queens last year and decided to establish a few polygynous colonies. A couple of our dual-queen colonies did pretty well beyond foundation, actually. I don't know if it's enough to call them polygynous, but it's not nothing.

Edited by VoidElecent, January 3 2019 - 3:57 PM.