29 replies to this topic

[Formicoidea]

Hey all

So, i have a Camponotus consobrinus queen, (caught last year) she laid eggs, and they hatched into larvae.

Unfortunate, they haven't developed any further and i don't think that she is able to raise them pupae and adults. 

I caught three workers from another colony just yesterday and i plan to add them into her test-tube. 

I'm hoping that these workers will look after the brood, allowing them to fully develop. 

 

I'm not sure how long i should keep the workers separate before adding them, or what the exact procedure should be. 

Should i even do it?

 

[DDD101DDD]

No, don't do it. The workers are unfamiliar to your queen and have different scents. The workers will most likely kill your queen.

Edited by DDD101DDD, September 30 2019 - 7:35 PM.

[Serafine]

Your queen may have gone into pre-hibernation and the brood will continue to pupate next year. This is normal behavior for northern Camponotus species.
You may also want to give her some fruit flies in case she's simply out of resources (although in that case they usually eat the brood).

Edited by Serafine, September 30 2019 - 8:38 PM.

[TennesseeAnts]

He's in Australia..... I would say, get a few pupae from a wild colony and introduce them to your queen. The resulting workers should help get your colony off the ground.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

My suggestion is don't boost Camponotous in general, unless you have no other choice

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

He's in Australia..... I would say, get a few pupae from a wild colony and introduce them to your queen. The resulting workers should help get your colony off the ground.

Also, ants in Australia have hibernated before, I believe CCJ's journal colonies hibernated once or twice

[Formicoidea]

He's in Australia..... I would say, get a few pupae from a wild colony and introduce them to your queen. The resulting workers should help get your colony off the ground.

 

Because i caught a couple of workers, do you think i could remove a larvae from my queen's colony, give it to them and let them raise it to pupae? and then introduce it back to the colony?

[TennesseeAnts]

Could work. I wouldn't though.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

yeah, good chance the queen could be rko'ed in midair

[Formicoidea]

Could work. I wouldn't though.

 

Why's that?

[PacificNorthWestern]

 

He's in Australia..... I would say, get a few pupae from a wild colony and introduce them to your queen. The resulting workers should help get your colony off the ground.

Also, ants in Australia have hibernated before, I believe CCJ's journal colonies hibernated once or twice

 

Its spring in aussie rn

[TennesseeAnts]

Could work. I wouldn't though.

 
Why's that?

Workers could do an even worse job at raising them. I tried with Camponotus americanus, and the workers killed the pupae before the hatched.

[Silq]

My suggestion is don't boost Camponotous in general, unless you have no other choice

why not camponotus?

[Canadant]

My suggestion is don't boost Camponotous in general, unless you have no other choice

Why do you say that? Just interested.

[Formicoidea]

I finally had some free time today, so i decided to go out and find a Camponotus colony to raid. 

luckily i found one 

 

 (looks like i got two majors as well as a couple of workers)

 

I got a number of pupae, i introduced these, along with a new test tube.

 

(this is a really bad photo sorry)

 

i checked about 10 mins later and she has moved in to the new test tube, and she seems to have accepted the pupae. Noice.

hopefully she cares for them and helps them enclose. 

[DDD101DDD]

I finally had some free time today, so i decided to go out and find a Camponotus colony to raid. 

luckily i found one 

 

 (looks like i got two majors as well as a couple of workers)

 

I got a number of pupae, i introduced these, along with a new test tube.

 

(this is a really bad photo sorry)

 

i checked about 10 mins later and she has moved in to the new test tube, and she seems to have accepted the pupae. Noice.

hopefully she cares for them and helps them enclose. 

That's great! My only concern is that a few of those pupae are really big, so they might be alates or they could be majors, like you said.

Edited by DDD101DDD, October 18 2019 - 6:22 PM.

[Formicoidea]

yea... i hope they aren't alates...

that would be a bit of a bummer. no idea though. 

lets hope they are majors!

[Formicoidea]

Its been a bit more than a week.

Nothing has happened.

 

I'm actually quite concerned that she will not open the cocoons. I'm not really sure how long it should take, and the probability that none would have enclosed by now.

I have seen someone removing a worker's cocoon manually, and I think that I might actually have to do that, I'm just not sure when I should actually do it.

Are there any signs that the worker is ready to enclose?  

[antwall]

Are the cocoons darkening? The queen might not be opening them because of them not being ready. When the cocoons start to darken to the point to they are greyish and one of them is almost black, then you should open them because that means the queen is not opening them. This worked for me, but I can’t promise anything.

[Formicoidea]

Are the cocoons darkening? The queen might not be opening them because of them not being ready. When the cocoons start to darken to the point to they are greyish and one of them is almost black, then you should open them because that means the queen is not opening them. This worked for me, but I can’t promise anything.

 

No, none of the cocoons have darkened. Thanks for that, it's quite a relief.

The only thing i am still unsure about is a black spot on some of the cocoons.

I will keep an eye on her lol.