21 replies to this topic

[rcbuggy88]

Hi everyone, I caught 4 Prenolepis Imparis queens yesterday and have now put them in test tube setups. I've read the care sheets and journals on this species, and they are also my first queens. I've got some questions on how I should care for them. They are in a dark box on a shelf and my house temp is set for ~68 degrees. I currently have them half on a heating mat (in an attempt to get a gradient).

 

1. I've read that you should combine queens for better success rate? Would I want to do 2 and 2 or 3 and 1 or put all 4 together. Or should I just leave them in their own test tubes?

2. Should I use a heating mat? I've read that ants grow faster with heat, but this species specifically don't like heating. 

 

Pictures will hopefully come tonight.

[TheMicroPlanet]

I feel kind of bad this thread is sinking into the depths of the forums unnoticed so I'm posting this comment to get it back up. I honestly have the same questions.

[JenC]

I would do 2 and 2. Just in case there is a dud that can take up resources, the other 2 queens won't be affected. You don't need a heating mat for these ants, I just leave them in a drawer and forget about them.
Where are those pictures?

[rcbuggy88]

Sorry about the image quality, not close enough for a macro shot (just ends up focusing on the test tube). The other two ants died, kinda sad about that and these guys seemed bothered by the light so tried to take the photo pretty quickly lol.

Attached Images

• 

[rcbuggy88]

Is it common for ants to die the day after collection? Or is it because I put them on a heating mat? The temp gauge said about ~78 degrees which shouldn't have been hot enough to kill them right?

[TennesseeAnts]

Whenever I heat P. imparis they tend to die, too.

[JenC]

I wouldn't heat your imparis if I were you. Some queens just die cause they die. I have this queen that is on her backside and looks like she Is about to die.

Edited by JenC, February 2 2020 - 10:38 PM.

[ForestDragon]

don't heat your imparis they are rather sensitive to it, its best to keep them without any added heat

[rcbuggy88]

Yep i took them off yesterday and stuck the two queens together, i stuck a tiny drop of honey and stuck them in a box. How long should I wait before opening up the box? (so I don't open in up 3 times a day lol) Should I check on them daily?

[JenC]

You should just leave them be for a few months. They tend to stress easily and can eat their single batch of eggs and not lay.

[rcbuggy88]

So like wait until March 1st? or even later? When reading through journals, they checked maybe once every 2 weeks or so

[ForestDragon]

do not check on them for approximately 30 days 

[YsTheAnt]

In the 100+ Prenolepis queens I’ve kept, the ones I leave for 3 months undisturbed develop way faster than the ones I check on every month.

[rcbuggy88]

Does it take 3 months to get nanitics?

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

It depends sometimes

[Unfrozen]

i have a 2 queen colony going into year 2 don't check on them for like a month and then depending on if there's workers feed a little bit of sugars and some protein as much as they will eat

in year 2 feeding and temp is really important 

[Unfrozen]

big update my colony going into year 2 just layed eggs. I don't believe that thees ants need to be placed in the cold during winter.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

I believe their hibernation schedule is different (albeit, I may be incorrect), so that may be why

[Unfrozen]

I believe their hibernation schedule is different (albeit, I may be incorrect), so that may be why

i know they need warmth in the summer

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

yeah but the winter hibernation is weird as they have diapause and non-diapause periods which perplexes me