38 replies to this topic

[Antkid12]

 

Good luck! A week ago a saw a nuptial flight of Tetramorium but for some reason none of the alates could fly, and they were spinning in circles on the ground. 

If I'm not mistaken, I believe Tetramorium will oftentimes mate on the ground.

 

I didn't know that!  I wonder if the ants I saw didn't develop their wing muscles right or something.

[RushmoreAnts]

 

 

Good luck! A week ago a saw a nuptial flight of Tetramorium but for some reason none of the alates could fly, and they were spinning in circles on the ground. 

If I'm not mistaken, I believe Tetramorium will oftentimes mate on the ground.

 

I didn't know that!  I wonder if the ants I saw didn't develop their wing muscles right or something.

 

Many species actually do mate on the ground. Most of the ones I can think of off hand are Myrmicinaes.

[YsTheAnt]

Very few species will actually finish the whole process in the air.. Most of them bunch up in the air then fall to the ground to “seal the deed”.

[RushmoreAnts]

I believe Lasius neoniger does most of the process in the air, though. They will mate on the ground, however, or even in a container if they're caught out of their flight.

[NickAnter]

I have witnessed Lasius mating mid-air. Right before they hit the ground, the male would drop off.

[RushmoreAnts]

Lasius aren't as picky about where they mate as some ants, though. 

[BugFinder]

It looks like she has hauled her eggs out of the tube and is hanging out with them in a corner of the outworld.  she has also put some of the dirt from her outworld inside the tube.

 

I checked on her today.  She has moved her eggs back into the tube, and has moved more dirt into the tube.  She looks like she is doing ok, but ti's taking forever for those eggs to develop.   

 

Is it possible she could have laid unfertalized eggs that will never develop, or will she only lay eggs if she has mated successfully?

Edited by BugFinder, May 24 2020 - 4:46 PM.

[NickAnter]

I have many unmated queens lay tons of eggs. The fact that she flew in April leads me to guess she could be a reject from last year.

[RushmoreAnts]

I have many unmated queens lay tons of eggs.

Except they usually scatter them all across the tube..........

[NickAnter]

A lot of the time they also make neat and tidy piles for me.

[RushmoreAnts]

Hmm....... I guess the only real determiner is males eclosing, then.

[NickAnter]

Most of the time nothing ecloses, as they don't hatch.

[BugFinder]

Most of the time nothing ecloses, as they don't hatch.

they don't grow from eggs to larva if they arent' fertilized, correct?

[YsTheAnt]

 

Most of the time nothing ecloses, as they don't hatch.

they don't grow from eggs to larva if they arent' fertilized, correct?

 

 

Most of the time they don't develop, but occasionally the egg will actually develop and become a male alate.

[BugFinder]

I checked on her again today.  I have been leaving the ants alone as much as possible hoping they will thrive more if undistrubed.   I didn't see her anywhere, but she had built a dirt wall to seperate her from the opening of the tube.   I had bought some crickets to feed everyone, and thinking she might be dead, I put 3 small/medium crickets in her outworld to keep them until I need then for the other ant colony.  the crickets quickly went into the tube to drink water, and judging from their reactions, she was biting them in the face.  they raced out of the tube and she became really active.  I ciouldn't see any eggs or brood, so my guess is she is infertile.  I'll keep feeding her until she dies on her own.   

 

Another observation I made:  I had offered her some honey in a half acorn shell a few weeks ago.  Since then it looks like she has eaten, or maybe just chewed off part of the acorn shell and the honey drained into the dirt.  now there is a wetspot around the shell where the honey flowed.

Edited by BugFinder, June 3 2020 - 7:11 AM.

[ANTdrew]

You should just close up the test tube with another cotton ball. This is a fully claustral species. Definitely don't let other insects wander in the tube.

[BugFinder]

none of the eggs have progressed to larva.  I don't even see the eggs any more, she may have eaten them.  I suspect she may not have mated..

[Kaelwizard]

You should not have given her an outworld or fed her LIVE crickets! Like Drew said, close her tube off with another piece of cotton. Only semi-claustral queens need to eat during the founding stage. Only feed the colony once she has workers.

[RushmoreAnts]

She could’ve eaten the eggs out of stress of being ‘attacked’ (from an ant’s perspective) by gigantic crickets.