Genus: Camponotus
Species: Planatus
Common Name:
Colony Stage: Fresh Queen
Caught Date: 05-28-2020
Eggs: 06-08-2020
Larva: 06-28-2020
Pupa:
Diet: Honey?
Special Needs:
Do they Sting or bite?: No Stinger? Do they have formic acid and can it cause issues?
Escape Artists?:
Queen or colony count: 1 queen
Beyonce (H): Missing antennae, still has 1 wing. Has died RIP 07-17-2020
(i): Has died RIP 06-03-2020
So in "Ant ID Requests" I mentioned I caught 3 queens but one died. Well, apparently I made a mistake. When I noticed I had two living queens I figured I had caught 3 total (I mean I been catching so many species in a single day or two it was hard to keep track). But I come to realize that I must have only caught 2 and the one I thought had died is still alive and well! She is missing one antennae and still has one wing and when I look at pictures of the one I had thought died the single antennae and wing are on the same sides so I am sure they're the same one. Plus I can't find a dead one since I been saving them to identify. When I thought she died she was acting like she had been poisoned and with the missing antennae I assumed she was attacked by fire ants because I saw them killing an Impressa not far from where I caught her. Who knows for sure? Either way aside from her missing appendage she seems healthy and content now. My best friend started singing "she will survive!" when I told her about it and suggested naming her Beyonce. So Beyonce she is, I'll let you know if she starts singing.
Also, I very much feel like out of all my queens these girls seem to have the softest, most friendly looking faces. Am I the only one that feels that way? Just look at the middle picture. It's actually cute.
06-03-2020:
Super sad news. One of my two Planatus (i) seems to have died. I'm not sure what happened because it was actually the healthiest one that up and died. I put some honey in there and left her hoping against hope she'll perk back up like Beyonce did. Beyonce still looks ok but I put a little honey with her hoping it might up her chances of survival. But since she only has one antennae and had an episode before my hopes aren't super high, even if she gets workers I suspect her life span will be shorter than normal. Pretty sad about this since besides Colobopsis Impressa the Camponotus Planatus I felt most excited about. I guess there is always next year if these girls don't work out and I have several other species to care for at the moment. Still I'm pretty bummed about it.
06-09-2020:
Beyonce has laid eggs! Noticed yesterday. She seems to be doing well. I have a little hope she'll at least have her own workers for a while. Also hope whatever episode she had back when I caught her doesn't effect any eggs she has. I guess only time will tell.
06-28-2020:
Beyonce is still alive and now has larva. Hoping she isn't just getting my hopes up but eager to see workers in the future.
07-17-2020:
Beyonce has died. I'm pretty upset about it even though I knew she'd probably have a short life. I was hopeful with the larva but just no luck with this species. I'm going to try next year if I can find more of this species but for now I'll just focus on the other queens I have.
Edited by BitT, July 18 2020 - 6:13 PM.
