38 replies to this topic

[CatsnAnts]

Hi!

Some of you may have seen my other *journal* of this colony (not really my journal though :0) in the General Ant Keeping section. I chose not to include this colony in my collective journal simply because I feel like this is more of an “experiment”. For those who haven’t seen the introduction and explanation of this colony, then allow me:

*Start Explanation*
This colony came into my possession about a week ago when my mother found a decaying hickory nut with the colony inside. The colony (of T. curvispinosus), didn’t seem suspicious at first, but then I found out after opening the hickory nut that no queen seemed to be present - even more, the colony consisted mostly of males. This led me to believe that the queen had been dead for a while since this many unfertilized (presumably worker) eggs had been laid and had the time to hatch into males. I was about to get rid of this colony assuming that nothing special would happen, but I noticed a few fresh eggs and some pupae that seemed a little bit like worker pupae, so I kept the colony. Fast forward to today, and things are leaning towards the “fertilized worker theory” even more. The worker pupae in the colony has since been confirmed as, well, worker pupae... and there appear to be two workers with abnormally large abdomens who could possibly be fertilized. Things are looking pretty good right now, but everything that I have researched points to the conclusion that it should not be possible for these ants to produce a fertilized worker due to their anatomy (correct me if I’m wrong on that )
*End Explanation*

Here are some pictures from today for those who haven’t seen them:

(^^^ Here you can see the two workers with large gasters)



(^^^ In these last three pictures you can see the sheer amount of males present as well as some of the brood pile (specifically worker pupae and eggs). I apologize that the test tube is foggy)

I’m really excited to see how this colony could turn out, so sorry for spammy posts lately on the other thread 0-0 I can be very annoying.

Edited by CatsnAnts, July 29 2020 - 3:00 PM.

[TechAnt]

Yeah, it seems this colony has made FERTILIZED gamergates? Not like when some workers in species just lay male eggs. Honestly, you may have discovered some information on how gamergates became a common practice in species like Bull Ants, Trap Jaw Ants, etc.

[CatsnAnts]

More pictures from when I checked up on the colony about an hour ago:




As you can see, it is basically 100% clear that worker pupae is present within the colony. Most of the larvae is being stored near the water reservoir, and the eggs/small larvae are now being stored in a somewhat close area.

Edit: After looking at the photo, it appears that a lot of the eggs and small larvae are actually UNDER the pile of “worker” pupae.

Edited by CatsnAnts, June 15 2020 - 1:48 PM.

[CatsnAnts]

Update!

Since this colony is really important to me right now considering they could be displaying a “new” behavior, I have decided to attach their test tube to one of my inception chamber outworlds. This allows me to feed them much easier without the risk of an escapee, and it will introduce them to the actual inception chamber formicarium located within this outworld (which I eventually want them to move into, I’m in no rush, however). Attaching the test tube was a little difficult, but I caught the colony at a time where they were mostly inactive. I used a straw running through the cotton plug to allow them access to the outworld, and then I elevated the test tube in order for the straw to angle more towards the ground. I also added a make-shift black cardboard tent with some cotton to reduce the light. As I’m worried that my cats or I will accidentally bump the outworld, I’ve put putty around it to ensure it doesn’t move (helps with getting the tight lid off). Take a look:




And of course, if I move them then I’m going to take some completely pointless pictures as well:




Now for the news: I noticed when I took out their original cotton plug that the remains of two dead males were present. This could simply be them dying from old age, but it also appears that 3-4 workers now have an expanded abdomen (again, could be due to honey, or there could just not be a fertilized worker in general, I don’t know).

[RushmoreAnts]

Yeah, I would assume there would be multiple fertilized workers, but that’s just me.

[CatsnAnts]

Yeah, I would assume there would be multiple fertilized workers, but that’s just me.

I would assume that too if I was even sure that I had a fertilized worker. The bad part about this colony is that I have no idea when the queen died, and I have not way of knowing that she wasn’t alive during the surge of males. But if things continue the way they are going, then only time will tell.

Also, I had an escapee from this colony wondering around, and it kind of made me panic... a lot. I quickly put the worker in the outworld and went to grab some putty and extra cotton to seal of the plug better since I’m assuming this is where they escaped (or it could have been from when I removed the test tube’s old cotton - I thought a saw the movement of a worker). Either way, I’m hoping it’s fixed since the workers are the most valuable part of this colony!

Edit: The worker death count since collecting this colony is now 2. I accidentally crushed another worker when closing the lid, but after opening the lid to take her out, she just - disappeared? I can’t find her body anywhere. I would assume that she wasn’t fertilized since she had ventured pretty far out.

Edited by CatsnAnts, June 16 2020 - 6:52 AM.

[CatsnAnts]

An update with some of my findings:

After researching Temnothorax sp. for whether or not it could be possible for them to have a fertilized worker, it’s seems as though it is. Lots of entries for these ants contain the phrase “worker reproduction in queenright colonies”, which I am having trouble interpreting? I’m assuming that it means workers will “reproduce” when in the presence of a queen, but likely without one as well considering most people don’t keep colonies if no queen is present.

I also found two scientific journals on Temnothorax longispinosus and Temnothorax unifasciatus that describe what appeared to be the reproduction of fertilized workers. The T. longispinosus article was very vague about this particular subject as it had to do with mainly queen and size/founding techniques. However, the T unifasciatus journal went into depth of a “Selfish Worker Policing”. In the journal, it described how, when the queen is removed with a portion of the colony, the left over members of the colony will fight for control to be the dominant worker. I will directly quote a passage, and I can’t copy and paste so RIP me :

“In this study, we report on a particular kind of reproduction control in the ant Temnothorax unifasciatus, which can be considered as a selfish act itself. We experimentally induced workers to lay eggs by dividing several colonies in two halves, one with and one without a queen. In queenless colonies, workers established rank orders by aggression and several top ranking workers started to reproduce. Upon reunification, egg-laying workers mostly stopped behaving aggressively. They were neither attacked by the queen nor by random workers, but instead received infrequent, nondestructive, targeted aggression from a few workers, most of which became fertile when the queen was later removed.”

Here’s a link to the article (more info can be found here on this subject if interested):
https://www.jstor.or.../27823525?seq=1

Now for my thoughts:
- This species in particular (Temnothorax unifasciatus) is very similar to Temnothorax curvispinosus in that both species are a widespread “host species” of temnothorax found in a large area. In saying that, I can glean some information that would likely apply to my situation! Firstly, the reference to there being “several” fertilized workers means that I’m probably not seeing things, and that there almost certainly is multiple fertilized workers within my colony. Secondly, this “fertilization” of workers only occurred after the queen of the colony was removed (meaning that males likely had to be produced similar to my colony for fertilization to occur). And thirdly, aggression was mentioned to occur among workers, but so far it has seemed that my colony has been living a sort of passive lifestyle - not really caring who the main reproductive is. I could be wrong, as I have only had this colony for a short while, but lots of this information seems to match up with Temnothorax curvispinosus. This was the absolute only article that I could find on worker reproduction within the Temnothorax genus (besides the T. longispinosus journal that I’m not to sure on). I would like to know if T. curvispinosus has this ability as well, and if so, could I possibly follow up with more experiments similar to the ones described above (splitting a colony)? This is all just so fascinating for me, really. If anyone else has ANY other information about this topic or any other suggestions, please share it!

Sorry for the wall of text, it was all important

Edited by CatsnAnts, June 16 2020 - 12:52 PM.

[CatsnAnts]

Just some more pictures and more of my thoughts:

First the pictures:




- The colony has moved the entire brood pile against the wet cotton since, I’m assuming, that they felt uncomfortable being that close to the straw leading to their outworld? They are still eating a bunch and continue to explore, but seem to be doing well overall.

Now for my thoughts, again:
- I’m am still pretty sure that the journal I mentioned yesterday could be accurate in pertaining to T. curvispinosus. If so, then I considered the possibility of having an “immortal” colony, one that wouldn’t need a queen. But considering this hasn’t been mentioned before about this genus, I am not sure what exactly the “roadblock” is. I figured that (again, if we have fertilized workers, which seems pretty positive at this point) the workers would continually die off and be replaced by other fertilized workers? So how could this colony die if kept in a stable environment? Lots of things to wonder about dealing with that subject. I’ve also been thinking about writing something up on this topic - making it more known that this trait exists for these ants (AGAIN, if they have fertilized workers ). It would be a nice project that I could spend some time on, although I’d need to learn a great deal before I even consider this task/performing more experiments such as splitting colonies to produce this same effect. Just something to consider ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[CatsnAnts]

Another photo dump because why not, and I’m bored:







(Sorry, all of the males on the top of the test tube were blocking a lot of the view. The colony as a whole is more “clumped” up now. Everything is still looking good.)

[RushmoreAnts]

Who isn’t bored?

[CatsnAnts]

Time for an update on this colony!

No more test-tube! I have officially gotten them to move into the inception chamber! I can see them much more clearly now, and for some reason, the males that were previously blocking my view by hanging on the ceiling have now moved to a separate chamber (near the enterence) leaving most of the brood pile and workers alone in another chamber. Here’s some pictures of the male-chamber:



And these next few show the brood/worker chamber:



And on this last one, you can see the first worker pupae since the capture of this colony that should be eclosing (the male was previously blocking it, it’s in the middle/top of the photo):

(It also appears as though there is another male pupae almost ready to eclose as well ^^^)

Now I just need to wait to catch tons of these queens so I can try to replicate this colony (of course, if I even have a fertilized worker). But lately the weather just hasn’t been very good.

Edited by CatsnAnts, June 23 2020 - 6:07 AM.

[Antezz]

Cool, can't wait for more updates

[CatsnAnts]

We have workers!

Now if course, this isn’t official confirmation that we have a fertilized worker, but so far, things are looking pretty good. A new batch of eggs was recently laid, and it’s against the wall behind some pupae, so I didn’t realize it was there until today. Some of the smaller larvae currently developing will tell for sure whether or not the workers are fertilized, but it is pretty neat to see a worker hatch (finally) after the huge wave of males eclosing. This is the first worker to eclose since the capture of the colony a while ago, can’t you spot the new worker:

And her are just some misc. photos from around the nest. The egg pile is partially visible on some:





Edit: I would also like to point out that there are 7 dead males in the outworld currently, they were likely trying to take part in a nuptial flight.

Edited by CatsnAnts, June 27 2020 - 4:12 AM.

[CatsnAnts]

Colony Update
7/1/2020

This colony is still doing very well! I now wonder if I was mistaken in the egg pile from my last post, and am instead wondering if it could have been a pile of small larvae (since lots are present). Maybe they are on an egg-laying break? I don’t know, but I do know that the small larvae are from the original egg pile laid by the workers. I just need them to developed into pupae before the big question is finally answered! Here’s some pictures:








The boost in workers from oncoming pupae should hopefully help to increase the pool of possible fertilized workers. I honestly wonder how long this colony could continue in this cycle for creating new, fertilized workers after older ones die. Over half of the males are now dead either from attempting to nuptial fly or drowning in honey.

Edited by CatsnAnts, July 1 2020 - 6:49 AM.

[RushmoreAnts]

*suspenseful music inserted here*

[TechAnt]

I know I said this before, but it appears you may have discovered the process of how ants made fertilized gamergates. Which would be super interesting. I dunno why more people don’t look at the journal.

Edited by TechAnt, July 1 2020 - 7:53 AM.

[CatsnAnts]

I know I said this before, but it appears you may have discovered the process of how ants made fertilized gamergates. Which would be super interesting. I dunno why more people don’t look at the journal.

I don’t think I discovered it, since the process is pretty well know in a lot of gamergate-producing species where males from separate nests will come to other nests to mate with workers. However, what I am hoping to discover is if this particular species can produce gamergates in the first place. Here’s the thing, lots of ants (workers) don’t have the physical capability to actually become mated, and according to my research, it is an ability that very few species have. Such species are typically not found around here (with the exception of Hyponera), so it would be a really interesting find to know that Temnothorax colonies could thrive without a queen by possessing this ability. It would change the way I view them, that’s for sure.

Edited by CatsnAnts, July 1 2020 - 8:32 AM.

[Kaelwizard]

If Temnothorax can have gamergates, some satellite nests could be actual colonies.

[RushmoreAnts]

I’m going anting in a local state park, which Ants4Fun claims is very diverse antwise. Hoping to find some Temnothorax there! I’ll take ‘em whether they have a queen or not.

[CatsnAnts]

I’m going anting in a local state park, which Ants4Fun claims is very diverse antwise. Hoping to find some Temnothorax there! I’ll take ‘em whether they have a queen or not.

Good luck! It would be neat for someone else to raise a queen-less colony, too!