25 replies to this topic

[Chickalo]

Lasius brevicornis still no eggs surprisingly.

the three queens seemed to accept each other, hopefully when nanitics come they will, too.

Edited by Chickalo, March 29 2021 - 2:26 PM.

[RushmoreAnts]

Lasius brevicornis still no eggs surprisingly.

the three queens seemed to accept each other, hopefully when nanitics come they will, too.

Have you hibernated them? Most temperate species require hibernation in order to function properly. Depriving a northern species of hibernation is like depriving a human being of sleep.

[Chickalo]

 

Lasius brevicornis still no eggs surprisingly.

the three queens seemed to accept each other, hopefully when nanitics come they will, too.

Have you hibernated them? Most temperate species require hibernation in order to function properly. Depriving a northern species of hibernation is like depriving a human being of sleep.

they have gone through diapause

Yeah i did.  However they mightve been too warm since mid way through diapause my dad starting using a space heater during work, but they were away from that.  Should I start again and wait until march to be safe?

Edited by Chickalo, January 14 2021 - 8:27 AM.

[Chickalo]

Yeah, I don't think they properly hibernated, one died...

Welp, time to wait til' fall to catch some new queens, unless they somehow lay, which I doubt

[ANTdrew]

No need to wait till next fall. I bet you can find some dealates now coming out looking for host nests to take over.

[TennesseeAnts]

No need to wait till next fall. I bet you can find some dealates now coming out looking for host nests to take over.

L. brevicornis aren't parasites, though...

[ANTdrew]

I was just testing you guys... xD

[Chickalo]

Guys, I poo you not:
After 9 months, of no activity,
After 1 dead queen,
Two of my Lasius brevicornis queens actually laid eggs!

Edited by Chickalo, May 23 2021 - 5:16 AM.

[Antcatcherpro3]

Hopefully that wait was worth it

[AntBoi3030]

feed them some sugars maybe? if they seem weak that would be a good idea.

[Chickalo]

I did, they didn't touch it though...  Hopefully they get workers soon, don't want them to starve.  I've heard this species grows fairly fast

[Chickalo]

Getting ready for a small colony, I found a bunch of MiniHearth shaped pieces of wood in my garage!  I'm getting one ready with chamber for when they're ready.  I'll see if I can post picture tonight.  I sanded it down so now its all smooth and stuff.  I'm going to see if I can attach it to a small container on the side for small colonies.  For queens (I plan on making one with one large chamber for Camponotus queens) I'll just attach it later.

[AntBoi3030]

do they have larva yet? if not it may be like another month or something like that

[Chickalo]

do they have larva yet? if not it may be like another month or something like that

Last time I checked they had a small larva, so by this weekend if all goes well they should have one pupa and the rest larvae

[Kaelwizard]

Pretty sure Lasius have an extremely long pupae stage, at least from what I have observed in wild colonies.

[Chickalo]

Pretty sure Lasius have an extremely long pupae stage, at least from what I have observed in wild colonies.

From what I've read, flavus has a 4-6 week egg-worker period, and brevicornis is very similar to flavus.  Basically an Americanized version

[AntBoi3030]

do they own machine guns then 

[Chickalo]

do they own machine guns then 

No.  Not yet at least

[Chickalo]

All the eggs hatched!  They now have 6 larvae!

[Chickalo]

Quick question:  Can I take aphids from other colonies and give it to them once they have workers?  I figured it might be a nice way to add more diversity to their food sources and allows them to do their natural instincts (Almost every wild colony of Lasius I've seen has aphids).