I think the title is enough to tell you what the topic is about. Anyway, I lost 70% of all my colonies. So, what happened? Well, it would be best to say as soon as now that I am not sure. I suspect that mice had something to do with it. The cabinet which I use to store my test tubes in was peppered with mouse droppings, the cotton plugs were all removed, the tubes were not moved, some dead or dying ants littered the cabinet floor and it was pretty much a horrible sight. Why were there dead and dying ants? The dead and dying ants I saw had another ant of a different species biting them, it was a battle between the different, not to mention, similar sized ants from similar sized colonies. I do not know how many of the colonies had survived, and successfully migrated to a new nest site but I'm sure some of them were able to. Among those that were probably able to survive were Paratrechina longicornis, Nyladeria cf. bourbonica, and Crematogaster ampullaris. I am able to say that because there were no signs of them in the cabinet itself. No dead bodies at all, and what they had in common was their speed. Among those that had been involved in the fighting were Solenopsis geminata, Tetramorium sp., Monomorium destructor, and Pheidole cf. clypeocornis. The colonies that were left untouched were all Ponerines, and they were not even in test tubes. I'm just glad the Ponerines were left untouched because I find it harder to find and collect mated Ponerine gynes.
Edited by Myrmecologeek, October 27 2013 - 6:10 PM.
