5 replies to this topic

[Vendayn]

So, I went anting locally today as the weather is humid and cloudy here. In my anting trip I went to where there is a single Pogonomyrmex californicus colony alongside the main road (there is Solenopsis amblychila along the road too). Well, I got around 40 workers and some brood from this colony. Then, nearby (about 10 feet away) I found a Pogonomyrmex californicus queen.

 

Well, once home. I setup the ant farm (mostly sand, with some dirt mixed in to hold it together) and put all the workers in. Now, in my journal for my Pogonomyrmex colonies...I realized sometimes I could put workers in with a queen and they'd get along right away like they already knew each other. Except, some queens were different and would have no foreign worker at all. It seems a bit random to which queen accepts workers right away or attacks them on sight.

 

To the point. I put the freshly mated queen in with all the worker ants. And the queen at first was a bit skittish, and now they are digging a new nest and getting along great. Not a single hint of aggression at all. The queen is even taking care of some of the brood that was in the colony. Maybe its possible this queen came from the same big colony that was nearby, which might explain it.

 

Last year, I saw a freshly mated queen land in the area, and make a nest near a big P. californicus colony along the river. Instead of killing the queen however, the workers in the big colony made a trail to where the new queen went and then start helping her dig a nest. Then I assume she became part of the colony.

 

Now its possible they aren't Pogonomyrmex californicus, but they don't have the spike thing on their thorax and looking at Drew's map it seems P. californicus would be the most likely choice.

 

In any case. I think its very interesting these mature Pogonomyrmex nests are helping new queens and even joining them as part of the colony. Maybe its some kind of defense against all the Argentine ants that are around them or something.Or maybe this is normal and I never knew about it.

Edited by Vendayn, June 9 2015 - 4:40 PM.

[Vendayn]

Well, that is interesting.

 

I went back to get the rest of the workers, and found a second queen. So, my colony now has three queens. Each seems to have their spot in the ant farm, and workers go back and forth between them.

 

Definitely Pogonomyrmex of some type, but I always thought they were strictly one queen only. Or are there exceptions?

[Subverted]

Pogonomyrmex californicus are known to occasionally be polygynous.

 

Here is a paper on the subject.

Edited by Subverted, June 10 2015 - 7:26 PM.

[Vendayn]

That is really interesting. I favorited it and will take a better read once I get some free time. I guess the species in my local area are polygynous. As I often see them cooperate with queens that land near them, and then the queen is automatically accepted into the colony. Or if she makes a founding nest near the mature colony, the workers will travel to the founding nest and start cooperating with each other.

 

I guess that explains why workers from different colonies have accepted my newly mated queens and why I was able to put three queens together.

Probably says in there, but like I said, need free time to read it more. But, I imagine that is pretty rare to find.

[Vendayn]

Tomorrow, I'm going to try putting all my founding queens together into the big mature colony I got. I'll do it one at a time, go really slowly, and keep a really close eye on them. It be nice if I ended up with a 7 or 8 queen Pogonomyrmex californicus colony. Not sure if the colony will be bigger because of more queens, but might be worth trying. So far, putting queens together has worked really well and I have actually three queens nesting together. At first they had their own location, but I see them together tonight with no aggression.

[Vendayn]

Well, I decided to just go ahead and try putting the queens together tonight, when they are less active.

 

I put all four of my newly mated queens, into the big mature colony I got yesterday. There was not a hint of aggression, and the workers accepted each other right away. Including workers from foreign colonies, that came from eclosed pupae I got a few days ago.

 

So, the colony has at least six queens now and they have been accepted right away. One female still has wings, but I'm pretty sure I saw her lay an egg. If she is fertile too and just didn't take the wings off, that would make it seven queens. But, till I know for sure, officially the colony just has six queens. None of the colonies have alates anymore, so either she mated and never took the wings off or she just never flew when all the others did.

 

In any case...now I have a six queen Pogonomyrmex californicus colony.

Oh and another interesting thing. I went out this evening and put workers from one nest, went 2 or so miles away to another Pogonomyrmex colony is and they accepted the workers right away.

 

The queens/colonies were all seperated by about 2 miles or so of distance. In one direction, I have to walk 10-15 minutes to reach the colonies along the river. In the opposite direction, I have to walk 20 or so minutes to reach another colony, which lives alongside the main road.

Edited by Vendayn, June 10 2015 - 9:17 PM.