1 reply to this topic

[FelixTheAnter]

Hi all! I'm fairly new to ant keeping.

I have two colonies - one L. Niger, collected from a flowerpot in my yard on June 1st. Probably about +/- 100 workers with the queen and lots of brood of all stages. Their nest is currently covered with tinfoil, so I can't see their nest behavior unless I remove the foil - and then they get a bit panicky, so I try to just leave them be.

My new C. Ligniperda colony was provided in a test tube covered in red foil, and they seem content there. I have a queen and 6 workers - there were no eggs or brood when they arrived, but there's definitely 2 eggs now.

The queen was having her face groomed by one of her workers, when the worker doubled over and brought her abdomen to her own mouth. Then suddenly the queen and two other workers immediately did the same thing. Is this normal behavior? I've never seen anything like it from my L. Niger

They seem happy and healthy enough, usually one worker at the front of the tube guarding the entrance/exit to their tiny outworld, the rest tending to the queen and the eggs or just resting. So I'm not too worried, more just curious.

On a side note, does anyone know a good online resource for learning more about any behavior? I'm having trouble finding much.

Thanks!

[SYUTEO]

Yes it's normal, they are just cleaning themselves. And the queen also does this when she's laying an egg, but when the colony grows bigger, the workers will take it away for her.