3 replies to this topic

[Richard]

Out of nowhere my Iridomyrmex anceps colony (1,5yo colony) has a second fertile queen and she is now laying eggs. Both of them are in the same setup but different chamber. I mean, how is this even possible? Clone? Sharing sperm?

[SYUTEO]

I guess the other queen probably flew into the setup and got accepted by the workers.

[Fatatoille]

That’s interesting, iridomyrmex purpurus have also been observed with multiple queens, usually in larger colonies, likely making this secondary polygyny. There’s not much info on other species in the iridomyrmex genus accepting extra queens in captivity as most colonies get by just fine on a single queen, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a trait shared across the genus. Do keep us updated on what happens though, the more documented, the better.

[Richard]

That’s interesting, iridomyrmex purpurus have also been observed with multiple queens, usually in larger colonies, likely making this secondary polygyny. There’s not much info on other species in the iridomyrmex genus accepting extra queens in captivity as most colonies get by just fine on a single queen, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a trait shared across the genus. Do keep us updated on what happens though, the more documented, the better.

Both of them are doing great. They're now in the same chamber. 
Last week, there were a lot of queens in the outworld. So, I decided to catch 5 of them, each in a separate test tube. And 1 of them is now laying eggs.
I guess the prime queen spare and share the sperm? (No drones inside)

Edited by Richard, August 27 2021 - 10:47 AM.