6 replies to this topic

[FelixTheAnter]

I have a new Camponotus Ligniperda colony with one queen and 6 workers, plus 10 - 15 eggs and larvae.

The other day I discovered a Camponotus colony in a tree stump, and was able to collect maybe 5 - 10 pupae just from peeling some bark back. I don't believe these are actually Camponotus Lignuperda, the workers are roughly the same size as the Ligniperda, but maybe slightly smaller and darker in color.

I put the pupae in the outworld of my C. Ligniperda colony, and the next morning my workers had collected them all, brought them into their test tube, and were carefully tending to them (along with the rest of the brood)

I am always conscious of not overcollecting, or doing harm to wild colonies or their workers. So that aside, can anyone share the pros and cons of brood boosting? What have your experiences been? Is there a limit on how much a colony should be boosted? (i.e. what happens if you plop down 100 pupae in the outworld of a young colony?)

[Manitobant]

Brood boosting is a great way to get a colony going, and boosted queens often lay more eggs in their first generation and the colony grows faster in general. It also allows you to see cool ant behavior without having to wait for your colony to get large on its own. There is generally no limit to boosting as long as you have enough workers to open all the pupae and tend to them. Boosting is also super useful for social parasites, and is usually the way people raise them (along with plopping in a few callows of course).


Also, no need to worry about overcollecting. I literally collect thousands of lasius and formica pupae for my parasitic queens and slave maker colonies and it doesn't affect the wild colonies at all.

[FelixTheAnter]

Awesome, thank you so much for the information!

How do you find thousands of lasius pupae? I've never seen them anywhere near the surface here, but then again we have pretty much no rocks where I live. I imagine many colonies are found directly under large rocks?

[Manitobant]

Awesome, thank you so much for the information!
How do you find thousands of lasius pupae? I've never seen them anywhere near the surface here, but then again we have pretty much no rocks where I live. I imagine many colonies are found directly under large rocks?

yes, i find them under rocks.

[cap_backfire]

This is great info.   

So as a follow up, did you Camponotus accept the eclosed workers that weren't the same species once they eclosed??? 

[FelixTheAnter]

I'm glad you also found it useful! So far none of the pupae have eclosed - however, one of them is starting to darken a little bit, and the ants are still very carefully tending to them. There is always at least one or two workers standing over the pupae at all times. I'm hopeful that they'll open this darkening pupae soon. I can certainly follow up with whatever happens.

I did end up finding several hundred L. Niger pupae under the bark of a rotting log, collected them and gave to my colony. I think there's now twice as many pupae as workers, but they seem to be having no trouble keeping up. It's fascinating how they are constantly sifting through, moving around, and organizing every single pupae.

[cap_backfire]

So... I did this for my solo queen who ONCE had workers but no longer does, sadly.   For whatever reason.  She's a Camponotus Nova and I gave her 2 pupa and a larva from my Camponotus Chromie test tube colony (that queen has a ton of brood for the size of her container so I assumed she could spare it) and Nova is taking care of this brood religiously.   It's like she KNOWS this is her lifeline.   I was amazed to see this behavior, since the larva and pupae would definitely smell like the other hive, right?   

Anyway, thanks for posting this.  I think you saved my colony from certain death.