I collected about 30 L. Umbratus queens at the same time as this L. Fulignosa queen - but didn't have any Umbratus brood to give her. I read some people had success with L. Niger brood, so that is what I gave her. I started her off with a ton of pupae from my own L. Niger colony, along with a few callows. She took to them all right away.
Approximately 2 weeks later, most of the pupae are now workers, and the queen had an egg stuck to her abdomen and maybe 4 or 5 more being tended to by workers.
I was extremely surprised to look in her tube today, 6 days after the last photos, and see a huge number of eggs!
Her gaster is so fat, too. Clearly the workers are doing great so far.
I have read some people have problems with L. Niger hosts killing off the first L. Fulignosa workers. I may start plucking the L. Niger from the outworld as soon as I see L. Fulignosa workers eclosing. If this still fails, I should have plenty of L. Umbratus brood to give her within a few weeks. Fingers crossed.
