26 replies to this topic

[UrbanOrganisms]

I thought I'd make my first post a good one, so what better way to do this than with a multispecies honeypot ant colony? As the title suggests, I believe I am the first person to successfully found a multispecies honeypot ant colony in the world, and possibly the first successful multispecies colony in North America. A Myrmecocystus mexicanus and mimicus queen were placed together within a couple days of being caught from their nuptial flight roughly a month and a half ago and have founded together with the first mimicus worker hatching on September 4th, and the first mexicanus worker hatching today on September 5th, making it a true multispecies colony at this point. As you can see both the queens and workers are healthy with no signs of hostility to each other so far. Hopefully more workers continue hatching in the days to come. Whether or not this will work long term only time will tell, but regardless, I would say the fact that this worked is an amazing discovery in it of itself.

 

https://imgur.com/ULwxTjK

 

Edited by UrbanOrganisms, September 5 2021 - 9:26 AM.

[AntBoi3030]

I thought I'd make my first post a good one, so what better way to do this than with a multispecies honeypot ant colony? As the title suggests, I believe I am the first person to successfully found a multispecies honeypot ant colony in the world, and possibly the first successful multispecies colony in North America. A Myrmecocystus mexicanus and mimicus queen were placed together within a couple days of being caught from their nuptial flight roughly a month and a half ago and have founded together with the first mimicus worker hatching on September 4th, and the first mexicanus worker hatching today on September 5th, making it a true multispecies colony at this point. As you can see both the queens and workers are healthy with no signs of hostility to each other so far. Hopefully more workers continue hatching in the days to come. Whether or not this will work long term only time will tell, but regardless, I would say the fact that this worked is an amazing discovery in it of itself.
 
https://imgur.com/ULwxTjK
 

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That’s insane, did you dunk them in vinegar? It would be so cool if they stayed like this long term.

[UtahAnts]

It looks like their brood piles are separated, so it's probably only a matter of time until one of the colonies die (probably the mimicus). It would be awesome if this worked out, but it's one thing to have 2 founded colonies in the same container, and something completely different if you can get the workers to actually groom and feed each other, as well as take care of both species's larvae. Who knows though, perhaps this really will be a successful long term colony.

[SoySauce]

I wonder what would happen if you mix up the two broods and make just a single brood pile???

[AnthonyP163]

It looks like their brood piles are separated, so it's probably only a matter of time until one of the colonies die (probably the mimicus). It would be awesome if this worked out, but it's one thing to have 2 founded colonies in the same container, and something completely different if you can get the workers to actually groom and feed each other, as well as take care of both species's larvae. Who knows though, perhaps this really will be a successful long term colony.

2 queens in this close of a proximity could not have founded without coming in contact, which means these queens must be of the same colony gestalt. Workers eclosed into this colony will simply develop the same scent as their mothers, so this very well could work. However, it's notable that closely related species (species in the same genus like in this case) can often recognize other queens as rivals, if naturally, they are not polygynous. This means the queens could fight, or that the workers may pick one queen to kill later on. If this does not occur, though, the colony is basically set. I've had species from different subfamilies care for eachother's brood, and cooperate with queens and workers of both species. Two species in the same genus is barely any difference in behaviors and brood care. This is not at all impossible, and it's something we've been researching a long time.

 

That being said, this is not the first multispecies colony in North America. There's been some colonies that have lasted for weeks together and then had issues, and then there's some which I know of still going strong today. If these species cooperate and last for a long time, they could be the first long term successful multispecies colony. That determining moment is yet to come, though.

[KadinB]

Damn congrats. I saw the post on your Instagram.


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[ZTYguy]

It’s just awesome to see. Thought it couldn’t be done but urban amazes yet again.

[NancyZamora4991]

update?

[cap_backfire]

Curious how this is going! Any chance of an update???

[DaAnt]

Update?
 

[Zeiss]

This is not going to last long term in such close proximity for those of you wanting an update.

[That_one_ant_guy]

WOW, I've seen your yt vids and they are amazing!! Very impressive btw👌👌👌

[gcsnelling]

Definitely not going to be a long term success.

[JamesJohnson]

Considering the lack of an update despite them being recently on (as in yesterday) I’d consider the worst.

[United-Ants]

Update?

[Serafine]

I wonder what would happen if you mix up the two broods and make just a single brood pile???

There's a good chance they'll eat each other. Apparently ant larvae are part of the colony's defenses against parasites.

Edited by Serafine, August 29 2022 - 1:07 PM.

[nurbs]

I've done this before, multiple times, just out of my own sick curiosity. It's an interesting experiment, but their CHC profiles (cuticular hydrocarbons, their "pheromones") are quite different between species. The analysis we've done in our lab on multiple colonies has shown CHCs are mostly hereditary with diet modulating the profile.

 

They'll rip each other apart within 6 months, with both queens missing appendages. The workers will also start feeding their queen the non native brood, so the brood will begin to diminish we well. The reason they are so chill with each other is most pots within the first few months are actually very "nice" to each other. It's not like this with other genus, like Camponotus. Not sure why this is the case but this is what I've observed doing this over ten years. This is also one of the reasons you can combine pot colonies if a queen has died in the early stages. Once the colony gets gets going, however, usually around the 6 month park, the shat hits the fan.

[NicholasP]

I have a feeling of hope for these queens. I know this is not really the same thing but Camponotus pennsylvanicus have NEVER been recorded to be polygynous in any parts of the U.S. to my knowledge, yet I have a two-queen colony that's doing great. I have a feeling that anything can be possible at this point. If I can make a polygynous pennsylvanicus on accident, then what's not to say a multispecies of Myrmecocystus can't happen.

[ReignofRage]

On November 28th 2021 he mentioned that the colony died in a Discord server.

Edited by ReignofRage, August 29 2022 - 9:08 PM.

[Serafine]

I have a feeling of hope for these queens. I know this is not really the same thing but Camponotus pennsylvanicus have NEVER been recorded to be polygynous in any parts of the U.S. to my knowledge, yet I have a two-queen colony that's doing great. I have a feeling that anything can be possible at this point. If I can make a polygynous pennsylvanicus on accident, then what's not to say a multispecies of Myrmecocystus can't happen.

Many large-colony Camponotus and Messor species appear to have a natural tendency towards oligogyny (usually they adopt queens - often their own - in outskirt satellite nests), so with those it at least seems kinda plausible to have a multiqueen colony.

Edited by Serafine, August 30 2022 - 4:48 AM.