80 replies to this topic

[Canadian anter]

So in October through November, Lasius claviger started flying. I caught 8 queens in total(not nearly as much as my very first batch of queens (Also Lasius claviger) last year. They were put into hibernation minutes after being caught. 

 

December 8th, 2016

I took these queens out of hibernation. All were dead but 2 . These should be called Lasius deathcultis or something    

 

I put one of these queens in a test tube with 5 Lasius alienus workers, 3 Lasius claviger workers, 1 pallitarsis and one neoniger worker. Two of the claviger workers seemed to be troublemakers and were killed on spot by the queen. The reason I say this is because they killed the pallitarsis. The neoniger worker drowned in honey . The rest were fine except that they didn't take care of brood even though the queen was meticulously cared 

 

I couldn't remove any more workers now that they were huddled under the queen(well the ones in captivity were, anyways) and there was snow covering the wild Lasius nests so I just put the other queen in the same formicarium as my captive alienus to give it a small chance.Or more specifically, the outworld because I was too lazy.

 

December 9th, 2016

The queen in the formicarium built herself a nice little chamber and killed a mealworm

 

December 11th, 2016

The queen staged a coup and won. The workers are getting along fine with her. More details will be posted l;ater

Edited by Canadian anter, September 13 2017 - 8:20 PM.

[Canadian anter]

December 12th, 2016

I  introduced a second claviger queen because I heard that they might do better in groups, she was killed within hours.

 

December 16th, 2016

I went on a vacation, the colony was left alone for about a month

 

December 25th, 2016

I came back, realized I had a third queen and put her in as well.

 

December 28th, 2016

I saw a claviger limb in the outworld. guess she died too

 

December 30th, 2016

The colony has eggs! not sure if they're the Lasius alienus' last brood or if they belong to the Lasius claviger. Hoping for the best

 

A few outdated observations

Well first off, the thicker legs seem to be extremely useful and workers have difficulty latching on. 

2. while many social parasites aim for the head, this girl aimed for the petiole on her first attempt
3. She also decided to block herself off in a self-constructed chamber OUTSIDE of the nest
4. She never attacks the workers even if they are already between her jaws.
5. She runs away as fast as possible if she meets an individual worker, even in the outward. 
6. The Lasius were very afraid of the parasite after she had attempted to infiltrate the nest and moved away right away.
7. I HAVE seen the parasitic queen kill a meal worm.

[Canadian anter]

January 1st, 2017

As a new year's gift (I guess) the eggs decided to hatch

[antgenius123]

January 1st, 2017

As a new year's gift (I guess) the eggs decided to hatch

Cool, nice thread, I'm also trying to capture a parasitic queen soon. Hopefully the brood left behind won't be abandoned or eaten by the new queen.

Edited by antgenius123, January 3 2017 - 2:29 PM.

[Canadian anter]

January 11th, 2017

VIDEO UPDATE.

This is the claviger queen killing the alienus queen. Note that the workers are not interfering with fighting but were actually cleaning both queens during the struggle.

 

 

This is the claviger queen after the queen was killed.  She is actually playing with the dead corpse, presumably trying to obtain the colony scent.

 

 

Video of current state will be posted later

Edited by Canadian anter, January 11 2017 - 7:17 AM.

[Canadian anter]

Yesterday

Today


I found it weird that it seemed like either the claviger larvae were eaten or they had a MASSIVE growth spurt. The larvae number doesn't seem to have changed that much but maybe its just me. I pointed to what i think might be the claviger larvae in the second vid. In the first vid its fairly obvious. (the TINY ones )

Edited by Canadian anter, January 11 2017 - 5:38 PM.

[Canadian anter]

January 17th, 2016
My Lasius claviger has some new eggs!

Edited by Canadian anter, January 17 2017 - 6:29 PM.

[Batspiderfish]

If these eggs make it to maturity, you will likely be one of the first (if not the first) people to ever raise this species in captivity.

[Alabama Anter]

If these eggs make it to maturity, you will likely be one of the first (if not the first) people to ever raise this species in captivity.

Oh wow!!! Congrats Canadian! You made history in the anting world!

[Canadian anter]

*added pictures

[Canadian anter]

January 20th, 2017
The queen is laying fair amounts of eggs everyday. I would say it looks like she has about 20 now. The last of the alienus larvae are also just making their cocoons. also I forgot to mention that the second attempt was made by directly throwing the parasitic queen into the queen's chamber.

Picture of colony now.

the workers beside the queen are tending to the pile of eggs.

Edited by Canadian anter, January 20 2017 - 5:21 PM.

[Canadian anter]

January 21st, 2017
I didn't think Id have to update it so soon. The queen laid another large batch of eggs and now there are around 50. A few workers decided to move all the larvae to a separate chamber which is interesting.

[Batspiderfish]

Social parasites get busy laying eggs FAST.

[Canadian anter]

good to know. Is there an explanation for why newer eggs seem smaller?

[Batspiderfish]

good to know. Is there an explanation for why newer eggs seem smaller?

I haven't noticed this. It could be that one group of eggs or the other was laid by workers.

[Canadian anter]

maybe its just me or its a Lasius claviger thing

[Canadian anter]

January 31st, 2017

 The queen has laid So many eggs in the past few days. I'd say she has about 100-150 of them. All alienus brood are now pupae.

[Reevak]

Did you make that formicarium yourself or did you buy it from somewhere?

[Canadian anter]

I brought a good amount of these formicaria from TaoBao

Edited by Canadian anter, January 31 2017 - 8:30 PM.

[Leo]

yes Taobao