So I caught some prenos in the spring of 2021 at the Sacramento zoo. The wing speed was high when they flew. The temp was around low 70s. I was able to catch 4 females in total. I could have gotten a few more but it was in a zoo with 100s of people all over the place. 2 were dealates and 2 had wings on. Then a few weeks before going on that trip I ended up catching a queen in my backyard why doing yard work. She was the brown regular variety. The ones at the Sacramento zoo are dark variety. I also saw tons of formica moki there everywhere. But the prenos were very common there. I took the 4 home and put them all in 1 separate test tube before I knew they allowed more than one queen. I ended up releasing those other 2 with wings on at my house cause they weren't mated I'm pretty sure. Then I had 3 queens in total (all dealates). But you know how prenos are in growth. Took weeks to lay and for brood to develop etc. One queen died which was one of the dark ones and I decided to put the other two together and they joined just fine. The one I put in the other queens tube had no eggs. I Then checked on them every 2 weeks until workers. They ended up getting workers on time. When they got their first workers they only got 2. They were also kept and room temp and still are. They currently have 20 workers. Their second generation was massive. 18+ workers. They have repletes of course and are still in a test tube. I wanna get them a mini hearth but can't afford it. I will be adding a outworld for them to forage around in soon. Both queens are still doing great to. They should have low 20s workers when their done with this generation which should be done in a few days. I see no eggs and I see 3 pupae and that's all the brood left. I am loving these ants so far and they definitely need some patience for founding stage. But once you get them past founding they start to grow faster. They got 20 workers in 1 season and with 2 queens. Is that a good amount? I am also surprised for how many workers they got for 2nd gen.
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