8 replies to this topic

[Antzy]

Hi

 

I caught a Lasius Niger queen this summer, and was very pleased with the progress, within 6 weeks there was 10 workers, and plenty of eggs / larvae.  I believe that number is now approximately 20. With still lots more coming in the form of eggs etc.

 

For the first month after I put the tube into an outworld, there was constant activity,. All the time, night morning afternoon, whenever I checked, there would be at leasat one worker out foraging, and if I put food in there, it would be swarmed by a good 5 or 6. Even such a small colony. 

 

However this activity seems to have dissapeared. The last week they have not dragged any of the flys / mealworms I have left them into the tube, unlke previous weeks. And I very very rarely catch one outside the tube, before it was constant. The most I have seen is 2, drinking some honey.

 

I removed some foil from the tube, and they are alive and well, the queen moved slightly as well, so she is live. The only difference i have noticed is that they seem to be a bit slower when moving around than before.

 

Any ideas what can cause this sudden massive decrease in activity? I haven't changed anything at all for them, they are kept inside, nothing has changed. The only change being summer (UK) has now ende, but they are inside anyway.. 

 

Cheers 

 

[Serafine]

They're supposed to hibernate and they don't really care if it's still warm inside. For all their insincts tell them there could be snow any day now.

Time to get them a nice cold place in the basement or the fridge. (Balcony also works, but then preferrably in something like a styrofoam box with a few bottles of water as a temperature spike buffer).

[Antzy]

Hibernate? Just this weekend it was 25 degrees (77), and averages around 18 (65) this week. Surely its far to early to hibernate? We have barely left summer, + there's plenty of ants out and about in the wild. 

[Triggerhippy888]

No they don't need to go into hibernation until the start of November but they prepare for it. They start to show all the signs you are reporting, less foraging, lose interest in protein, the larvae will stop turning to pupa, the queen will stop laying eggs, the workers will stock the colony with sugar and apart from that will conserve energy, they retreat into their nest more (you won't notice this in just a test tube set up but my colony is steadily packing up their satellite outposts such as the ones living under the water tower etc.). I fed my colony a small moth tonight (they are 2k+ workers) and yes eventually they have taken it but it took them hours to bother, however you should notice they really like sugar, they will want to get the entire colony fully stocked.  

[Serafine]

Hibernate? Just this weekend it was 25 degrees (77), and averages around 18 (65) this week. Surely its far to early to hibernate? We have barely left summer, + there's plenty of ants out and about in the wild. 

Lasius niger takes 4-6 weeks from egg to worker. Pupae will not survive hibernation, eggs are unlikely to do so as well. This means they have to go into pre-hibernation at least 2-3 weeks prior to whenever it could get too cold for them.

In pre-hibernation they will no longer forage for protein but still drink small amounts of sugars (ants on standby don't burn a lot of energy).

 

 

Lasius niger aren't that bad as they tend to lay eggs until early fall. Some ants are far worse, Camponotus ligniperda for example run on a 1-year plan (they have two peroids of egglaying, one in the spring and one in summer and only the spring batch will develop into workers the same year) and if they're done that's it for the year. I've seen people speeding up their development by constant heating so much that they went into pre-hibernation in early June.

[rptraut]

I have noticed that my Lasius niger, Myrmica sp? and Camponotus pennsylvanicus queens lay eggs in batches.  The colony "forages" for protein to feed the larvae and this activity increases as the larvae grow, then stops suddenly as soon as the larvae pupate.  I have also noticed that the queens don't start laying the next batch until the previous batch of larvae is close to or has already pupated.  This means there is very little need for protein as the eggs haven't hatched yet and the pupae don't require it.  Therefore, little or no foraging for protein, with some activity for sugar to keep the colony going.  When I've checked my colonies that suddenly reduced foraging, I found lots of pupae and lots of eggs, no larvae.  At this time of year those eggs will probably hatch into the larvae that will overwinter.  A point of interest, newly eclosed workers often tend newly hatched larvae as their first task in the colony, so the timing of the pupae eclosing and the eggs hatching together couldn't be better.

[Serafine]

That's true for most ant colonies while they're small. Larger colonies usually have all stages of brood mixed together, especially the ones from warmer climates (meditarranean, (sub)tropical).

Edited by Serafine, September 15 2022 - 4:12 AM.

[Antzy]

So to clarify, will the current brood hatch? Despite them (possibly) about the enter hibernation? there's at least 10 or 15 cocoons, so lets hope so, as this would add a big chunk of workers to the small colony. 

I also note the test tube water resevoir is running a bit low, and will likely dry up before the end of winter, and there is  a small black bit on the cotton, possibly mould (altho has stayed the same size for multiple weeks now). Would it be a good idea to encourage them to move to a new tube  now? Or allow them to hibernate first and then do it.

 

Also any basic tips for hibernation, do i still add some food?

I recall about 10 years ago I had a Formica Fusca colony, which seemed to die out when I put them into hibernation, albiet I was a young teenager then, but don't wish to make the same mistakes....

[ANTdrew]

Yes, those cocoons will hatch (eclose). Keep them warm and fed until they do so. Hibernation is pretty simple, and there are good tutorials in the archives that will show you what to do. The ants will only need proper hydration, not food.