4 replies to this topic

[Izzy]

Hello, I just wanted to start some discussion around Monomorium diapause or lack there of.

 

I ended up not putting my 13 queen Monomorium colony into diapause. I have them in a Mini Hearth and they're connected to a THA medium foraging area. When winter started there was an absolute absurd amount of them continuing to forage in the outworld. Trying to move them all back into the formicarium manually would have been a colossal amount of work, and I've noted in the past several months that whenever I moved my setup even in the slightest the connection from their nest to the outworld would change just enough that they would start escaping from the connection port even though it seemed to be sealed. To make it easier on myself I decided not to diapause them at all and just leave them where they were.

 

I have noticed that the number of ants in the out world has been decreasing rapidly the last month and there have been large die offs, which I guess is what I would suspect if there is no new brood development. I imagine the workers of Monomorium are short lived. Online it says they live 4 months. They've been sitting in a room at about 68-74 degrees depending on the day, but usually around 70. I haven't noticed any queens among the dead.

 

It seems like maybe they have started to diapause regardless of not being in a colder environment? Their brood piles don't seem to have changed in size, and they all seem to be at what I assume is the 1st instar phase? See picture, which was taken today.

 

I'm curious if anyone else has forgone hibernating these due to just how much of a pain they can be to keep? What behavior did you observe? Without the cooler temperatures do you think the queens got the egg laying break they needed, or do you think they've just been continuing to lay eggs and grow them to 1st instar larvae but no further? Its also possible that since I've taken them off heat maybe they just aren't replacing themselves as quickly, but I'm imagining its a combination of all of these factors.

 

I've debated about moving them into my colder 60 degree closet, and then after a few weeks into the 50 degree mini fridge, now that their outworld numbers have been reduced enough that moving them manually wouldn't be a huge hassle. I'm just not sure if it would be worth it at this point.

 

It'll be interesting to see what happens come spring I suppose. I'll update this thread with results. I'm expecting a big boom in population with all larvae they have.

 

[ANTdrew]

Myrmecines like Monomorium don’t necessarily need hibernation. They will just slow down as temperatures drop. Your colony will be totally fine.

[Izzy]

Myrmecines like Monomorium don’t necessarily need hibernation. They will just slow down as temperatures drop. Your colony will be totally fine.

 

That's great to know, because they are a pain in the butt to hibernate it seems haha!

[ANTdrew]

They are not. Simply put the whole thing in a cool place. There is no need to remove all workers from the outworld or anything like that.

[Izzy]

I figured this was the right time to bring back this thread.

 

A week or so after I started this post I noticed that all of the eggs and brood piles of this colony disappeared overnight. Starting in March I introduced them back to heat by placing a heating cable on the left side of the Mini Hearth, but the queens have failed to produce any eggs for around 2-2.5 months now. The colony has had massive die offs and has shrunk to about 15% of their previous size before winter. I've been feeding them a mixed diet of mealworms, super worms, crickets, dubia roaches, and sometimes chicken or other meat I have lying around. They seem to be eating the protein but the response doesn't seem incredibly strong and I can't tell where its going because I'm not seeing any eggs or anything and the colony doesn't seem to be growing at all.

 

I haven't seen any dead queens in the graveyard either, and I can still see several queens in the colony, but no eggs. I haven't given them much of anything except Sunburst nectar when it comes to carbs, so I've been trying to diversify that with some brown sugar water and honey water but they haven't been incredibly receptive to it.

 

I thought I'd update this since my question was about whether I should hibernate them or not, and so far it seems like maybe the queens are still just taking a break from egg laying and won't begin until later in the season? Or maybe something has gone wrong since I did not hibernate them. I'm still in shock the huge brood piles seemingly vanished overnight.