5 replies to this topic

[AdamAnt1]

I was re-potting a plant yesterday and low and behold a wingless Camponotus pennsylvanicus queen was scurrying around in the bottom of the pot! I looked everywhere in the pot and plant for any eggs or larvae but didn't see any that I could tell. I got her set up in a test tube and gave her a drop of honey on the end of a toothpick on top of a piece of tin foil which she seemed to really appreciate. I took the toothpick away before going to bed last night.

 

This afternoon I noticed she was scrambling in a weird way and the tube looked pretty damp and sort of messy inside. It appeared that her leg was stuck to the cotton by a micro drop of honey. I freed her leg and as a precaution I got her a clean tube. She has continued to move around and scramble in a strange fashion. She kind of lays on her belly and all her legs run in place. Either that or she lays flat and motionless but isn't standing up on her legs. Shortly before hopping on here, I noticed what actually looks like a single egg!?

 

Questions:

Is her strange behavior actually normal behavior if she is laying eggs?

Was getting her a clean tube the right move?

Did I interrupt her in her process by doing that?

Could she be covered in honey, if so will she be ok?

Any other ideas or advice?

[antperson24]

This does not sound normal, she probably has honey on her underside and is now trying to get it off. I think she will be ok, just try to disturb her as little as possible. It might have been better to just clean out the old test tube, but it's done now.

[AdamAnt1]

This does not sound normal, she probably has honey on her underside and is now trying to get it off. I think she will be ok, just try to disturb her as little as possible. It might have been better to just clean out the old test tube, but it's done now.

Thanks for the help. I'll try to leave her alone. Hopefully she is healthy and makes a colony.

[AdamAnt1]

Well she is now dead. Really odd. She was in the tube for less than 24 hours and went from looking great to dead overnight. I checked the honey I gave her. I thought it was organic but it might not be. Did I poison her? My Tetramorium colony has been fine with this same honey. I also didn't imagine that there could be pesticides in honey. Would that not kill the bees that make it?

[Ants_Dakota]

I was re-potting a plant yesterday and low and behold a wingless Camponotus pennsylvanicus queen was scurrying around in the bottom of the pot! I looked everywhere in the pot and plant for any eggs or larvae but didn't see any that I could tell. I got her set up in a test tube and gave her a drop of honey on the end of a toothpick on top of a piece of tin foil which she seemed to really appreciate. I took the toothpick away before going to bed last night.

 

This afternoon I noticed she was scrambling in a weird way and the tube looked pretty damp inside. It appeared that her leg was stuck to the cotton by a micro drop of honey. I freed her leg and as a precaution I got her a clean tube. She has continued to move around and scramble in a strange fashion. She kind of lays on her belly and all her legs run in place. Either that or she lays flat and motionless but isn't standing up on her legs. Shortly before hopping on here, I noticed what actually looks like a single egg!?

 

Questions:

Is her strange behavior actually normal behavior if she is laying eggs?

Was getting her a clean tube the right move?

Did I interrupt her in her process by doing that?

Could she be covered in honey, if so will she be ok?

Any other ideas or advice?

camponotus are weird ants in general. I have noticed this with some of my parasitic formica, so i do not believe it is at all a sign your queen is bad. I had a queen of C. pennsylvanicus that would lay on her brood with her legs contorted in all sorts of strange positions as if she was dying. And she currently has like 10 pupa and 30 eggs and is doing remarkably well. That being said, as you mentioned yours died, I would just say that Camponotus are known to do this as well. Don't be surprised if that happens. And no, i don't believe your honey would have pesticides in that case. To answer your questions:

Is her strange behavior actually normal behavior if she is laying eggs?

Was getting her a clean tube the right move? Getting an ant a clean test tube never hurts. It will only disrupt pheromones for a little bit.

Did I interrupt her in her process by doing that? Because she has no brood you did not.

Could she be covered in honey, if so will she be ok? Possibly, which is why i only feed my ants tiny drops of honey or honey that is on something. Por Amor ants has little inserts for this that i bought when I ordered some formicaria from them because they were cheap and they work really well for keeping the test tube clean.

Any other ideas or advice? Camponotus are weird. Expect them to die randomly, like yours.

[AdamAnt1]

 

I was re-potting a plant yesterday and low and behold a wingless Camponotus pennsylvanicus queen was scurrying around in the bottom of the pot! I looked everywhere in the pot and plant for any eggs or larvae but didn't see any that I could tell. I got her set up in a test tube and gave her a drop of honey on the end of a toothpick on top of a piece of tin foil which she seemed to really appreciate. I took the toothpick away before going to bed last night.

 

This afternoon I noticed she was scrambling in a weird way and the tube looked pretty damp inside. It appeared that her leg was stuck to the cotton by a micro drop of honey. I freed her leg and as a precaution I got her a clean tube. She has continued to move around and scramble in a strange fashion. She kind of lays on her belly and all her legs run in place. Either that or she lays flat and motionless but isn't standing up on her legs. Shortly before hopping on here, I noticed what actually looks like a single egg!?

 

Questions:

Is her strange behavior actually normal behavior if she is laying eggs?

Was getting her a clean tube the right move?

Did I interrupt her in her process by doing that?

Could she be covered in honey, if so will she be ok?

Any other ideas or advice?

camponotus are weird ants in general. I have noticed this with some of my parasitic formica, so i do not believe it is at all a sign your queen is bad. I had a queen of C. pennsylvanicus that would lay on her brood with her legs contorted in all sorts of strange positions as if she was dying. And she currently has like 10 pupa and 30 eggs and is doing remarkably well. That being said, as you mentioned yours died, I would just say that Camponotus are known to do this as well. Don't be surprised if that happens. And no, i don't believe your honey would have pesticides in that case. To answer your questions:

Is her strange behavior actually normal behavior if she is laying eggs?

Was getting her a clean tube the right move? Getting an ant a clean test tube never hurts. It will only disrupt pheromones for a little bit.

Did I interrupt her in her process by doing that? Because she has no brood you did not.

Could she be covered in honey, if so will she be ok? Possibly, which is why i only feed my ants tiny drops of honey or honey that is on something. Por Amor ants has little inserts for this that i bought when I ordered some formicaria from them because they were cheap and they work really well for keeping the test tube clean.

Any other ideas or advice? Camponotus are weird. Expect them to die randomly, like yours.

 

Thanks for this feedback. It's helpful information for next time. Still learning a lot about all this