6 replies to this topic

[AntkeeperfromEstonia]

I caught this queen near the end of July in Estonia. I have no idea what species she is.

I suspect her to be Formicoxenus Nitidulus, but can't be sure, she could be some Temnothorax or Leptothorax species as well, but I guess time will tell.

She is rather tiny, she is around 5mm long and pretty thin, she is somewhat shiny and doesn't have any propodeal spines. I posted a picture of her compared to my Formica sp queens.

So far I have treated her as a semi-claustral queen. I feed her roughly once week with fruit flies and occasionally a moth, and with sugar water or fruits.

I kept her in a test tube, but recently, due to her having couple larvae, I gave her an outworld, where I also put a wooden nest I made (I did it cause I found her in coniferous forest) and she moved into it almost overnight.

I'm sorry the pictures aren't the best quality, I'll try to get macro lenses soon for my phone.

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Edited by AntkeeperfromEstonia, September 11 2023 - 5:07 AM.

[Manitobant]

that's a leptothorax queen. I personally wouldn’t keep a lone queen in a formicarium, especially one that small.

[AntkeeperfromEstonia]

I definitely didn't mean for her to move inside, but she has a free choice of either being in there or in a test tube.

[100lols]

She might be choosing to stay in the small formicarium due to the mold in the test tube. Although, I can’t tell if that’s her current test tube as the timeline of the photos is a bit unclear to me.

[AntkeeperfromEstonia]

She might be choosing to stay in the small formicarium due to the mold in the test tube. Although, I can’t tell if that’s her current test tube as the timeline of the photos is a bit unclear to me.

Yeah the test tube was a bit moldy, but I have replaced it since then and she is still opting to stay in the nest.

[100lols]

I’m sure she knows best! Hopefully she’ll have some brood soon

[AntkeeperfromEstonia]

I’m sure she knows best! Hopefully she’ll have some brood soon

She has 3 larvae at the moment, but they haven't really grown. I guess she is preparing for hibernation.