12 replies to this topic

[JesseTheAntKid]

Just kidnapped the local Tetramorium bicarinatum queen population. I'm sure there will be more for me to theft. But alas, I am stuck to writing about three queens who have been thefted from their nests. The trio huddles next to their cotton.

[AsdinAnts]

did you take any workers? The queens will most likely die 🫠

[Idontexist]

Didn't you like quit?

[JesseTheAntKid]

Guess who just died...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lol not my Tetramorium. One of my tiny fire ant queens. So i fed the two a piece of a chip, a dead Tipulidae specimen, and my dead solenopsis queen. They still have not decided to exit the little sand hole.

[The_Gaming-gate]

Did you catch any workers with them? If so, you might want to do that as once the queen finds out what it's like to become spoiled royalty, she can't go back. Brood may also be beneficial if you ants are like Floridian ones who wait two weeks to start laying after the shock of being moved. The queens probably don't have mites/parasites/fungi, but just to be sure i'd leave them in a sealed container and wait a day or two to see if they sprout anything, unless you know for sure how they died.

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, February 18 2024 - 3:18 PM.

[JesseTheAntKid]

Did you catch any workers with them? If so, you might want to do that as once the queen finds out what it's like to become spoiled royalty, she can't go back. Brood may also be beneficial if you ants are like Floridian ones who wait two weeks to start laying after the shock of being moved. The queens probably don't have mites/parasites/fungi, but just to be sure i'd leave them in a sealed container and wait a day or two to see if they sprout anything, unless you know for sure how they died.

The queen laid very little eggs and was always active in her chamber, so I'm assuming that she died due to being infertile.

[JesseTheAntKid]

Update: I should probably mention, one Tetramorium bicarinatum queen escaped as I moved them, freshly caught, from their test tube into a sand container, for a more suitable foraging kind of space. So I'm down to two. However.

Both are huddling in the little hidey hole I dug for them and it looks like they are huddling over eggs. I tried to catch a couple workers, but they have pretty nasty stings, so. The one worker I caught died. Anyway, the queens are doing well and are very settled in. Also, with the experience I have with T. bicarinatum, the queens are almost unaffected by being kidnapped from a bunch of workers. I don't know if I'm completely wrong, but they generally don't act different when taken and even go out to forage, unlike other queens I have experienced, who simply stand still and wait for death when separated from the colony. Anyway, if they show signs of being depressed and sad and "WAAAAh" I'll go out and heist a couple queens and workers. Knowing T. bicarinatum's level of polygyny, they should blend well. If not, I'll remove the two queens from the grasp of the other colony.

[AsdinAnts]

upd?

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

Update?

[The_Gaming-gate]

 

Did you catch any workers with them? If so, you might want to do that as once the queen finds out what it's like to become spoiled royalty, she can't go back. Brood may also be beneficial if you ants are like Floridian ones who wait two weeks to start laying after the shock of being moved. The queens probably don't have mites/parasites/fungi, but just to be sure i'd leave them in a sealed container and wait a day or two to see if they sprout anything, unless you know for sure how they died.

The queen laid very little eggs and was always active in her chamber, so I'm assuming that she died due to being infertile.

 

That happened with one of my queens, sucks. Hope the rest of yours have better luck.

[JesseTheAntKid]

Ok ok ok ok you guys asked for an update so here it is.
More queens, like, quote a bit more. I brood boosted them but they didn't like the smelly pupae and decapitated them. I have more I'm planning to introduce.

[JesseTheAntKid]

They have a healthy pile of eggs and some good looking pupae.

[AsdinAnts]

nice!