61 replies to this topic

[ANTS_KL]

I feel your pain… I remember many years ago when I was just so into ant keeping and caught my very first queen with no wings(I believe it was an P. imparis queen in a dark morph since I caught her sometime in April or May). The thing is that I only found one of queen and three days later, she died. I was so sad that day but I didn’t give up since. Anyways, those larvae look HUGE. I believe that male and female (queen) larvae are the same size but I believe that (correct me If I’m wrong on this) get fed just a little more than males in order to become a queen. I mean, the ants development system is similar compared to that of bees, in which; bees have a set caste as a worker but it can change on what is being fed to them. I just don’t have the right words to explain the determination of castes in ants…

All unfertilized eggs that are laid will either be eaten or grow into male alates. Absolutely nothing to do with how much they're fed. Female alates will be fed more during the larval stage. I'm pretty sure it also has something to do with the season etc.

[Artisan_Ants]

Right about the unfertilized eggs. I always forget about that, since I have never raised a queen who produced unfertilized eggs, and raised them to males. Instead I would just release them outside if they were infertile.

[The_Gaming-gate]

I actually found that breeding the alates in captivity if simply mixing female and male alates in a heated test tube. It got my S invicta queen to mate.

[futurebird]

Those are totally queen alates. I wonder if they "decided" to fatten them up to be queens due to their queen being gone? Not so much to replace her... but so they'd have a change for their line to go on. I don't see any that look like males...

 

[The_Gaming-gate]

Those are totally queen alates. I wonder if they "decided" to fatten them up to be queens due to their queen being gone? Not so much to replace her... but so they'd have a change for their line to go on. I don't see any that look like males...

 

Interesting. They are indeed female alates. Find some males outside, and continue the colony's legacy! Brood boost the female alates with worker brood from this colony, once paired.

[ANTdrew]

The same thing happened when I lost my old Crematogaster queen. The colony went on to raise many queen alates from eggs that had been laid previously.

[futurebird]

OK. I checked on them again today and I'm very confused. The queen alates are maturing nicely. They look just like their mom. I don't see any male alates. But what's new in the colony now is this huge pile of eggs. 

 

Look at it. It's massive.

 

Who did this? I assume these will all be males since there are no males to fertilize anyone... Though I can't say I looked at every single alate closely. Are these the eggs of the queen alates who found themsevles in a colony with no queen? Are these the eggs of the tiny workers?

 

These ants live a safe happy life and have lots of excellent food. Maybe these are trophic eggs to eat later?

 

 

I'm excited to watch them pupate and see what comes of this.

[Artisan_Ants]

Like you mentioned, these must be trophic and eggs due to the fact that the Dorymyrmex cannot in breed, or breed within the nest (correct if I’m wrong on this). If there are any males present right now (which is highly unlikely like you mentioned) these could be fertile eggs indeed. Otherwise; these were probably laid by one of the workers or the new “queen” who will keep producing infertile eggs (or males of course) if there is a vast amount of protein available. Quite interesting if you’ll ask me. The best part is though; if this species of Dorymyrmex or just the genus of Dorymyrmex itself can inbreed, these new infertile eggs which would produce males alates could possibly fertilize the female alates, and she would be able to substitute for the new queen. If this isn’t possible, unfortunately, there really is no hope for your colony unless you possibly have a queen or de-alate of the same species. It isn’t Dorymyrmex season right now if I’m correct, so you won’t find them in store nor outside. Anyways, good luck! I’m still hoping for the best for this colony! I feel the pain…

Edited by Artisan_Ants, March 21 2024 - 12:18 PM.

[futurebird]

OMG these little ants are SO SNEAKY. They have a secret chamber! They have dug into the water reservoir and there are even more of them in there... Happily they can't escape but this explains why they panic when I add water to their nest...

Now, you might wonder if they have the queen hidden in there. I don't think so. I saw something in their graveyard that looked like part of her gaster weeks ago. But who knows what they are doing down there!


Dorymyrmex bureni keep their eggs in balls that are the ideal size for the worker ants to carry when they decide to panic and run to a different part of the nest.


(something they will do in response to vibrations from below, eg if I bump the bookcase where their nest sits. )
 


 
 
Also here is a photo of the ants trying to pull the wings off of one of the queens. Why have they singled her out? I don't know.
 

Edited by futurebird, March 22 2024 - 1:41 PM.

[futurebird]

I'm despertly reading every paper I can find that mentions Dorymyrmex bureni because I'm baffled by what I'm seeing with these ants. I ran into this classic paper. I've always remembered that winter ants have the deepest nests, but look whose nest is the second deepest! The dorries!

 

Image Source

 

After their queen died* this thriving colony raised many of their larvae to be queens. (Not that strange because the eggs were laid before the queen died, were thus female and they could simply feed them more to determine their caste.) But now there are vast new batches of eggs in the nest (who laid them?) and I just saw some workers assisting one queen with the removal of her wings. (??)

Could they have somehow... made replacement queens?

 

Back to the papers!

 

 

What I'm thinking about now, after seeing how badly they need to dig (they made a chamber in their plaster floor...)

Could I design a nest for this species where they could dig really deep?

I'm thinking of a long flat chamber of plexi-glass panes, running down the side of the bookshelf. And with a few areas where there is a wider box filled with sandy soil. Or even just chambers they could use... for better observation. Ants like to dig next to sunken rocks and building foundations...

 

I could also fill a plastic tube with sand, and let them take it out... "ant enrichment" ... given how frantic they are that might be the move. Give them a long tube of sand to dig out (like 4 feet long) and at then end they find a new nest chamber. Like a ant sized treasure hunt!

Edited by futurebird, March 23 2024 - 2:06 AM.

[ANTdrew]

You should read Tschinkel’s Ant Architecture book. It’s excellent.

[futurebird]

Oh! I have that book. It's amazing. I need to look at it again though to see if any of the other species I keep are featured. 

[futurebird]

I checked on the queen who was having her wings pulled off this morning and could not find her in the nest. But I did notice a wing and a queen gaster in their trash pile. I guess they didn't like her for some reason and decided to cull her. 

 

I wonder why? She looked healthy and the same as the other alates.  There are some larvae developing from the mysterious eggs. I'm excited to see if they are males. 

 

Would it make sense to separate maybe two dozen workers and a queen in a test tube so I could try introducing the males to them later? Maybe their hydrocarbon profile would diverge enough that they would mate. This colony has a few chambers and I could remove one when it contains a queen and a maybe 20 workers to feed and clean her. Feed them and keep them in their own area ... hmmm

 

Do alates ever leave the nest? If all these eggs are males I have no idea how they will feed them all. The colony is big (maybe 400 workers) but not infinite. 

 

Interestingly I'm still seeing new callow workers... but I think those are the last leftovers from the old queen. 

[Artisan_Ants]

Alates usually get whatever food source is available when they are in the nest. They leave once on their own instinct which is usually why entomologists and myrmecologists mark when they fly (why the word nuptial flight was even created). So it’s best if you just find their peak nuptial flight date, or see when males come out of the nest and start to fly all over the outworld, and release them then, or breed them in captivity like you mentioned.

[ANTdrew]

These ants are not native to her area. Alates should not be released.

[futurebird]

I could catch a bus to south NJ maybe LOL. 

But they really should be in GA that's the center of their range.  

[ANTdrew]

I could catch a bus to south NJ maybe LOL.
But they really should be in GA that's the center of their range.

These ants aren’t even found around me in Virginia, so you’d need a much longer bus ride.

[futurebird]

You are probably right, Antdrew.
 
I do hope to have another colony with a queen some day. I still love this colony. They are like little sun sprites, motes of joy and determination made animate. I decorated their outworld like a magical desert.
 

 
Here you see their annex nest (not their main home just an outpost) and the geode and branch they explore. I feed them on the jade dish, they neatly pile trash in the upper right corner for me to pick up.
 

 
Poor girl she bit the paint brush I use to help them to move and can’t seem to let go. I tried to help her by cutting the bristles off. But, I think her sisters should be able to help so I returned her, still clutching the bristles to the colony.
 





It seemed like a brave thing to do in the moment. Bite the evil paint brush and defend the colony!
 

 
But it has gone all wrong.
 

 
 
I have separated three queens and about 100 workers into their own nest, they rest of the colony is still together. I will observe how the new eggs develop and if they are male see if I can arrange some marriages. I'm glad the workers still have eggs to care for since that's what seems to keep ants happy.

Edited by futurebird, March 25 2024 - 12:20 PM.

[futurebird]

 

This is the “splinter colony” I’ve isolated about 100 workers and 3 young, alate queens from the main colony (of bout 400?)  That way, if the main colony raises males with their new heap of eggs, maybe these queens won’t realize they are their bothers? (horrible I know)

 

 

There is no documentation (that I could find online or at the library) on how *exactly* these ants reproduce eg. could they replace a queen? Do they need to mate while flying? Will they reject brothers as mates?— only general ideas from related genuses.  Based on the common wisdom for similar ants this is a long shot... (they may need a nuptial flight, may reject brothers)  but I think it's worth a try.

 

 

 

 

 

Uncharted territory!

[futurebird]

I've been thinking about their desire to dig a deep nest. I spilled a little water in their shallow sand when filling their water feeder and they spent hours digging the wet soil into a shallow tunnel. So I decided to try the idea of giving the big colony a "sand tube" 

 

I’ve filled an extra wide tube with wet sand and connected it to my Dorymyrmex bureni colony’s outworld. This is to simulate the sandy soil where they dig deep nests in the wild. I hope they will start digging— if they do I’ll connect a little nest on the other end so they can move in. The tube is vertical and three feet long. I will update if they make progress.

 

 

The sand tube runs down the bookshelf, past my Formica colony. 

 

 

About 10min after connecting the sand tube the first ant has discovered the sand tube! They always find anything new so quickly. She’s on her way back now to tell her sisters what she has found. Watching them run down the long tube it’s hard not to think they seem excited. They always move with so much haste!

 

 

Now there are five of them.