7 replies to this topic

[Culture321]

Got a M. Semirufus Queen with few eggs in a nest with a 1ml byFormica Mini with red nectar. Doesn't look like the Queen is drinking but, the nectar is evaporating or disappearing. Don't see anything leaking or anything like that. Do I need to feed her live insects or just nectar is fine? Is there a way to speed up growth and egg laying? Taking awhile. Ty.

[Leo]

Got any photos :y

[bmb1bee]

Got any photos :y

Probably the same setup as the P. rugosus not gonna lie. He refuses to give his ants better care, for some strange reason…

[Leo]

My advice is: if the queen is purchased, then ask the seller where they caught the queen. Then go out to the area with a shovel and aspirator and collect as many myrmecocystus workers as possible. Then, once you get home, introduce them to the queen. Since they're from the same area the workers might have similar pheromones and accept the queen, then you'll immediately have a colony! This is called worker boosting and is done to raise Cataulacus sometimes. If the queen is torn to shreds, just buy another and try again.

If you don't want to go through all that effort, you can also buy around a dozen queens (or more depending on the size of the nest) and put them together. The, the rate of egg laying will go up exponentially. If they begin fighting, the dead ones can become food for the remaining queens so you don't even have to feed them.

Edited by Leo, May 7 2024 - 8:57 PM.

[dspdrew]

You just now got a queen with only a few eggs?

[Culture321]

My advice is: if the queen is purchased, then ask the seller where they caught the queen. Then go out to the area with a shovel and aspirator and collect as many myrmecocystus workers as possible. Then, once you get home, introduce them to the queen. Since they're from the same area the workers might have similar pheromones and accept the queen, then you'll immediately have a colony! This is called worker boosting and is done to raise Cataulacus sometimes. If the queen is torn to shreds, just buy another and try again.

If you don't want to go through all that effort, you can also buy around a dozen queens (or more depending on the size of the nest) and put them together. The, the rate of egg laying will go up exponentially. If they begin fighting, the dead ones can become food for the remaining queens so you don't even have to feed them.

Don't got time & money for that right now. Don't know anywhere that has Queens to catch. Waiting for the eggs to hatch. Does it need a heat pad if it's on top of the nest in a test tube inside the out world?

[Culture321]

You just now got a queen with only a few eggs?

Yeah just now. M. Mexicanus died.

[Mushu]

 

My advice is: if the queen is purchased, then ask the seller where they caught the queen. Then go out to the area with a shovel and aspirator and collect as many myrmecocystus workers as possible. Then, once you get home, introduce them to the queen. Since they're from the same area the workers might have similar pheromones and accept the queen, then you'll immediately have a colony! This is called worker boosting and is done to raise Cataulacus sometimes. If the queen is torn to shreds, just buy another and try again.

If you don't want to go through all that effort, you can also buy around a dozen queens (or more depending on the size of the nest) and put them together. The, the rate of egg laying will go up exponentially. If they begin fighting, the dead ones can become food for the remaining queens so you don't even have to feed them.

Don't got time & money for that right now. Don't know anywhere that has Queens to catch. Waiting for the eggs to hatch. Does it need a heat pad if it's on top of the nest in a test tube inside the out world?

 

Depends what your ambient room temperature is. 80-85 °F is ideal. Personally I'd put some sugar water or humming bird nectar on a q-tip and put it in the test tube. Just leave it there for a day, so the queen can perhaps fill up once. Then just leave her alone until the first workers eclose. No need to feed protein, she most likely won't take it.

 

I'm a strong proponent of feeding even fully claustral queens if you're familiar with the species. While in nature they don't feed, they also have a high mortality rate and the fattest/healthiest queens have the highest chance of survival. Some of us don't get that choice. 

 

I fed my Placodops 01 twice during founding. Once before closing up the test tube entrance(with sand) in a tubs and tubes setup(inside a outworld, with the outworld in a shoebox for darkness and consistent temperature).  Then one more time after I notice cocoons and new eggs, she took the nectar both times on a q-tip placed on a tin foil. After her workers hatched I just setup liquid feeders and the workers did the rest.