16 replies to this topic

[NotAxo]

I recently noticed that four of the nanitics in my Carebara diversa colony have passed away, leaving five still alive. I plan to check on them again later this week or possibly tonight to assess their current condition. To support them, I've provided a sugarwater-soaked Q-tip, which I sealed with cotton.

 

The queen appears to be doing fine, and the other workers seem healthy too. There is some black mold with spots on the cotton in the test tube, but thankfully, it hasn't affected the queen or the water.

 

Should I take any action regarding the mold, or is it generally harmless? Thank you for your advice and understanding.

[ANTdrew]

A bit of mold on the cotton is usually not a problem.

[NotAxo]

I just checked on them, and they are down to 3 workers; unfortunately, 2 more have passed away.

[kiedeerk]

Did you buy the colony or you founded the queen yourself? C Diversa first batch of nanitics are quite large probably 30-50 or more. If you only have 10 workers and there is something wrong. The worker life span is very short so they really need to replenish their workforce or else the colony will fail. Hopefully you have many workers eclosing soon.

[NotAxo]

The colony queen was sourced from under a rock about 30kms from my house. The brood pile is small and number of pupa is about 12 more. Should I introduce some live minot workers to the queen from a local wild colony?

[NotAxo]

I don't think the queen is feeding eggs. She seem to lay trophic eggs and seems like the larvae eat the eggs, which I've seen in my M. brunnea queen

[Artisan_Ants]

I don't think the queen is feeding eggs. She seem to lay trophic eggs and seems like the larvae eat the eggs, which I've seen in my M. brunnea queen

Try not to disturb her too much. I've heard the C. diversa get's stressed easily by light and disturbance. I would suggest posting some pictures so we can really see what's going on over here. Worker ants don't just die after a day with no explanation so posting some will help us get a better picture of what's happening to your queen and colony.

Edited by Artisan_Ants, July 21 2024 - 9:10 AM.

[The_Gaming-gate]

Quarantine corpses and or any infected-looking ants to check if they sprout fungus. They f they do, move th into a moldless nest.

[NotAxo]

There's no mold on the workers, I already tested it. They stay in pristine condition.

[Artisan_Ants]

There's no mold on the workers, I already tested it. They stay in pristine condition.

It could also be mites. Sometimes you can’t see them right off but if you look closely you might find them. If it’s mites that are the problem then we can obviously tell that they are carnivorous and the bad type since you have some dead workers. Mites look like little white specks on the body of the ant.

[SYUTEO]

Since you sourced them from under rock, it is possible they have been stressed too much from you collecting them. Carebara diversa is also sensitive to soil changes so that could also be reason.

[NotAxo]

I caught the queen under a rock with only eggs. She abandoned the eggs and laid new ones.

I don't see any mutes after close inspection but there are some good news

The colony had one more death, but they have 8 workers currently. They seem to be bouncing back. I will put them in a tiny outworld and feed some sugars and a small cricket tonight

On second thought, maybe no outworld for now

Oh I am soo happy to see the new workers!!!

Thanks for the help guys! We may have averted a dead colony, but I'm not too sure at this point for 100% averted

Edited by NotAxo, July 22 2024 - 2:48 AM.

[Artisan_Ants]

I caught the queen under a rock with only eggs. She abandoned the eggs and laid new ones.
I don't see any mutes after close inspection but there are some good news
The colony had one more death, but they have 8 workers currently. They seem to be bouncing back. I will put them in a tiny outworld and feed some sugars and a small cricket tonight
On second thought, maybe no outworld for now
Oh I am soo happy to see the new workers!!!
Thanks for the help guys! We may have averted a dead colony, but I'm not too sure at this point for 100% averted

I’m hoping your colony will do well. I always wanted to see this species. Currently I’m in India as well for vacation but I’ve never seen this species before around here. I remember back in the US when I had an S. molesta colony in had it’s entire worker count die off because I forgot to feed them, and then bounce back on heat. Maybe you can expect faster growth if you put them on heat as maybe the temperature is off a little bit from recommended temperatures in their setup for them to develop. All in all, good luck once again!.

[JustabirdfromFlorida]

Well good luck, i am here in India for vacation as well at my Grandma's house, when i visited my other grandparents i saw HUGE Carebara diversa majors, hopefully you get to that stage    

Edited by JustabirdfromFlorida, July 23 2024 - 3:17 AM.

[SYUTEO]

I caught the queen under a rock with only eggs. She abandoned the eggs and laid new ones.

I don't see any mutes after close inspection but there are some good news

The colony had one more death, but they have 8 workers currently. They seem to be bouncing back. I will put them in a tiny outworld and feed some sugars and a small cricket tonight

On second thought, maybe no outworld for now

Oh I am soo happy to see the new workers!!!

Thanks for the help guys! We may have averted a dead colony, but I'm not too sure at this point for 100% averted

I see.Good luck with them then! C.diversa should grow fast so you should a lot more workers in the coming months.

[NotAxo]

Thank you guys for your wishes! There were 2 more deaths but I think they can make it. All of the pupa have emerged and now a total of 6 workers. There's about a bit more than a dozen larvae that should pupate soon and a ton of eggs waiting.

They treated the cricket limb as trash and maybe they did the same to the sugar water I gave them.

I actually don't use heat for my colonies, they are pretty warm where I am. I may make a chicken egg incuabtor thing as a science project (not for eggs) but after that, I may be able to use that and store founding colonies in it.

Edited by NotAxo, July 24 2024 - 6:39 AM.

[NotAxo]

One more death. I've put the colony away in the secure area, and locked it for extra security, from me...