18 replies to this topic

[Someone]

Does anybody recognize which species is this ant? I think it's a queen because of a thick back where the flying muscles are, but I'm not sure.

If someone knows what species is it, is it hard to raise them and do they need any help before first workers? Because the body isn't that big.

[Artisan_Ants]

Formica indeed. Looks a lot like F. rufa or Formica rufa to me but it would help if you put your location which can be changed within your profile settings. Otherwise it looks a lot like F. rufa which is what I suspect it to be.

[Someone]

It's the Fyn island in Denmark. It's interesting that on my side of the island we have only Lasius, but today I was on the other side and they have all kinds of Formicas over there. And I was lucky enough to find this queen.

But now if I want to raise them, does it mean I have to go get workers from there also? I read that Rufa can't start colonies alone.

[Someone]

She is pretty chill though. She isn't doing this acid shooting pose Rufas do.

What is pretty cool is that she can see me from her test tube. If I put my finger next to it, she reacts to it and tracks it with her head as I move.

[IdioticMouse26]

Formica rufa either joins a pre-existing nest or is parasitic to formica fusca and formica cunicularia. I suggest you seek out nests of these species and take their callows(a recently enclosed worker) to put in her testube. 

[Artisan_Ants]

I did some more research on this and we might be able to consider (even though it is know to be rare in Denmark) it along with F. rufa. Both F. rufa and F. pratensis are very common across Europe and are Anyways yes both species will need hosts or workers (best obtained through ant pupae) when they found since they are temporary parasites. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need it from the same species exact species but rather can be done through different species within or with a species group close to the group your queen comes from (for example, both species come from the Formica rufa group of Formica whereas a neighboring group where hosts would or might work would be the Formica fusca group. Or you could just obtain Formica fusca itself). Now since I assume you are a new antkeeper, this makes completely no sense and if that’s so then here’s a summary:

Out of F. pratensis and F. rufa, your queen is most likely F. rufa since it is most widespread through the western and eastern areas of the Palaearctic region whereas F. pratensis is rare throughout the western Palaearctic region but common in the southern and eastern parts. Hosts for F. rufa include: F. fusca as the most common (found all across the Palaearctic region) F. rufa itself or any species within the F. rufa group (like pupae from an F. pratensis for example) and F. cunicularia according to AntWiki.
The best host species to introduce to this queen would be F. fusca but you can really use any Formica species

Important Note: Make sure you collect workers along with the brood as queens may not be able to properly eclose (open the pupae so the worker can emerge) but the workers can.

Once you’ve found your host species in order to introduce them, you would either have to kill a worker or give her a couple pupae so she can rub the scent on her so the host workers will think she is their aueen, and then introduce workers WITHOUT FORCE. Forcefully forcing workers towards queen may result in the queen’s death so it is best to be patient and let it happen on its own.

This is a lot of information but feel free to ask questions bit by bit if you are confused on something as keep parasitic species is very tricky and I haven’t succeeded with it but would like to try doing so. Good luck!

[Someone]

Thank you! It all makes sense, thank you for explanation. I hope I can find some pupae today as I will be in the area where I found queen.

 

I also heard about introducing host workers after putting them in a freezer for 60-120 seconds. Then while they recover, put them into the test tube so the queen gets used to them and they can't harm her, hopefully even forget their past scent and accept her.

 

Is it possible to start without pupae in case if I don't find any? If the queen gets some workers, is she going to start laying eggs?

 

Because I didn't have time to go find new workers yet, the queen was digging the exit cotton a lot, but I hope this delay didn't harm her.

[Artisan_Ants]

Without pupae, you can try obtaining callow workers (newly eclosed workers that looks cloudy white in color) but you wod once again need workers and pupae for that as you would have to look for one callow worker out of an entire colony which would be extremely tiring.

So the easiest way to do the callow method is by taking a large tub, putting your host workers with pupae and let the workers eclose the pupae after sometime (make sure to obtain a lot of pupae as then you will get callow workers more often). Make sure to feed the workers in the tub or container honey and carbs (protein like mealworms or crickets aren't necessary as there is no queen) and after this just check up hourly or daily as callows will just randomly show up. Introduce about 25 - 50 callows if you can do 50 (the more the better). The best part about this method is that the callows will imprint upon the queen and they will tend to her eggs when she is ready to lay them. Keep in mind that you have to be very patient with parasitic species as they are extremely hard and tricky to keep but after sometime, that's very easy to understand. All in all, hope this helps! Looking forward to seeing a colony of these guys!

[Someone]

I found one nest but couldn't get close to it. Only found workers, no pupae. I drowned them until they are unconscious and then separated into single containers. Hopefully they forget their nest smell and accept the new queen when I try to add them.

[Mettcollsuss]

To my knowledge, Formica pratensis queens are the most easily recognizable of the rufa-complex species — pratensis queens have an opaque, matte gaster, while other species' queens are at least somewhat shiny on the gaster. I'm inclined against pratensis here since the gaster appears a bit shiny in the second photo, although it doesn't appear shiny in the first one so a photo of the gaster with clearer lighting may help. F. rufa may be the most common in the region, but there are others, especially F. polyctena which can be very hard to separate from rufa.

[Stubyvast]

I found one nest but couldn't get close to it. Only found workers, no pupae. I drowned them until they are unconscious and then separated into single containers. Hopefully they forget their nest smell and accept the new queen when I try to add them.

Yep this should take about a week, during which you should definitely feed the queen plenty of sugar-water and a bit of protein. A way to find pupae is actually to place a slab rock on top of the nest, and they'll eventually assimilate it into a chamber, and place callow workers and pupae there, where it's nice and warm! Then you can just lift off the rock and take what you'd like! Apparently this works, but I've never tried this myself. I'd suggest you also integrate them together with the queen, if they're mature workers, via the refrigeration method, which will calm them all down during the process. I hope this colony works out for you!

[Someone]

The gaster is shiny. Here are a couple more angles of the queen: 

https://ibb.co/GFzQ75x

https://ibb.co/H7tLzYx

[Someone]

A little update on the colony: I found and collected a bit of pupae from a F. Rufa nest. I added a few to the queen and a few left with workers.

Today queen opened 3 pupae and now the colony has 3 healthy workers. There is still a lot of pupae which they hopefully open soon so the queen starts laying eggs.

[Stubyvast]

Nice! Well done, and glad it worked! Queen should begin laying her eggs very soon, and you'll be fine from there!

[Artisan_Ants]

A little update on the colony: I found and collected a bit of pupae from a F. Rufa nest. I added a few to the queen and a few left with workers.

Today queen opened 3 pupae and now the colony has 3 healthy workers. There is still a lot of pupae which they hopefully open soon so the queen starts laying eggs.

Glad to hear that your colony is doing well! The best part about parasitic Formica is the fact that you don't need already existing workers to enclose the brood like parasitic Lasius. Like what Stubyvast mentioned, it will only take a couple days (or at least a week) for her to lay some eggs and then you can start treating them like a normal colony. Good luck and I hope your colony does at it's best!

[Someone]

Thanks! I was gradually adding more pupae into the test tube because I found quite a lot in the small piece of dirt I took. She has around 18-20 workers already and has even more brood, so I moved her into a formicarium because they didn't have enough space in the test tube. 

I even saw her doing the motion with her gaster like she lays eggs, so maybe she has some already. Hopefully I can see better after they organize all the pupae in the rooms

[RushmoreAnts]

Good luck with her! I also have some parasitic Formica queens with pupae. The fact they accept pupae makes them a lot more convenient to found than parasitic Lasius who need adult workers. Will you be making a journal for her? I will follow.

[Someone]

That's great! Did your queens already unpack the first workers? I think I will just post some updates in this same thread occasionally.

Right now they are about 50 workers in and still have a lot of pupae left. They finished drinking a big drop of honey and are also eating a small piece of boiled chicken I gave them. It's kinda hard to get a photo without reflections in a vertical formicarium, but here is one. 

[Stubyvast]

Man that is a loot of pupae! That should keep 'em going for a long time on just host workers alone! Well done. 

 

Good luck with her! I also have some parasitic Formica queens with pupae. The fact they accept pupae makes them a lot more convenient to found than parasitic Lasius who need adult workers. Will you be making a journal for her? I will follow.

Yeah I've always wanted to keep Citronella ants, because of their distinctive yellow color, but yes, difficult to start-up. I assume you would just collect a few callow from the host Lasius nest, and, since they have a very indistinct nest smell, they can easily accept the parasitic queen (especially if you give the queen a little sample of dead host worker, just so she can lather up the scent).