No duh they don't like other colonies. I've known tht since I was a kid. They band together if they are biologically "polygenous". I wouldn't go around answering peoples questions if I were you, because if you don't know simple things like that then you could mess up someone elses colonies too
Please don't be so rude. Besides he was honest and apologizing for his grammar in his first post.
Socalfireants, please read rule #5 - http://www.formicult...tion=boardrules
We help everyone, whether they are an international that are trying to use english the way we do over here, or any newbie.
Things that seem obvious to me, may not be obvious to others.
He may be very familiar with bees, since his sentences are referring to some aspects that apply to bees and not ants. I could tell you a lot about ants, but I can guarantee that some aspects of bee keeping would surprise me. I could also tell you the fine details between maintaining a freshwater planted tank with CO2 and a Saltwater tank with a sump and external skimmer. Just because one person knows something, doesn't mean that another person will.
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Back to the question.
Here is how I break it down:
He has a 2 year old Myrmica colony, with 300 workers and one queen.
1. He is wondering if he may get male and female alates (unmated queens and males) out of his brood this year.
2. He is wondering if a colony will produce both at the same time, and if they will mate with each other or if he needs outside males in order for the new queens to be fertile.
3. If he finds alate brood in a different colony where they have different colors, will the workers accept the new queens once mated.
4. Is it possible to get 2 different colors of workers.
Here are my thoughts.
1. The colony may or may not get alates this year. It varies year by year with the age of the colony, diet, and other environmental factors.
2. It is possible for a colony to produce both male and female alates. Myrmica may mate just outside of the nest with siblings, but usually in flight with un-related males. It is very difficult to breed most species of ants in captivity.
3. If they have different colors, they are likely a different species. Adult workers will usually not accept a queen of a different species. That being said, it may be possible to boost a new queen with pupae of a different Myrmica species and it will usually work. That is how many parasitic queens are boosted - with pupae of the same species, a closely related species, or a specific host species.
4. If you steal brood from a nest of a closely related species, and give it to a different colony they will usually accept it and raise it as their own. This is quite common in some species like Formica aserva, who often raid various serviformica species and steal pupae for slaves. It is not possible to introduce adult workers from different species and have them accept one another.
