7 replies to this topic

[ctantkeeper]

For the last month and a half I have been perfecting my rearing of Tetramorium caespitum (a species that had given me trouble when first starting out). However due to a flaw in the atom C that they were currently housed in and fights among the remaining queens (the colony originally had 12, but this has eventually boiled down to three due to pleometrophic founding.), the number of workers has dropped from 87 to roughly 67 and in a recent scuffle between two queens, the victor lost 2 of it's legs and crippled one and the other (which was removed manually by me) had lost a single leg, had both of her antennae trimmed (not all the way to the scape, so the do still function properly.) and now walks in a "jittering manor" and continually bobs her abdomen up and down (stridulation). The exiled queen was placed in a tube with a temporary water source for safe keeping and I'm wondering what I should do with her and the victor, since both have been greatly weakened and since this colony is very valuable to me (they have an absolute TON of brood and this Tetramorium colony is the most prosperous one I've ever had and understandably I would like to keep it that way.). Any Ideas or comments on the state of things would be great. Just to know what you guys would do when confronted with this situation would be fine.

Edited by ctantkeeper, August 25 2016 - 5:57 PM.

[drtrmiller]

Pleometrophic founding colonies must be provided a large foraging area.  Those rejected queens confined to a small formicarium will inevitably create conflict, and frequently permanently injure the more dominant queen, which can diminish her life expectancy or cause other difficulties.

 

All in all, I would recommend limiting natural monogyne founding colonies to 2 or 3 queens (greater numbers have diminishing returns), and then separating the queens out within a week or two after the first nanitics eclose.

Edited by drtrmiller, August 25 2016 - 9:38 PM.

[ctantkeeper]

thanks for the reply terry. This attempt was more or less an experiment on how a larger population of queen would impact colony development in the long run (I often keep the number of queens per setup roughly 2-6.). I often leave the queens together after the founding period until they eventually fight each over until one remains or until all are exiled until the dominant queen is left by herself. If you have any recommendations on how to deal with this situation after the fact, I would love to hear them.

[drtrmiller]

Yes, you can anesthetize the colony with CO2 or FlyNap, remove the injured queen, and use precision forceps, a microscope, and cyanoacrylate to glue appendages back on.

 

Short of major surgery, there is no discernible remedy.

Edited by drtrmiller, August 25 2016 - 7:19 PM.

[ctantkeeper]

the legs wouldn't have any functionality, right??? seems like quite a drastic measure for just a small aesthetic issue and one with a massive margin for error. what I am truly wondering is whether or not her injuries are severe enough to slow down her reproductive capabilities. Although I greatly appreciate the effort, I think it's a bit too risky...

[drtrmiller]

Older queens that are swollen with eggs and relatively immobile on their own, are frequently dragged around by her retinue of workers.

 

While there is not enough research to speculate on the outcome superficial injuries may have on a young queen and colony, it is safe to say that such injuries cannot be beneficial.  As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Edited by drtrmiller, August 25 2016 - 9:40 PM.

[Mdrogun]

Whenever I have colonies that have their queen die I kill all the workers and then put a new queen in with their brood. The queen then helps a few workers eclose and then they are a colony again. It's not an ideal outcome but it's better than having to start all over again.

[EstuaryAnts]

Whenever I have colonies that have their queen die I kill all the workers and then put a new queen in with their brood. The queen then helps a few workers eclose and then they are a colony again. It's not an ideal outcome but it's better than having to start all over again.

poor queen and workers...