12 replies to this topic

[Connectimyrmex]

Hi!
A few weeks ago, I've caught an ant queen that has absolutely amazed me. It looked like a small Solenopsis Geminata queen, but it had a smaller sized gaster and its abdomen wasn't striped. A few days later, excessive research revealed it to be a Tetramorium Bicarinatum queen (I couldn't see any spines though).

I then put it in a standard claustral setup (I copied the format of my very successful Ochetellus, Anoplolepis, and Technomyrmex nests), but it didn't lay a single egg. A week later I put a dead cricket for it to eat and, of course, it tore it apart, making my job as an ant keeper much harder (I've had bad luck with semi-claustral ants. My only other semi-claustral queen is a sterile Pseudomyrmex queen).  As of now, it has one larvae (it keeps on eating its other eggs). Does anyone have any advice on this picky species?

 

 

Thanks!

 

Bad sideways pic:

https://scratch.mit....ects/133427189/

Edited by Hawaiiant, November 29 2016 - 9:03 PM.

[Connectimyrmex]

She just ate her last larvae. If anyone can give help, that would be great. Any information about tetramorium as a whole would be useful too.

[Serafine]

[Connectimyrmex]

I think that the Tetramoriums in the video are claustral, so are slightly different than mine. Thanks, though!

[Serafine]

Try adding sugar and insects, make sure she has enough water and it is warm enough, I don't think you can do anything else.

[Connectimyrmex]

Thanks!

[Connectimyrmex]

Quick update on this feller. 

She died a long time ago (before I moved). I think that she was too difficult of a species to care for.

[cpman]

I think it may not have been T. bicarinatum. As far as I know, they are fully claustral. At least around here, the queens don't look much at all like S. geminata queens, so I'm thinking you may have had a different species. The spines on the ones I've seen are also pretty obvious.


I can post some photos of my pinned queen of this species.

[Connectimyrmex]

She didn't look too much like a Solenopsis Geminata queen, now that I think of it. I just had a really untrained eye.

I think she may have been some sort of Tetramorium. I can post some pics.

(By the way, she had spines, I saw them when using a macro lens)

[Kaelwizard]

They look like S. geminata but are semi-claustral.

[Baasy]

Tetramorium Bicarinatum queen are very very polygon, they find it hard, maybe even stressful being on there own, i have a rather small colony of them, multi queen, inbreeding , there's alot of genacide, they like to keep there queens young and productive , the queens of this ant species walk around as the workers do as there is so many queens in this type of inbreeding colony, so by chance you may have found a young queen wondering around near the nest, it probably have worked better if you got a few workers with her to help look after her,. my colony produces virgin females and males to keep the colony growing. just had to buy a wakooshi large saturn for them this year..

[Manitobant]

This thread is 5 years old…

[Ltislander]

This thread is 5 years old…

Sure is!