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[ctantkeeper]

Hey guys, I own a year and a half old L. neoniger colony with 2 queens and approx. 180 workers. After hibernation, I noticed many of the larvae have been changing to either a metallic silver color or a sickly-yellow color before eventually being fed to other, healthier larvae. This only seems to occur in the last few instars and isn't due to dehydration, since their setup is watered regularly. They feed upon a diet consisting of equal parts sugar water or sunburst ant nectar and wax worms. They are fed every other day and often recruit tons of workers with a few minutes or so. I figured that since they have been kept in the same setup for roughly a year now, it may be due to an over abundance of formic acid (This colony tends to be easily agitated and I hate to admit it, but I disrupt them a bit more often than I probably should.). I just moved them to a new mini hearth (this time with more space) to see if that was the source of their problem. I have also started feeding them meal worms as well in order to see whether or not their current diet might be the culprit. As far as I can tell, their is no evidence of mites. If anyone has experience dealing with this sort of problem, please let me know.