15 replies to this topic

[Nathant2131]

7/5/17

 

7/4/17

~1:15 PM: I was at a pool in Methuen, MA. Beside the pool, there was a pool noodle on the ground that must have had somewhere between 25-50 Tetramorium caespitum queens in them, both alates and dealates (about a ratio of 50:50, of alates and dealates). When I poured them out of the noodle by bumping it against the hot ground, I realized only then that the queens were probably trying to escape the extreme heat of the stone ground. Within only a few minutes, 75% of the queens quickly burned to death. The ones who managed to find shelter before overheating however (like on top of small weeds growing in between the cracks) survived. I ended up with 5 dealates and 2 alates, collected individually with plastic test tubes plugged with cotton.

~7:00 PM: I dropped 5 dealates quickly, one by one, into the same glass 125 x 16mm test tube setup. They crowded the wet cotton and seemed quite peaceful towards each other. They had no problem climbing on each other.

 

 

~9:20 PM: I spot that there are already 4-6 eggs!

~10:15 PM: Remember the two leftover alates? (one of the alates only had wings on one side, by the way.) I dropped both of them, one by, one, into the group. It seemed that the alate with the missing wings, had it's remaining wings fall off only seconds before she dropped into the group of queens. It seemed that the new queens were very quickly accepted.

 

7/5/17

~7:20 AM: There are about 20-25 eggs! I couldn't believe how fast they got started.

Edited by Nathant2131, August 19 2017 - 7:07 PM.

[Nathant2131]

7/6/17

 

7/6/17

~6:30 PM: There are already dozens upon dozens of eggs. I am flabbergasted on how quick and determined these girls are, not to mention their flawless teamwork. Pretty sure it is safe to say that more than one queen is laying, and probably not a long shot that it's all of them. Also, the one alate still has her wings.

 

Photos taken 7/6/17, ~6:30 PM. I turned the tube to show the amount of eggs. If you think that's a lot for only 2 days, there are some eggs stacked on other eggs that aren't shown in the pic.

 

 

[Nathant2131]

7/9/17

 

I am going on vacation for an entire 28 days starting tomorrow. If the workers manage to eclose before I get back, they probably won't starve.

 

7/9/17

~4:00 PM: The egg count is still climbing.

 

Photos taken 7/9/17, ~400 PM.

 

 

[TKD102]

Either they will kill each other when the workers arrive or they aren't caespitum, they're tsushima.

[Cameron C. Thomas]

Either they will kill each other when the workers arrive or they aren't caespitum, they're tsushima.

 

Unicolonial polygyny has been documented in wild colonies of Tetramorium cf. caespitum / spE. That doesn't mean workers won't kill the queens anyway, but it's incorrect to make a species determination based solely on behavior.

 

Steiner FM, Schlick-Steiner BC, Buschinger A (2003) First record of unicolonial polygyny in Tetramorium cf. caespitum (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux 50:98-99.

[Nathant2131]

Can't wait to come back to these girls Who knows, maybe workers will have eclosed before I get back. But I can only imagine all of the eggs and larvae they have right now...

[Nathant2131]

8/9/17

 

8/7/17

Night: I get home from vacation. There are only 3 queens remaining, and there's lots of pupae but no workers. The dead queens looked like they were placed in the front end of the tube, and all the queens are dissasambled and mangled. Also, the queen with the wings survived. However, her remaining wing(s) looked like a piece was taken off. That's when I realize the missing wing piece was in the heap of dead queens. I believe the seemingly aggresive death of the queens and the chunk of wing is more than enough evidence to say that these queens were fighting...

 

8/9/17

~4:00 PM: Took pictures. I also realized in this moment that there was this strange residue on the walls and floor of the tube. It looked like dried entraills... man, it looked like a horror story took place sometime over the month. In the third picture it looked like one of the dead queens was dragged, and one of her open wounds were touching the tube the entire time...

 

You can also see how neat they are with their brood arrangement... eggs and larvae are grouped seperate from the pupae.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nathant2131]

I also just realized there are a few larvae and pupae (and maybe eggs too, not sure) hiding under the wet cotton.

[Volant]

Are the 3 remaining queen fine? As in, were they wounded? Other than the winged queen.

Edited by Volant, August 9 2017 - 12:16 PM.

[Nathant2131]

Are the 3 remaining queen fine? As in, were they wounded? Other than the winged queen.

None of them look they they have a scratch from the naked eye.

[T.C.]

I wasn't aware you had a multi-queen tetratorium colony as well? Wish I could take photos like yours.

[ctantkeeper]

The white streak in the picture is not blood or viscera, but rather waste produced by one of the queens. In some cases, infertile queens with defecate in large amounts during the founding period, quickly draining their fat reserves (metabolized from their now-useless wing muscles). It is possible that an infertile queen either was killed or died prematurely as a result. White streaks do not necessarily mean one of your queens was infertile, although that is usually the case when they produce waste in higher volumes. This is a common sight for anyone who has a colony that keeps midden piles and special "waste / defecation chambers" in their nests.

[Nathant2131]

Well I was on vacation for about 7 days and I got back yesterday. I got home to roughly 10 workers. But the result was a slow massacre that started the day I got back.

 

Throughout today and yesterday all 3 remaining queens kept picking on one another and dragging each other around from the trash pile to the nest, but it was slow and not like an all-out battle. Limbs and antennae were cut and lost. It seemed that the partly alated queen did her best to come out dominant, and she seemed to be the one with most control. The workers were confused. Some queens they attacked, some they didn't. But it was very hard for me to make out what was happening regarding the workers and honestly everything else that unraveled.

 

Today I found the alate queen curled up and dead looking after what looked like a victory for her, with both other queens either dead or clinging to life in the trash pile. The workers are now orphaned.

 

An intriguing yet morbid end to this experiment.

[Californian Anter]

Well I was on vacation for about 7 days and I got back yesterday. I got home to roughly 10 workers. But the result was a slow massacre that started the day I got back.

 

Throughout today and yesterday all 3 remaining queens kept picking on one another and dragging each other around from the trash pile to the nest, but it was slow and not like an all-out battle. Limbs and antennae were cut and lost. It seemed that the partly alated queen did her best to come out dominant, and she seemed to be the one with most control. The workers were confused. Some queens they attacked, some they didn't. But it was very hard for me to make out what was happening regarding the workers and honestly everything else that unraveled.

 

Today I found the alate queen curled up and dead looking after what looked like a victory for her, with both other queens either dead or clinging to life in the trash pile. The workers are now orphaned.

 

An intriguing yet morbid end to this experiment.

Well that's too bad. Reminds me a bit of Solenopsis Invicta founding behavior; after the workers eclose they kill most of the queens, but usually the most productive queen is left alive. 

[ctantkeeper]

 

Well I was on vacation for about 7 days and I got back yesterday. I got home to roughly 10 workers. But the result was a slow massacre that started the day I got back.

 

Throughout today and yesterday all 3 remaining queens kept picking on one another and dragging each other around from the trash pile to the nest, but it was slow and not like an all-out battle. Limbs and antennae were cut and lost. It seemed that the partly alated queen did her best to come out dominant, and she seemed to be the one with most control. The workers were confused. Some queens they attacked, some they didn't. But it was very hard for me to make out what was happening regarding the workers and honestly everything else that unraveled.

 

Today I found the alate queen curled up and dead looking after what looked like a victory for her, with both other queens either dead or clinging to life in the trash pile. The workers are now orphaned.

 

An intriguing yet morbid end to this experiment.

Well that's too bad. Reminds me a bit of Solenopsis Invicta founding behavior; after the workers eclose they kill most of the queens, but usually the most productive queen is left alive. 

 

This behavior is actually known as pleometrophic founding.

[T.C.]

Mine are up to 20 workers and all queens have showed no signs of aggression.