4 replies to this topic

[noebl1]

Quick history; my L. alienus queen died not long after waking from hibernation, leaving a couple workers from last season and a small egg pile that went thru hibernation.  After 2 - 3 weeks I introduced an L. umbratus queen, and the two workers accepted her.  Lost one worker due to drowning, so down to one.

 

Here's the behaviour I observed last night.  The L. umbratus queen was significantly more active than normal. Typically she moves around a bit here and there, but she was moving around the tube quite a bit.  I noticed she was taking a very specific size of larvae in her mandibles, would feverishly move it around in her mandibles, her antenna furiously moving as well, then put it down.  Sometimes place it away from the rest of the brood pile.  In the time I watched she did this probably 6 or 7 times (I had a toddler on my lap, so could only watch so much.)  The worker would follow her, pick the larvae back up, and put it back.  There are several sizes of larvae, and she seemed to be only selecting one specific size to rearrange.  My first inclination was she was eating them, but she looked to be carefully moving them around in her mandibles before moving them around the tube under the foil with their food.   

 

This is my first season with Lasius, none-the-less a parasitic queen.  Not sure if this behaviour is typical.  Thanks!

Edited by noebl1, May 14 2017 - 7:42 AM.

[Kevin]

It seems that she is trying to collect the host's scent. Even though the workers accepted her, eventually they would have found out and killed the parasitic queen.

[noebl1]

That's not a bad idea.  Just because I haven't seen it before, doesn't mean she hasn't done it prior to keep the scent going.  Next morning she was back to normal and pretty sedate.  Didn't really notice anything out of place with the brood pile either.

[Batspiderfish]

I've assumed that parasitic queens will rob host larvae of their protein so that she may lay their own eggs. They seem to be capable of cleaning brood, although they only appear to be able to open cocoons under unique circumstances. I've observed it happening with Lasius subumbratus when there were two founding queens -- perhaps subordinate queens can be enticed to perform some worker duties. It would feel peculiar if most single queens would rather die than open a cocoon if no workers are present. Cocoon-opening could be a trait unique to certain species.

 

Edited by Batspiderfish, May 15 2017 - 8:05 AM.

[noebl1]

What was interesting was the ones I saw her manipulating, they all seemed to be about the same size.  There are significantly larger (assuming getting close to pupation?), and some smaller larvae from this season eggs still there from the previous queen.  I have no way of knowing if she's fertile or even laid yet due to the existing brood pile (and white cotton.)  

Edited by noebl1, May 15 2017 - 8:04 AM.