4 replies to this topic

[escoscottyb]

I received a starter colony of Camponotus sansabeanus  a couple months ago, but some Argentinian ants raided the founding formicarium and killed the brood and workers.   I moved the queen into a small Tarheel ants formicarium and placed a 5 watt reptile heater underneath half of it.  From what I can see, she hasn't been laying any eggs, and it's been almost two months.  She has decent humidity and access to sugar water.  Any thoughts on what to do or what's going on?

[AntsMaryland]

Considering that she had workers which were killed, their is not much hope for her. She most likely doesn't have enough energy in her to lay any more eggs and care for her brood. The queen will become dependent on the workers once she has her first nanatics. I don't think she will be able to care for them even if she manages to lay some eggs when they turn into larvae. You could try catching a little bit of brood and workers from a wild camponotus sansabeanus colony and hope they get along with eachother. Good Luck. But the chances of her survival are low... Best Regards!

 

-AntsMaryland

[FeedTheAnts]

 You could try catching a little bit of brood and workers from a wild camponotus sansabeanus colony and hope they get along with eachother. Good Luck. But the chances of her survival are low... Best Regards!

 

-AntsMaryland

Just catch brood, never add workers to a queen.

[Shaye]

You could try catching a little bit of brood and workers from a wild camponotus sansabeanus colony and hope they get along with eachother. Good Luck. But the chances of her survival are low... Best Regards!

-AntsMaryland

Just catch brood, never add workers to a queen.

Well.. That all depends in my opinion. I have in the past captured 50-80 workers from 3 colonies, gotten them to accept eachother, then gotten them to accept a freshly mated queen that I caught building her founding chamber. I gave it to a relative of mine in a dirt-filled 20 gallon aquarium (after a few months), and to this day it is doing well. Almost all species are 'decievable' given enough experimentation. I haven't had luck with Myrmecocystus species though. A hardy ant like camponotus species should not be too difficult to do though, perhaps.

Edited by Shaye, July 29 2017 - 12:56 PM.

[escoscottyb]

Thanks for the replies everyone.  Not a great prognosis.  I'm of course going on the theory she's not laying eggs.  I've uploaded 3 photos of what may be eggs, but I'm too much of a novice to tell. Thanks for the help and any opinions.

Attached Files

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