2 replies to this topic

[Jamiesname]

Hey guys, just a quick question. I caught two camponotus pennsylvanicus queens this month (they shed their wings, but may not have mated), along with 48 various Lasius queens spanning 4 species, 2 of which are parisitic while the other two are Lasius neoiger and Lasius flavus. I followed several of these around once they landed and physically watched them rip off their wings so that I had the highest chances of catching mated queens. My question is, should I toss them into hibernation, or would they lay eggs before their hibernation period in the wild? I caught them on Sept. 12th and not a single queen out of the 27 non parasitic species I kept has laid an egg.

I fed the Camponotus pennsylvanicus honey and sugar water on three separate occasions, and they actually ate their food on two of those occasions. I tried feeding apple, honey dipped cricket and freshly killed spiders and they wouldn't touch any protein, nor the Apple. I have not tried to feed the Lasius at this time.

[Jamiesname]

Any info?

[Scrixx]

I don't have those queens but from what I've seen here and on reddit.com/r/ants is that some species will hibernate through the winter first before they do anything else. Colonies also won't touch protein unless there are larvae. Adult ants don't really need it as they're done growing, maybe just a bit for maintenance. 

Edited by Scrixx, September 21 2017 - 3:09 PM.