94 replies to this topic

[AntsAreUs]

 

Parasitic Lasius queens seem so neat!

 

I am planning/hoping to catch some this August!

 

Keep us updated!

 

Wish you luck!!!

-AntsMaryland

 

 

No need to wait until August, once it starts warming up usually parasitic Lasius queens are all over the place trying to find colonies for several weeks (often from May thru July here I've observed).  I find it easier to find them in the Spring scurrying around then during the Fall flights.

 

I would like to disagree with it being easier to find them during spring. I find huge clusters of Lasius claviger specifically and tons of Lasius umbratus queens right before winter. Lasius latipes seems to fly in a specific time period and tend to congregate in open areas afterwards for that day. Although you can still find those clusters into spring, most will end up dying.

Edited by AntsAreUs, June 10 2018 - 1:23 PM.

[AnthonyP163]

This colony died soon after the last update, for some reason I can't get them to lay eggs much.

[AnthonyP163]

9-8-18

 

In late August and on September 1st, there were large flights of Lasius sp.

 

I caught 5 Lasius latipes queens and 2 Lasius murphyi queens. In order to not ruin the population of Lasius latipes since they're supposedly endangered, I limited myself at five queens. There were over 2 dozen that I had seen on September 1st. 

 

Some of the queens did poorly with the introduction to workers and used all of their energy to attack them and consequently dying overnight, even after staying in the fridge for 6 hours and being given a dead worker 2 hours before introduction. Right now, I have one L. latipes queen who has two host workers, one L. murphyi queen with two host workers, an L. latipes queen that won't stop killing all of her workers, and an L. murphyi queen that also wants to kill it's own host workers.

 

Lasius murphyi queen and workers:

Sorry about photo quality, the camera wants to focus on the test tube and the ants blend in a lot.

 

Here's the Lasius latipes queen with one of her host workers

 

I'll update within the next few months, these queens may overwinter before getting workers or even laying eggs.

[EthanNgo678]

Update?

[AnthonyP163]

6/19/19

 

The queens from the previous update did well at first, but the two queens which had accepted host workers died over hibernation. I caught three more this year, and two have been unsuccessful and eventually died despite feeding. The third queen got 4 host workers to start, but 3 of them died within one week of the first feeding. 

[AnthonyP163]

9/21/19

 

In early September, a large flight of Lasius happened. during the few days where they flew, I was able to catch a few Lasius parasites.

 

As of right now, I have two Lasius claviger queens and a Lasius latipes queen. 

 

It seems clear to me that Lasius claviger queens are usually rejecting and aggressive toward workers until after hibernation. Lasius latipes, on the other hand, is probably the easiest parasite from the genus Lasius which I've worked with. I was able to get two queens to accept the workers scent, the workers and queens were both docile toward eachother, the workers being frightened of the queens but the queens did not attack. Eventually, the scents seemed to merge and I was able to slowly introduce more workers from the same host colony of Lasius neoniger. One of the queens died for no reason, so I gave her workers to the surviving one, seen below. 

 

This is when the queen had just four host workers. They were fed sunburst ant nectar. 

 

Here's now, when she has around a dozen workers.

[Kaelwizard]

That’s l. Latipes

[AnthonyP163]

That’s l. Latipes

Indeed.

[ANTdrew]

That’s what he said it was, so you nailed it, Kael!

[Kaelwizard]

That’s what he said it was, so you nailed it, Kael!

didn’t see that he said it lol

[AnthonyP163]

9/27/19

 

The Lasius latipes queen has died, for seemingly no reason. The queen was not injured and died in a standing position. 

 

I caught a few Lasius cf. aphidicola and Lasius cf. speculiventris queens earlier this week, and got host workers for them as well. I have realized that parasitic Lasius may be better hosts for founding than some hosts, depending on both the species of the queen and the host workers. I have gotten a Lasius cf. aphidicola queen to accept a Lasius americanus worker, and a Lasius claviger queen to accept parasitic workers (L. claviger workers?). The parasitic workers were able to become hosts within a few hours, and I am trying daily to introduce workers to all of my queens. It seems crucial that the workers cannot be aggressive to the queen or they will end up fighting. 

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Don't throw her away. I've heard that these queens tend to play dead very convincingly.

[AnthonyP163]

12-14-19

 

Some of the ants which I put in hibernation during late September or early October have been taken out this week. I have brought out a few of the Lasius social parasite queens. There's a few queens with 1-3 workers, and the queens without workers have been introduced to a large amount of Lasius americanus workers which I caught in September. Upon putting them together, little to no aggression was seen. With one of the two queens introduced to workers, she killed one worker and by the next morning, the other had joined her.

 

After this worker had become the queens host, I attached the rest of the workers (40 or so), and they promptly inspected and accepted her. Another day later, and the queen had moved in with all of those workers. So I have a Lasius cf. aphidicola queen with ~40 workers and a Lasius claviger queen with ~10, as well as the queens who got small amounts of workers before hibernation. Hopefully some of these colonies will be successful.

 

My introduction process was to introduce small amounts of workers at a time, and then introduce more after that until the queen had plenty of hosts. Hibernation might make the entire process easier. I will soon post a video of the queen with 40 host workers. 

[ANTdrew]

Awesome. I drank the Kool-aid and decided to actually try this with a L. claviger queen this year.

[AnthonyP163]

1-22-20

 

Recently, the Lasius aphidicola queen has laid a huge batch of eggs and has some larvae. I feed them often and the reaction is cool to watch. I am excited about keeping these parasites in captivity, and hoping they will be successful.

 

Here's some pictures. It's hard to take a picture of the queen since she's always surrounded by workers.

 

[NickAnter]

I so badly want some parasitic Lasius. Apparently they fly in Trabuco Canyon at night in June and July. And good luck with these!

[ANTdrew]

I so badly want some parasitic Lasius. Apparently they fly in Trabuco Canyon at night in June and July. And good luck with these!

Parasitic Lasius are almost all I ever see. I’ve seriously found 60 or more this year, even a couple on New Year’s Day.

[NickAnter]

I so badly want some parasitic Lasius. Apparently they fly in Trabuco Canyon at night in June and July. And good luck with these!

Parasitic Lasius are almost all I ever see. I’ve seriously found 60 or more this year, even a couple on New Year’s Day.

So jealous. What I really want is orange Lasius, and the easiest way to get that, it seems, is with parasites.

Edited by NickAnter, January 24 2020 - 7:01 AM.

[AnthonyP163]

1-26-20

 

The colony from the last update is doing awesome. The queen has laid dozens more eggs, and there's some large larvae too. 

 

[madbiologist]

Wow, I hope I can catch some lasius parasites this year, I found a ton last year, but I never was able to get them started right.

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