5 replies to this topic

[MegaMyrmex]

I caught a new C. subbarnatus colony today and I'm trying to move them into a new nest. The colony has 2 qieens but it doesn't look like this'll stay like this any longer. One of the queens is quite stubborn and refused to move into their new nest site but the workers were trying to move her. They kept biting her antennae and pulling on her legs and brought her to the main nest area. It wemt on like this for a few hours but when I chrcked on them the workers seemed to be actively attacking her, some of which even tried to cut her gaster off! They are now proceeding to drag her out of the nest and she seems to be fighting along with the workers. They keep assuming aggressive poses to one another and are now spread- eagle and attacking her. Wht should I do? What's happening? Should I be concerned?
Edit- now they're trying to attack both queens, what do I do??

Edited by MegaMyrmex, April 4 2018 - 4:16 PM.

[FeedTheAnts]

I caught a new C. subbarnatus colony today and I'm trying to move them into a new nest. The colony has 2 qieens but it doesn't look like this'll stay like this any longer. One of the queens is quite stubborn and refused to move into their new nest site but the workers were trying to move her. They kept biting her antennae and pulling on her legs and brought her to the main nest area. It wemt on like this for a few hours but when I chrcked on them the workers seemed to be actively attacking her, some of which even tried to cut her gaster off! They are now proceeding to drag her out of the nest and she seems to be fighting along with the workers. They keep assuming aggressive poses to one another and are now spread- eagle and attacking her. Wht should I do? What's happening? Should I be concerned?
Edit- now they're trying to attack both queens, what do I do??

Are Campnonotus subbarbatus polygamous? Speaking from experience you could have accidentally collected queen(s) that were not actually from the right colony. I know I have in the past collected some workers and queens without noticing that they weren't actually together. Colonies can sometimes be packed very close to each other in wood.

[PwnerPie]

Dang, separate the queens, and have the workers in the middle? between the 2 tubes. And let the workers decide which queen they want to serve? lol. Camponotus are very rarely polygamous, its possible they were working together but since there was movement (you catching them) their feels have changed. Now some workers are only like 1 queen, so they are attacking the other.

 

Could also just try to load them up with food right at the entrance and see what happens. Fat ants = happy ants.

[MegaMyrmex]

Good suggestion, all of ghe ants seem quite thin. I found the colony in a sticm 1.5 inches thick and about 7 inches long, slightly hollowed out in the center. They very likely could have both been founding queens but they were found so close to the original colony that I can't say for syre if they are or aren't part of the larger colony. I have the colony in my fridge to hopefully cool them all down so that they'll be much calmer. Stress might play a role, the exact same thing happened with a much larger C. chromaiodes colony last year in which the workers eventually killed the queen. I'll try feeding them up some more and I'll keep them in the fridge for another hour or so.

[PwnerPie]

Good suggestion, all of ghe ants seem quite thin. I found the colony in a sticm 1.5 inches thick and about 7 inches long, slightly hollowed out in the center. They very likely could have both been founding queens but they were found so close to the original colony that I can't say for syre if they are or aren't part of the larger colony. I have the colony in my fridge to hopefully cool them all down so that they'll be much calmer. Stress might play a role, the exact same thing happened with a much larger C. chromaiodes colony last year in which the workers eventually killed the queen. I'll try feeding them up some more and I'll keep them in the fridge for another hour or so.

I don't grab already founded colonies from the wild. Too many ants die before they can even start the founding stage, not good for us to grab ones that made it. I'm sure even us grabbing recently mated alates cause some impact, hopefully this can be mitigated by the fact they will possibly be released at some point once they get their workers. Care for the environment! Gotta be a healthy population of native ants out there to battle the invasive species!

[AntsMaryland]

 

Good suggestion, all of ghe ants seem quite thin. I found the colony in a sticm 1.5 inches thick and about 7 inches long, slightly hollowed out in the center. They very likely could have both been founding queens but they were found so close to the original colony that I can't say for syre if they are or aren't part of the larger colony. I have the colony in my fridge to hopefully cool them all down so that they'll be much calmer. Stress might play a role, the exact same thing happened with a much larger C. chromaiodes colony last year in which the workers eventually killed the queen. I'll try feeding them up some more and I'll keep them in the fridge for another hour or so.

I don't grab already founded colonies from the wild. Too many ants die before they can even start the founding stage, not good for us to grab ones that made it. I'm sure even us grabbing recently mated alates cause some impact, hopefully this can be mitigated by the fact they will possibly be released at some point once they get their workers. Care for the environment! Gotta be a healthy population of native ants out there to battle the invasive species!

 

However, when catching dealates, i doubt it causes any or HIGHLY minimal effects to the environment. As the likelihood of the queens we catch, probably would not have survived in the wild.