34 replies to this topic

[T.C.]

Multi-queen Solenopsis invicta colony tests and experiment(s)

 

Whilst in Florida, I seen many Solenopsis invicta flights occurring, some of the largest flights I have ever seen of any species, and with it came queens crawling about everywhere. Originally I had no intentions on collecting these invasive beasts and would make an effort to step on them. However I came upon one spot where I noticed these queens digging founding chambers together. I was unaware that this species was Polygyne at all, however as it turns out they can be. My floridian friend who has "kept fire ants" had never prior seen colonies with more than one queen in this region, so we wanted to see if their Polygynous abilities contributed to their invasive craziness here. Me and him also have a few other experimental purposes for these colonies which is why we have a few setups. My buddy who will be keeping these colonies with him, is interested in studying how RIFA were able to successfully become so invasive. Although we all have a pretty good, general idea of why they are so invasive, he wants to study them more.  These queens all laid eggs 24 hours after capture.

(These colonies where caught in Florida, and will remain in Florida.)

 

Colony A: Mulitple Queens

 

Colony B: Mulitple Queens

 

Colony C: Mulitple Queens

 

Colony D: Mulitple Queens

 

Colony E: Mulitple Queens

 

Colony F: Single Queen

 

Colony G: Single Queens

 

( Colony F and G not shown. )

 

Edited by T.C., April 15 2018 - 7:01 PM.

[123LordOfAnts123]

For a wealth of information on this species see here: https://www.bio.fsu....ty-id=tschinkel

Based on my experience and many publications, the polygynous variant is noticeably skinnier than the monogynous form. Both will happily found colonies via pleometrosis, but only one type will actually remain polygynous.

[T.C.]

Talk about egg laying machines. No wonder they are able to reproduce so quickly, that egg amount is crazy. These will be good candidate colonies for testing out the formicariums I'm gonna build.

 

 

 

 

This wing pile shouts these where pool caught queens. Surprisingly all shedded their wings in the test tubes.

 

[Barristan]

Look at all these beauties.

[AntsTexas]

k-ool, good luck!!

[antnest8]

love to see what happens

[BobJ]

If they're monogyne they will still work together as a group to found a new colony, but queens will die off one by one until there's only one left.  I don't have any experience with polygyne invicta queens to say one way or the other as to how they cope in crowded founding chambers.  Either way you end up with a lot of ants FAST!  Good luck.

[YsTheAnt]

It's a shame these are so invasive, quite beautiful ants.

[sirjordanncurtis]

Can u do an egg count? 

Edited by sirjordanncurtis, April 19 2018 - 6:22 AM.

[T.C.]

Can u do an egg count? 

haha, no, not possible.

[BobJ]

It's been a little over a month since the start of this experiment, any updates on surviving queen counts?

[T.C.]

It's been a little over a month since the start of this experiment, any updates on surviving queen counts?

No workers yet, but here real soon. Two queens are dead in one of the tubes, and where moved to the front. It would appear the cause of death was from being attacked.

Edited by T.C., May 19 2018 - 5:00 PM.

[T.C.]

Here's a video of the colony from a while back.

 

[antnest8]

so cool

[T.C.]

Pupae... plenty of them

 

[dermy]

 

Pupae... plenty of them

 

 

That is a lot of brood for the first batch. It'll be interesting to see what happens when the workers eclose!

[Shifty189]

Hope you have a solid containment plan 😉

[T.C.]

First worker in one of the colonies eclosed today.

[T.C.]

Pictures....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Enderz]

TC how do you plan to house this huge colony of fire ants?