10 replies to this topic

[Mettcollsuss]

So, I have 5 founding Prenolepis imparis. Four of the setups only have one queen. The fifth has 4 queens, one of which is an unmated alate. All the one queen setups have pupae now, some are even darkening already. However, the polygynous colony is having trouble. They easily have the most brood, around a hundred or so eggs. However, they have not developed over the past month or two. Not once has a single larvae appeared in their setup, and the eggs The queens are all acting healthy. They are being kept in the same conditions as the others.

 

Reasons I can think of and possible solutions:

1. The alate. The presence of the alate might be hindering the development of the brood in some way (not sure how though). Solution: remove the alate from the setup.
2. Polygyny. I know this one seems silly since these are highly polygynous ants. I'm just trying to see what the differences between this setup and the other setup are. Maybe, possibly, the presence of multiple queens is stopping development (again, not sure how). Solution: separate all queens, give each a portion of the brood. Once workers arrive, fuse colonies back together.

Please let me know which one you think it is or if you have a different reason. Any help would be much appreciated!

[TennesseeAnts]

What temperature are they kept at?

[Mettcollsuss]

What temperature are they kept at?

75 to 80° Fahrenheit. My ant room is one of the warmest rooms in my house.

[TennesseeAnts]

That was quick! Aren't these supposed to be kept at cooler temps?

[Mettcollsuss]

Yes, but I don't have a way to cool them down. The best I can do is to just not heat them extra. Plus, the other colonies are doing fine in these temps, I'm just trying to find out what the problem is for that one setup.

[TennesseeAnts]

Hmm... Interesting. How cold is your refrigerator? You could probably put the polygynous colony in there, see if that helps. But take my advise lightly, I don't have much experience with Prenolepis.

[YsTheAnt]

Mine took a good 2.5 months for larvae to appear. Give them a month of alone time and see how it goes,

[FeedTheAnts]

Mine took a very long time to get a worker. For the first two months it didn't look like the brood was developing at all. I just didn't check on them and after a while they had a pupae all of a sudden. Once the worker eclosed it appears that the queens started to lay a lot more eggs and that their brood is developing faster.

[drtrmiller]

 

What temperature are they kept at?

75 to 80° Fahrenheit. My ant room is one of the warmest rooms in my house.

 

 

Well there you go.  They are boiling.  The temperature requirements are not suggestions, they are mandatory.

[noebl1]

Same experience here as well.  In my office where I keep my ants, the temperature is usually upper 70Fs to low 80Fs during the summer.  Took a couple of months before I had my first P. imparis workers last year.  They took almost as long as my Crematogaster sp.

[Major]

Yeah, put them in a cooler room. Also remove the unmated alate as it may just be laying trophy eggs. The other queens will probably waste their energy in moving and caring for these trophy/male eggs. Release her outside away from other colonies.