6 replies to this topic

[2boi]

So i recently caught my first queen, she is either Camponotus Herculeanus or Ligniperda. This morning i was very happy to see that she had laid eggs during the night. I know Camponotus usually takes about 2 months to fully develop, that seems like a really long time for the queen to not eat, and don't the larvae need any food? Should i wait with feeding her until the workers are fully developed, or as soon as the eggs hatch?

[Mettcollsuss]

They do not need any food until adult workers arrive. The queens have evolved to live off fat reserves for this period and have enough to last a few months. The larvae are fed by the queen dissolving her no-longer-needed wing muscles into food. Feeding your queens will cause unnecessary stress and might cause them to eat their eggs.

[YsTheAnt]

I would follow Mettcollsuss' advice. Also, be sure to keep them warm! Development can be cut in half (or almost, to 1-1.5 months) at temperatures of 85 degrees Fahrenheit (compared to 2-2.5 months at room temperature).

[2boi]

Thank you for replying, right now i have their test tubes in a dark closet. What more can i do to keep them warm? And how do i prevent them from eating their eggs?

[Mettcollsuss]

To heat them, a standard reptile heating cable should do. Only place the cable on the tip of the water portion of the tube. They will only eat their eggs if they are stressed repeatedly in a short period of time. Place them somewhere dark and check up on them no more than once a week, and they will be fine. 

 

Hope this helped!

[AntsBC]

You can feed her some honey or sugar water to boost her, but she does not need it. If she gets stressed out easily i would avoid feeding her, but i find giving a queen some honey usually results in them raising there young quicker. Its up to you honestly.

[Major]

Wait till workers