Today i found a Trachymyrmex septentrionalis queen with one wing wandering about 6 inches away from a nest entrance. while watching her she entered and exited the nest several times. I collected her but then decided to release her as i assumed she was a damaged alate and unmated. She immediately returned to the colony and i didn't see her again. Later, after catching two additional trachy queens, i decided to dig up an established colony to steal some of their fungus garden to help my queens. I chose the colony i had seen the alate at b/c i assumed it was definitely pretty large as it was producing alates and could handle my disturbing them. When i dug it up i only found about 20-30 workers and a single fungus chamber immediately below the surface, along with the same, single winged alate who was surrounded by workers. I took some of the fungus and left the rest. Thinking the ants would move it deeper into a part of the nest i had not uncovered. I returned a few hours later to find roughly the same number of workers and the same single winged alate, they had made a little chamber in the same area around the alate and were moving the garden into that chamber, they had not moved deeper into a nest nor had any more workers appeared. I then collected the alate and 5 workers and the garden. The workers are currently tending the alate and garden. Could i have dug up a founding colony?
Edited by SuperFrank, July 14 2018 - 5:54 PM.
