41 replies to this topic

[Mettcollsuss]

I caught this queen in early August this year. Well, I wasn't actually the one who found her. My friend found her stuck in between the grooves on the bottom of his shoe. She wasn't moving, aside from the occasional twitch of a leg or antennae, but I still put her in a test tube. Even if she wasn't going to live, I still wanted the satisfaction of catching a Crematogaster queen. Over the next few minutes, however, she started moving more and more and sort of came back to life. I'd heard of queens "coming back from the dead" after being rescued from water, but never from the bottom of a shoe. Despite being stepped on, she had no injuries whatsoever.

 

She doesn't have any eggs yet, which I shouldn't be too surprised by since Crematogaster queens usually wait until after hibernation to lay eggs. Fingers crossed she's fertile!

Edited by Mettcollsuss, November 27 2018 - 5:19 AM.

[Major]

Nice! Hope to see her progress. Just traded for a colony of this species today, love them. Your gonna have a great time keeping this little fellas.

Edited by Major, August 30 2018 - 2:46 PM.

[Mettcollsuss]

11-27-18

When I checked on her this morning, she had two eggs (one was stuck to the top of her gaster).

 

I'm going to be keeping track of my Crematogaster cf. cerasi queen in this journal, as well.

[ANTdrew]

Congrats! Did you hibernate this queen? If so, how long did you hibernate?

I have three Crematogaster that have been in hibernation at 46-48 degrees in a mini-fridge. They've been in there four weeks now. My plan is to take them out with some supplemental heat in January.

[Wa.Va]

Hooray, u wil see that is goes pretty slow at the beginning. After that it goes really fast with Crematogaster spp. Especially if heated.

[Mettcollsuss]

Congrats! Did you hibernate this queen? If so, how long did you hibernate?
I have three Crematogaster that have been in hibernation at 46-48 degrees in a mini-fridge. They've been in there four weeks now. My plan is to take them out with some supplemental heat in January.

I actually didn't hibernate her. That's why I was so surprised to see eggs. I was planning to start hibernation in December, but now I'm not sure if I should, since she's already laying.

[Mettcollsuss]

The Crematogaster lineolata queen now has about a dozen eggs and has moved them right over the heating cable.

[ANTdrew]

That’s so cool! I can’t believe she survived in a shoe tread. I can tell these gals are tough.

[ANTdrew]

I checked on mine today, and they look great. This is week five of their hibernation. I’ll give them five more weeks, probably.

[Mettcollsuss]

The C. cf. lineolata queen has about 20 eggs and a couple medium-large larvae. The larvae have an interesting shape. They look perfectly round and cylindrical. The C. cf. cerasi queen is in hibernation at the moment.

[Mettcollsuss]

She now has a couple of large larvae, a couple medium, and a bunch of eggs. I moved her to a test tube with one of the new THA Genesis Test Tube Inserts. So far so good.

[Mettcollsuss]

Checked on my C. lineolata queen today. She has a fair amount of brood. She has eggs, all stages of larvae, and maybe a couple pupae. Moved to her a test tube with THA Genesis test tube inserts.

 

Queen carrying some brood

 

Blurry photo of queen guarding her brood from the light of the camera

 

About half of her brood pile

[ANTdrew]

Lovely queen! She looks just like my three divas. I guess yours isn’t that skittish? From what I’ve read in archives they are inveterate egg eaters at the least disturbance. My plan is to take mine out soon and leave them in a warm box for five weeks without checking at all.

Edited by ANTdrew, December 31 2018 - 10:46 AM.

[Mettcollsuss]

The L. lineolata queen has her first pupae!

[Mettcollsuss]

 

 

 

[TennesseeAnts]

My queen is almost there!

[ANTdrew]

I pulled my three Crematogaster darlings out of the fridge. They perked right up with the warmth! I put their BoxBox container on a heat cable with a shoebox on top. I’m not going to mess with them at all for at least a month.

[Mettcollsuss]

Eyes are appearing on some of the pupae. Workers should be here soon.

[Mettcollsuss]

A couple pupae are starting to darken.

[Mettcollsuss]

One of the pupae is really dark, I wouldn't be surprised if it eclosed tomorrow.

 

Here are some photos from a couple days ago, right after the eyes appeared.