41 replies to this topic

[Kaelwizard]

I caught 4 Myrmica queens and they are being housed in a piece of acrylic tubing in and outworld. I think they are Myrmica americana. The newest queen (and the most stressed) seems to want to live a life on her own. She constantly runs around the outworld while the others stay in the tubing. The first queen I caught was hurt at one point but recovered last night. The fourth queen was caught today while the others were caught last night. My brother caught a queen last night too, but he fed it too a spider (it was bitten twice than escaped the web and later died).

[Kaelwizard]

Also will Myrmica lay before hibernating???????????????????????

Edited by Kaelwizard, September 16 2018 - 7:16 AM.

[Kaelwizard]

They have sugar water and part of a mealworm.

[Kaelwizard]

deleted

Edited by Kaelwizard, September 17 2018 - 2:20 PM.

[Major]

Also will Myrmica lay before hibernating???????????????????????

Calm the question marks buddy. At this point I don't think they will lay until after hibernation.

Edited by Major, September 16 2018 - 9:11 AM.

[Kaelwizard]

Ok, thanks.

[AntsAreUs]

I think it is possible that they can get workers before hibernation. We will see though. Good luck!

Edited by AntsAreUs, September 16 2018 - 12:57 PM.

[Kaelwizard]

Thanks AntsAreUs. I hope your new Stigmatomma survive!

Edited by Kaelwizard, September 16 2018 - 1:25 PM.

[Kaelwizard]

deleted

Edited by Kaelwizard, September 17 2018 - 2:19 PM.

[Kaelwizard]

http://www.formicult...756-img-0686-2/

Edited by Kaelwizard, September 17 2018 - 2:18 PM.

[Kaelwizard]

Btw these queens were actually 5 mm. I know I told people (AntsAreUs and LC3) in chat that they were 7 mm. I however, was wrong.

[Kaelwizard]

Only one of the queens ever leaves the tube. I don't know why.

[Kaelwizard]

I am down to 3 queens but one of them is bending its head and abdomen under its body as if trying to sting itself. Does anybody know what this means?

[rbarreto]

She's probably going to lay.

[Kaelwizard]

She was out in the outworld laying on the ground as if dead.

Then she started doing this...

[Kaelwizard]

I checked on her again and she was dead... 

[Kaelwizard]

All queens have now died... 

[Karma]

Ya, I have noticed catching myrmica of any kind this late in the anting season almost always results in them dying for some odd reason, or in a very rare case, they survive as long as it is a group of queens. Not only that, I have found it very difficult to get myrmica started in general (at least in my area) if they are a single founding queen even when feeding them lots of sugars and insects. The only time I have succeeded in raising myrmica was when I had grouped three queens together. I caught all three at the start of spring this year. If you look early enough, you can catch queens that flew last season that forage for food as soon as spring hits so they can lay eggs and start their own colony. In my personal experience, this is the best time to catch myrmica queens. The queens I caught earlier this year went great except after about the 10th -15th worker arrived they killed off two queens and left one alive.

 

I'd say they're at about 30 workers now. https://imgur.com/a/TDYkKyQ

 

Don't be discouraged from failure though, I have failed many many times before learning any of this. Five years of straight failure (to be exact) before finally getting one of these colonies to this stage. I'm sure you'll be able to find some queens come spring.

Edited by Karma, April 27 2019 - 12:16 AM.

[Kaelwizard]

I still have my Crematogaster queen tho.

[Kaelwizard]

Ok, I know it has been a long time, but I found a new one! I will call this Myrmica spp. 2. She is 7 millimeters in length, however that may change if I get a more accurate measurement. I am not making a journal on these 2, but I also have 2 Prenolepis imparis queens. I think only 1 is fertile though.