3 replies to this topic

[antfan23]

Hello, 

California antkeeper here, I am very interested in Veromessor Pergandei and I have access to a location where they are naturally polygynous. Since I am starting out, I will just stick to one queen for now. However, as the colony grows and the queen ages, I am thinking of adding new younger queens to the colony to prolong the colony's lifespan so it wouldn't die out with the queen. Is this strategy doable? or are there any other local species where this may work? I have heard that you can use mesh or freezing, but I'm not sure if it will work with veromessor

Edited by antfan23, June 12 2019 - 7:54 PM.

[Acutus]

 Welcome!!  I can't answer your question but someone will be along who can! You've definitely come to the right place! Good Luck!! 

[Manitobant]

I'm pretty sure with veromessor you have to found the queens together in a single test tube (pleometrosis) otherwise new queens will probably be killed.

Edited by Manitobant, June 13 2019 - 6:18 AM.

[Unfrozen]

if you colony is still small you could probably put them in the fridge then add them to the testtube