9 replies to this topic

[Samuelp.1]

Okay so the basic to know if a queen is fertile is to wait until they take off their wings.

But i was just wondering if there is another way to know if they are fertile. Because sometimes they just don't take off their wings and i think they're not fertile and i let them go, or if their wings are wet because they were found in a pool or something they don't take off their wings because their wings are a mess so that's why i'd like to know if there's some different way to know that.

 

Thanks.

[PacificNorthWestern]

The only way to know if a queen is fertile is for them to get workers. Sometimes queens that take off their wings may be infertile to. I do not think their is another way to see, please someone more experienced than me correct me if I'm wrong

[AntsBC]

After a nuptial flight, many fertile queens will curl up and clean their gaster. 

 

Eg. 

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=_CPgAvgcPEI

 

PacificNorthWestern is right though, you never officially know if a queen is fertile until she gets her first workers. Infertile queens can even lay eggs, which would turn into males if they completed the metamorphosis process.

[ponerinecat]

Dissection! Of course, the queen will be dead, so not really good for ant keepers.

[KBant]

get it to pee on a pregnancy stick. if you don't wanna keep the babies, plan B pill might work but only up to a certain time. 

[AntPhycho]

get it to pee on a pregnancy stick. if you don't wanna keep the babies, plan B pill might work but only up to a certain time. 

Plan B sugar water  Just crush it up and mix it in 

[Mettcollsuss]

There's no way to tell for sure. Just keep it and hope for the best.

[ANTdrew]

Many mated queens never take off their wings. You can sort of tell if they have settled in and are tending their eggs. I release winged queens that continue to act agitated and keep tugging at the cotton after a week or so.

[AntsDakota]

If an unmated queen lays eggs, she usually does not tend to them, and they are scattered across the test tube. Mated queens keep eggs in a neat pile and often carry them around. This works most of the time.

[AntsDakota]

And if you have a polygynous colony, I have observed that unmated queens will help the mated ones raise their colony. Then once the workers arrive, they kill the unmated queens.

Edited by AntsDakota, June 29 2019 - 1:49 PM.