5 replies to this topic

[Oddyseous]

Hey guys, I caught ANOTHER QUEEN! Yes! And it's actually the same kind as my current colony, Cremogaster Cerasi. Question though, my plan with this 2nd one is to let it start creating a colony in a test tube and sell it to someone in my state. However I'm worried about there being enough oxygen in the test tube? How do we make sure they survive?

[Mercutia]

Cotton ball to plug the test tube and you should be fine. They live deep under ground with limited oxygen and airflow. They're fine. You can keep them sealed for a pretty long time and they'd never notice it.

[Oddyseous]

Yeah I have her setup with water plugged by a cotton ball on the bottom half of the test tube and then blocked off by the cottonball. But do I have to worry about how tight the cottonball to the outside air is? Does that have the possibility of blocking too much oxygen?

[Mercutia]

No, you don't have to worry about that. I doubt any antkeeper ever has had issues with the test tube setup as far as suffocation is concerned, which is why it's the most popular founding setup in the anting community.

Edited by Mercutia, August 7 2019 - 11:16 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Did you find this queen solo after a flight or in an established colony?

[drtrmiller]

As long as you don't use an air-tight plug, such as plastic or rubber, there should be enough porosity to a cotton closure such that oxygen deprivation will not be an issue for a single queen or small colony.  The limited airflow would only be an issue if the tube was 100% full with hundreds of ants.