5 replies to this topic

[silver tail]

Hi, i have ants colony, Camponotus paria. , i think population has reached 2000 ants.

 

months ago i start noticing male winged ants in the formicarium. and soon after they died. the ants colony started to collapse and the colonies start to die. eggs production is either stopped or they eat up the eggs.

 

now i left with 1/4 of the colony. they stop feeding much too. they spend their time squeeze together and "sleeping". and not moving

 

they collect the dead body and dump it in the corner of the nest. its the place where they throw their waste.  it become like a small mountain of dead ants.

[drtrmiller]

I had a similar experience recently.  These are tropical ants, no?  In lieu of temperature-induced hibernation, I wonder if they need a wet/dry season.

 

Another thing you could do would be to examine the ants with some magnification and determine if there are external parasites visible.

 

I recommend feeding some sugary solution every few days until the colony bounces back.  That's what I did, and after some months mine seem to be coming back to life.

 

http://www.formicult...egatus-journal/

Edited by drtrmiller, June 1 2015 - 7:22 PM.

[dspdrew]

Yeah... sounds kind of like a parasitic mite infestation.

[silver tail]

i gave them sugar water solution. i put a floating mash on it so they will not drown, but alot of them still die on the water.

usually they will float and the body is "hydrophobic". this time they get wet and drown very easily.

 

i will try to catch out one dying ants, which is a lot, and check under microscope.

i have a feeling that they are all going to die. i am not too sure if it is their colony cycle. because it happen after i see the winged ants

[AntsTexas]

i noticed that too with a s. invicta ant bed/colony outside in my yard, the colony was doing good then they had their nuptial flight then after that the colony died/disappeared....

[Jonathan21700]

Can you show us some pictures? In what kind of setup are you keeping them?