6 replies to this topic

[Antsinmycloset]

So I was out earlier trying to collect a couple more Camponotus pennsylvanicus before the year was over, and I stumbled upon a queen with a handful of nanitics. Very exciting! No brood, which simplifies things I guess, but I did get six. While checking for more errant nanitics, I found another C. pennsylvanicus queen no more than six inches from the first, with no obvious brood or nanitics. Honestly, I have very little confidence which queen the nanitics belong to.

Is there a "safe" way I can test to see which queen the nanitics are receptive to, or have I just bumbled into killing two queens? I plan on hibernating them in the next month, and they all seem pretty sleepy already. I know nanitics can be very docile compared to minors and especially majors, is this a big concern? Could I, with the colony scents so weak next March, introduce the nanitics to a surviving queen? How much of a death sentence would it be to simply deny both queens nanitics at this point?

Just trying to get an idea what my best options would be, any advice is welcome.

Edited by Antsinmycloset, September 28 2016 - 9:05 AM.

[Kevin]

I would assume the workers that you found were from the queen's chamber they were in. I would cool them and then introduce to see what happens.

[Antsinmycloset]

Unfortunately, the founding chamber was empty beside the queen, so it's all guesswork on my part. All nanitics were gathered off of a large piece of wood that, unhelpfully, covered both queens. I attempted to integrate a solo nanitic into the tube with the rest, but she was rather savagely attacked. I'm not sure if that's stress/scent related or this means I have workers from both. Definitely nanitics, by the way.

I take back what I said about nanitics being docile. Are there some subtle cues I can keep an eye out for so I don't subject the queens to that sort of acid soaked ire?

[Kevin]

Most likely workers from a nearby colony.

[drtrmiller]

Colony scent association is generally recognized to set within the first few days after eclosing. The very youngest incipient colonies' nanitics may be less aggressive to adults from other incipient colonies, but this also seems to vary greatly by species.

For example, Solenopsis invicta nanitics are completely non-aggressive to nanitics from other colonies. The nanitic workers will even steal brood from other founding colonies, completely undeterred, and workers will combine around the most fit queen in a given area, abandoning their own mother queen and colony!

Antkeepers should exercise extreme caution when introducing ants where they are unable to determine whether the ants are from the same colony. Always provide sufficient room to escape, so that if there is a problem with the encounter, the ants aren't cornered in a small area, and instead are able to flee from the attacker.

[Antsinmycloset]

I wrote too poorly before. The nanitics were found inside of the log very close to the first queen, and were running away by the time I saw them. They were not wandering across the surface of the log, but rather that's where I collected them. I'm sure they're nanitics and not workers (you know what I mean).

I think I've correctly paired the nanitic groups with their respective queens. I've observed trophallaxis, grooming behavior (I think?), communication via antenna, and they're all being quite calm clustered together in their respective test tubes. One nanitic seems to have an odd obsession with tip of the queen's abdomen, which I'm not entirely sure how to interpret. Are there any warning signs I should watch out for?

[Batspiderfish]

Camponotus (Camponotus) spp. are interesting and complicated, especially during the colony's first years. It's even possible that the workerless queen had her nanitics taken away by the nearby colony. While I've never housed two Camponotus queens in the same foraging arena, I know that if you introduce orphaned nanitics (even from a different species within the subgenus) other nanitics will likely pick them up and transport them back to their nest.