4 replies to this topic

[AntswerMe]

The queen of my largest ant colony, a Camponotus floridanus with 150+ workers, has been falling over a number of times in her nest recently and has been unable to get back up without me tipping the nest itself over. She has not done this in the past. The nest is regularly hydrated, and they are fed and have access water. Along with that, flooring of the nest is smooth so the queen might have nothing to grip, but this has not happened to my knowing before. Does anyone know what is going on and what I should do?

Edited by AntswerMe, July 23 2017 - 8:39 AM.

[Ants_Texas]

Sadly I don't know if there's anything you can do. You're probably going to have to keep helping her up and hope she doesn't die.

[AntswerMe]

Here is the queen upside down, slowly moving her legs and antennae. I've had her for about 14 months and it's pretty scary to see her like this. She can maintain her balance briefly but falls over frequently. None of her workers have ever done this so I'm not sure what it could be. http://imgur.com/xeN0LR2

[ultraex2]

Possibly different, but similar behavior - I had caught some deformed? de-alates around a hotel before and they could never stand up and just laid on their side and struggled around trying to remove their wings.  Their gasters looked slightly elongated compared to the ones that were okay which were more rounded.

 

Are any other ants doing it too and/or is there any chance she could have been poisoned or something?

[AntswerMe]

She was fine the entire 14 months I have had her until just two days ago. No other ants in the colony have done this, and I feed them various pre-killed arthropods as well as sugar water and honey. I don't think I have poisoned them in any way. This is very strange.