2 replies to this topic

[Jamiesname]

Yesterday I went out looking for Camponotus queens under bark and inside logs. I found one with at least 1 nanitic, which I was also able to capture. I didn't see any more nanitics or eggs, but they could have fallen off when I broke the log open. I found another in a a hole under bark with 2 nanitics, the queen escaped into the leaves on the ground and I couldn't find her, but I caught the two nanitics. She didn't have any eggs in her nest either - maybe it's getting close to hibernation time? I found a huge nest in another log, with eggs and pupae right under the bark. I took a clump of eggs about the size of an eraser and a few pupae.

Now that was the background info, and here's where I'm at now. . .

I put the eggs from the large nest in the test tube with the queen which I was able to capture a nanitic from. She started moving the eggs and pupae around into a pile and stood on them, cupping them up to her body with her legs. It appears she has accepted them as her own, and so has her nanitics. I waited an hour and put a nanitic from the nest where the queen escaped into her tube. As you can imagine comets chaos erupted. I removed it and waited another hour and tried putting it back in with her. Same thing happened the second time. I tried it a third time and both the queen and her original nanitic accepted the new nanitic. I waited another 30 minutes after that and introduced the second nanitic from the nest where the queen escaped. It went in and went crazy, but the queen and other two nanitics acted normal. Finally the last nanitic was accepted and now I've seen two different nanitics feed the queen, so at least one is a foreign nanitic. Fast forward 24hrs to today and she's still hugging the eggs close, and everyone is getting along.

Is this normal behavior? Am I safe to assume that the two foreign nanitics will accept the new queen (and her nanitic) as their own? I'd really like to hear anyone's experience with a similar situation.

Edited by Jamiesname, September 29 2017 - 12:55 PM.

[Antsinmycloset]

Supposedly, yes, Camponotus are quite receptive to foreign nanitics. I found myself in a similar situation last year, and observed that foreign nanitics were usually "relocated" by having their face bit and were then promptly dragged back to the nest. It looks quite concerning at first, but none of the ants seemed too excited. I suppose biting is just the primary way ants interact with their world, after all.. The freakout you observed probably had less to do with the ant's colony smell, and more to do with the fact the guards were clicked into overdrive trying to see why the air was moving so much.

That said, I found a couple queens with only a few nanitics, and another queen with about a dozen or more. Despite brood boosting several times from the third colony earlier in the year, the two queens with only a few nanitics continue to struggle. The other colony has probably 100 workers by this point. It's possible your queen may not have the best genetics. For comparison's sake, I caught a C. pennsylvanicus queen wandering around back in... July, maybe, and she currently has 8 (down from 10) nanitics and a pile of larvae awaiting hibernation. Expect larvae to be overwintered with this species, btw.

Edited by Antsinmycloset, September 29 2017 - 1:18 PM.

[FeedTheAnts]

I don't think many people would be able to vouch that it works because usually we don't introduce workers, just brood. But, if it seems to be working for you then that is cool. I don't think it was a very good idea... especially since the first two times they started fighting, and you had a pile of brood to boost her with anyways. There also could have been a greater chance of success because the workers were nanitics, but idk, just a thought.