17 replies to this topic

[William. T]

My queen of my small colony had died. At first I thought she had not woken up, but just today I had just found some brown mold growing on her. 

The good news is that I had met another boy in my Chinese school who is interested in ants. At least, he used to. We met before, but since he no longer liked the idea of keeping ants, he gave me 4 Lasius queens! At least, they looked like Lasius. He said he had caught them in September and has kept them in these dirty plastic tubes. I had since moved them. They were hibernated, and to warm them up I moved them under my terrarium heat pad. It does not give off much heat. Of course, the terrarium is stilted. Just today, I had found them all with some eggs. Do you think the 4 queens are fertile? Any thoughts? Thanks!

[Mercutia]

Usually if they exhibit settling behaviour quickly, it is a good indication of fertility. Also laying eggs quickly is another sign of fertility. Good job and good luck.

[William. T]

Thanks. But don't infertile queens lay eggs that develop into alates?

[dean_k]

I was under impression that infertile queens wouldn't lay eggs at all. If they do, yeah, they are going to be male (and useless   ) or wouldn't advance into larva stage at all.

 

Edit: A food for thought. Can such a alate mate with the queen?

Edited by dean_k, February 10 2015 - 1:40 PM.

[Mercutia]

Thanks. But don't infertile queens lay eggs that develop into alates?

Yes they can but this is usually a pretty rare occurrence. It does happen though. Infertile queens are less likely to lay eggs in a timely manner because they are still waiting to get fertilized. So often times if the laying happens pretty immediately or a week after capture/hibernation, the probability of the queen being fertile is way higher than not.

[William. T]

Yes!!! One of the queens is really cranking out brood. Say, how long does it take for a L. neoniger to get the first workers?

[dean_k]

According to my own Lasius journal, she laid her first batch of eggs on 17 Dec 2014 and nanitics eclosed on 28 Jan 2015, so a month and ten days.

 

But each colony is different.

[William. T]

That queen is on the ball. Literally. She is on a huge ball of eggs. She might be fire ant hybrid!

[dspdrew]

I've had many infertile queens lay eggs. After enough time goes by, sometimes they will eventually lay a few eggs that just never develop into anything.

[Michaelofvancouver]

I've had many infertile queens lay eggs. After enough time goes by, sometimes they will eventually lay a few eggs that just never develop into anything.

This annoys me so much. Last year I collected a couple Lasius queens, and all of them produced a few eggs after a few days. I was so happy until two months later I realized the queens were all infertile, and none of the eggs had become larvae.

[William. T]

Wait a sec. So my queens could be infertile? Even if some are cranking out eggs like crazy?

[Miles]

Wait a sec. So my queens could be infertile? Even if some are cranking out eggs like crazy?

Hypothetically. But it is more likely than not that your queens are fertile and are producing their first brood.

[Michaelofvancouver]

Yeah, it's less likely for them to be infertile if they settled in quickly and are producing a ton of brood. 

[William. T]

I have serious doubt that one of the queen is Lasius. First, her gaster just swelled like an hot air balloon, now she is ... Wow. She must be a Dorylus (aka. African driver ant) mutation!

[Gregory2455]

As cool as that sounds, she is still probably just a normal Lasius queen, and the swelling you see is just a bunch of eggs on their way.

Look how fat mine is:

She used to be fatter too.

[Mercutia]

If you could post pics of your ants, we would love to see! And we could possibly confirm the ID.

[William. T]

Can computer shots work fine,? And how do you shoot an image from a laptop? Thanks.

[Jonathan21700]

 

I've had many infertile queens lay eggs. After enough time goes by, sometimes they will eventually lay a few eggs that just never develop into anything.

This annoys me so much. Last year I collected a couple Lasius queens, and all of them produced a few eggs after a few days. I was so happy until two months later I realized the queens were all infertile, and none of the eggs had become larvae.

 

Same here. I collected a Lasisus sp. queen before and she laid eggs but they didn't develop into larvae. I then  moved her in a dirt setup and in 2 months she had her first workers. She came out fertile in the end so if your queens eggs don't develop into larvae it doesn't mean she is not fertile. Good luck!