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What’s up with my Pheidole?

pheidole

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#1 Offline CatsnAnts - Posted August 15 2021 - 7:22 AM

CatsnAnts

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I keep all of my ants in an incubator reaching 85 degrees F to 80 degrees F, and so far every single queen I’ve kept in there has done great, that is, except Pheidole. All four different species (almost 15 queens in total combined), have absolutely massive piles of eggs. That’s a good thing, right? Well, when all of those eggs have STAYED eggs for a month and a half, that’s when I start to get worried. 45 days and not a single larvae? The last few years I’ve been having this same problem repeatedly, and obviously I’m not meeting a condition that they need. I’ve been feeding them, adjusting their temperature, and trying a whole host of other things to get their eggs to simply hatch. Anyone know what’s going on? (My species include P. tysoni, pillifera, bicarinata, and an unknown sp.)
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#2 Offline NickAnter - Posted August 15 2021 - 9:05 AM

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They are probably just unmated. Most likely not your fault.

For example the common Solenopsis sp. in the suburbs of socal produces very little males, and the rate of mated queens at the blacklight is about 1 in 50.
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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 


#3 Offline Manitobant - Posted August 15 2021 - 9:38 AM

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Brood taking forever to develop is usually a sign of infertility. However, if you’ve been doing this for years with no result, i would try keeping them outside the heat at room temperature, as that may work.
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#4 Offline TennesseeAnts - Posted August 24 2021 - 9:53 PM

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How're the queens now? Any larvae yet?





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