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Dspdrew's Lasius cf. flavus Journal [201] (Discontinued)


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11 replies to this topic

#1 Offline dspdrew - Posted February 18 2015 - 12:00 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA
9-5-2014
 
On 9-5-2014 in Twin Peaks, California, while looking for brood to give to a parasitic Lasius queen I recently caught, I found a colony of these ants living under a rock. I took home a whole bunch of brood, alates and workers.
 
ID Thread: https://www.formicul....php/topic/522-
 
1. Location of collection: Twin Peaks, California.
2. Date of collection:  9-10-2014.
3. Habitat of collection:  Pine/Oak Forest.
4. Length (from head to gaster):  8 mm (female), 3 mm (male), 3 mm (worker).
5. Color, hue, pattern and texture:  Brown, with yellowish-orange gaster, legs, and underside (female); all dark brown (male); all yellowish-orange (worker).
6. Distinguishing characteristics:
7. Anything else distinctive: 
8. Nest description:  Under a flat rock.
 
Queen
 
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Male
 
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Worker
 
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It had rained a day or two before this, so that evening when I brought them into my hot apartment, they started swarming and trying to have a mating flight. I had to put a lid on their container because they kept trying to fly out. The next morning I found a bunch of the female alates had removed their wings, so I gathered them all up and put them in test tubes to see if they could actually be fertile. I didn't feel like setting up test tubes for all of them considering how unlikely it was that any of them were fertile, so one of the test tubes ended up with five queens together. A few days went by and some of them started to lay eggs.

#2 Offline dspdrew - Posted February 18 2015 - 12:03 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Update 10-15-2014
 
I moved most of these into the fridge to hibernate. I also gave a few of them to Gregory2455 a while back. At this point there still weren't any developing eggs.



#3 Offline dspdrew - Posted February 18 2015 - 12:10 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Update 1-16-2015
 
I took these out of hibernation. Unfortunately, since this journal is being created much later, I don't remember which of these two remaining test tubes was hibernated and which one wasn't. One tube has a dealate, a couple of her sister workers, and a pile of eggs. The other test tube has five dealates and a larger pile of eggs.



#4 Offline dspdrew - Posted February 18 2015 - 12:21 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA
Update 2-18-2015
 
About a week ago, Gregory2455 suddenly noticed one of his has larvae developing. At the same time, I noticed that the one of mine with five queens has a bunch of eggs that looked slightly curved, as if they were developing into larvae.
 
Now yesterday, I found quite a few larvae in mine! If these larvae turn out to be workers, then that means I successfully mated these queens in captivity.
 
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As for the other test tube with just the one dealate and a couple workers, they don't seem to have any eggs developing.
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#5 Offline dspdrew - Posted February 21 2015 - 10:03 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Update 2-21-2015
 
Well this is wonderful. I checked on these today, and found all but one queen dead. I have no idea why they died, as I didn't see anything obvious under the microscope. A couple of them were starting to grow mold, so I moved the remaining queen and all the brood into a new test tube. I'll be very lucky if the remaining queen is one of the fertile ones that have been laying eggs.



#6 Offline Ants4fun - Posted March 3 2015 - 9:57 AM

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How is your colony?

#7 Offline dspdrew - Posted March 3 2015 - 11:52 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

It's still just the one queen sitting there waiting for her workers. The larvae are slowly getting larger. I don't see any new eggs or anything.



#8 Offline AntsAreUs - Posted March 3 2015 - 11:55 AM

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That is what happened to my Lasius neoniger!



#9 Offline dspdrew - Posted March 25 2015 - 11:34 PM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA
Update 3-26-2015
 
The last queen died, and one of the workers eclosed shortly after. This proves that these successfully mated in captivity in my apartment. I took the callow worker and brood and put them in with my brand new Lasius niger colony to see if they'll be accepted.
 
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#10 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted March 26 2015 - 12:42 PM

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Can you use the callow worker for a positive ID to flavus?



#11 Offline dspdrew - Posted March 26 2015 - 2:24 PM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

I already have a mature worker specimen. That's what is in the pictures on the ID thread.



#12 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted March 26 2015 - 3:41 PM

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Oh yeah huh... 






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