13 replies to this topic

[TennesseeAnts]

Exactly what the title says, are they?

 

Edited by Ant_Dude2908, November 25 2017 - 12:52 PM.

[FeedTheAnts]

I've done some research and can't come up with anything . Most Formica are polygynous and chances are these would be. It turns out they are in the Fusca Group, I'm not sure if that has any importance though.

[TennesseeAnts]

Thanks,  the reason I ask is, I have several test tubes with two queens. This helps a lot because F. fusca and many others in the fusca group are polygynous.     

Thanks for doing the research too!

[MegaMyrmex]

General rule of thumb for polygyny- if it's your first queens that you've ever caught, don't risk it. I have never heard of formica being polygynous but this might be an exception. It would be AWESOME to see a massive polygynous formica pacifica colony, though!

[TennesseeAnts]

No, this is my second year ant keeping. And there is a massive colony of these ants in my yard. I have around 15 queens of these alone. one colony has 155 workers.   List of all my ants in the ant keeping census.

[MegaMyrmex]

No, this is my second year ant keeping. And there is a massive colony of these ants in my yard. I have around 15 queens of these alone. one colony has 155 workers. List of all my ants in the ant keeping census.

Nice. If so, go for it but try two queens and see how they do. If they seem to cooperate, yay! If not, it might be better to keep them seperate. For polygyny, you can try a couppe methods- place a test tube covered with red foil or aluminum foil and place it in a tube and introduce the queens so they can "discover" the test tube setup and hopefully cooperate. You could also try making a big test tube setup and placing the queens one at a time, then cooling the queens and wait a bit, then remove them.

[TennesseeAnts]

Ok, so should I try to introduce a new queen to a small colony as an experiment?

[Canadian anter]

Well, you really can't be sure. People told me that Lasius were pleometrophic or monogyne but mine have been going for 2 years and they're fine with 2 queens even at 2000+ workers

[Serafine]

The majority of Formica are polygynous, especially the fusca and rufa groups.

[TennesseeAnts]

Question, could I merge two different Formica fusca colonies?

[Batspiderfish]

No, but they probably aren't F. fusca either.

[TennesseeAnts]

Why would they not be Fusca?

[FeedTheAnts]

I heard that they are.

[TennesseeAnts]

Me too!