13 replies to this topic

[TheMicroPlanet]

Followup question: If a queen starts cleaning herself, does that mean she's calmed down?

[Canadian anter]

No and no

[TheMicroPlanet]

Thanks and thanks

[Ferox_Formicae]

Eggs can be laid by queens even if they have not been fertilized. Those eggs to hatch and grow, but in the end they turn into males.

[TheMicroPlanet]

Eggs can be laid by queens even if they have not been fertilized. Those eggs to hatch and grow, but in the end they turn into males.

I thought so. How often will queens do this?

[Ferox_Formicae]

 

Eggs can be laid by queens even if they have not been fertilized. Those eggs to hatch and grow, but in the end they turn into males.

I thought so. How often will queens do this?

 

It depends. Usually those eggs are eaten, but occasionally they will tend to those brood items until they develop into males.

[TheMicroPlanet]

 

 

Eggs can be laid by queens even if they have not been fertilized. Those eggs to hatch and grow, but in the end they turn into males.

I thought so. How often will queens do this?

 

It depends. Usually those eggs are eaten, but occasionally they will tend to those brood items until they develop into males.

 

They won't mate with them, right? That'd be unhealthy.

[Ferox_Formicae]

 

 

 

Eggs can be laid by queens even if they have not been fertilized. Those eggs to hatch and grow, but in the end they turn into males.

I thought so. How often will queens do this?

 

It depends. Usually those eggs are eaten, but occasionally they will tend to those brood items until they develop into males.

 

They won't mate with them, right? That'd be unhealthy.

 

No, I don't think they do.

[TheMicroPlanet]

So let's say I have 2 infertile queens who lay male eggs which grow into male reproductives  (for simplicity, let's call the first queen A and the second B ). Now suppose I take the male alates from queen A and put them in the setup with queen B, and put the male alates from queen B in the setup with queen A. Would they mate? The benefit is that, given the queens are unrelated, it wouldn't be incest.  But I can already see at least 3 problems with this:

1) The queens and males might not mate because they are reproductives of seperate generations.

2) They might not mate because conditions are unfavorable

3) The queens might actually be related

Edited by TheMicroPlanet, December 24 2019 - 10:42 AM.

[TheMicroPlanet]

Secondly, is it possible to brood boost using reproductive eggs/larvae/pupae?

Edited by TheMicroPlanet, December 24 2019 - 10:46 AM.

[ponerinecat]

Jeez, I understand you need help getting into the hobby, but you have a lot of questions. They would not mate, as most ants do not mate in the nest. They are conditioned to only mate in nuptial flights for a number of reasons, top of the list being a wide selection of mates of varying quality. They would kill the males and dump or eat them. So no. Second, yes, you could bood boost, but it wouldn't do any good. If boosted with workers, she would have a colony but it would not grow. Boosting with reproductives is worse, as they will need an artificial nuptial flight, which you already know to be extremely hard. So there's no feasible solution to the problem, or none that I know of. if you happen to find a species that inbreeds or that can mate in the nest, good on you. Then you need a male of another colony.

[TheMicroPlanet]

Could I use males as feeders? 

 

And yeah sorry for all the questions... I just want to make sure i'm prepared. I know some things should come from experience, but this doesn't hurt...

[ANTdrew]

Could I use males as feeders?

And yeah sorry for all the questions... I just want to make sure i'm prepared. I know some things should come from experience, but this doesn't hurt...

No need to apologize about questions; that’s how we learn. My advice is to read through the quality journals on here to see the mistakes and insight of ant keepers before you. If you do some research and use common sense, you’ll be better prepared than most.

[ponerinecat]

Could I use males as feeders? 

 

And yeah sorry for all the questions... I just want to make sure i'm prepared. I know some things should come from experience, but this doesn't hurt...

yes. you can.