6 replies to this topic

[Antliebe]

Hello fellow ant keepers,

We are new to ant keeping and our Camponotus queen laid eggs about a month ago but now they have disappeared.  She is in a standard test tube set-up.  Any ideas on what happened?  So sad to have no eggs since she is our first queen that laid.

 

Thank you in advance!

[TheMicroPlanet]

She probably ate them, but it could've been one of two different reasons. One, they could've been unfertilized trophic eggs. Two, they could've been fertilized eggs that would produce workers, but the queen may have panicked and eaten them out of desparation. How often do you check on her?

[Broncos]

Hello fellow ant keepers,
We are new to ant keeping and our Camponotus queen laid eggs about a month ago but now they have disappeared. She is in a standard test tube set-up. Any ideas on what happened? So sad to have no eggs since she is our first queen that laid.

Thank you in advance!

She ate them. This is extremely common for any queens. Sometimes ants can have the slightest bit of light on them and be extremely stressed out. This causes them to eat their eggs. It really depends on the queen. Camponotus do this quite a bit. You’ll need to find a right time to check on her. Try once every week. If she eats her eggs still then try once every two weeks and if she eats her eggs then once every three weeks or just in a month will do the trick really well. I wouldn’t risk testing her limits on how she eats her eggs because she will eventually die. Hopefully this can help.


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[AntsDakota]

She probably ate them, but it could've been one of two different reasons. One, they could've been unfertilized trophic eggs. Two, they could've been fertilized eggs that would produce workers, but the queen may have panicked and eaten them out of desparation. How often do you check on her?

I second this.

Edited by AntsDakota, July 18 2020 - 10:22 AM.

[Antliebe]

Wow, this is great information.  We have been very excited about her so checking on her once or twice a week.  Now knowing all of this we will not bother her for at least a month.  Thank you everyone!  This will keep us from loving her to death. 

[ponerinecat]

once or twice a week actually sounds fine, my Camponotus developed quickly despite being extremely panicky. Prob best to put them in a dark place and check up on them simply by looking at the tube and not touching it.

[AntsDakota]

Yeah. In my experience, ants are much more sensitive to vibrations than they are to light.