4 replies to this topic

[Swirlysnowflake]

Hello!

So I’ve had a pair of infertile queen ants (Prenolepis Imparis) in a test tube together for over a year now. I started feeding them right when it became obvious they were not going to lay any eggs, even after hibernation through winter. The weird thing is that I always thought that infertile queens didn’t live as long as fertile queens, because they don't eat, but the two queens I have are eating so is it possible that they will live as long as a fertile queen?

Thanks

[ANTdrew]

I don’t see why not as long as they’re cared for.

[BlueLance213]

I wonder if you were lucky enough to catch a male if they would mate, would be rather interesting to find out.

[TechAnt]

I wonder if you were lucky enough to catch a male if they would mate, would be rather interesting to find out.

They'd probably not, breeding after nuptial flights are very rare and hard to do for most ants, its been attempted and in a few cases it worked.

Edited by TechAnt, October 13 2020 - 8:59 PM.

[Ants_Dakota]

infertile queens will basically live for as long as you feed them sugars.