16 replies to this topic

[Queen]

Has anyone ever witness the queen flopping on its side or back with a whole bunch of ants grooming her? Not sure if that is natural, or she is dying... She isn't really moving.

[Queen]

Here is the queen

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[Kaelwizard]

It looks as if she is dying. I'm sorry. 

[Queen]

It looks as if she is dying. I'm sorry. 

 

thank you. This sucks

[OhNoNotAgain]

So sorry. Yeah I've watched queens die ... if they aren't standing with a proper gap from the ground (weak legs) or are otherwise lying down, sideways, or upside down, twitching or unable to walk, that's a bad sign. 

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, October 18 2020 - 4:47 PM.

[Queen]

Do you know what may have caused her to die?

 

Their nest have heat, moisture, and ventilation. I give them the same food (seed, insect, carbs) as I do with other ants and everyone else is okay. Only one worker died a long time ago (probably the first generation), aside from that workers have been growing and developing. I honestly don't feel it was anything I did or didn't do.

[TestSubjectOne]

Sometimes queens just die, especially when they are young. If something environmental was killing her the workers and brood would be affected earlier and worse than the queen. Similarly, if the colony has limited food the workers will keep the queen alive even if they are starving to death. Most likely the queen died from natural causes.

[Queen]

Sometimes queens just die, especially when they are young. If something environmental was killing her the workers and brood would be affected earlier and worse than the queen. Similarly, if the colony has limited food the workers will keep the queen alive even if they are starving to death. Most likely the queen died from natural causes.

 

Thank you. This is very discouraging, but at least I know it wasn't really my fault.

[OhNoNotAgain]

Yeah it can be weird, discouraging, and confusing. Despite having a really successful V. pergandei colony with hundreds of workers overflowing their Labyrinth, I've lost a colony that had mysterious problems (I kept the same as the other colony, though they arrived already at a different time), and of a group of 6 poly queens, half have died for no apparent reason. So my rate is exactly 50% survival so far for Veromessor pergandei, despite how easy they tend to be.

 

EDIT: Most of the deaths do occur early on, though. If they successfully reach 20-50 workers their odds of dying in any given time period does seem to go lower. I mean, doesn't stop some from dying, but still....

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, October 19 2020 - 11:50 AM.

[Ants_Dakota]

ahh. i feel you. it is the worst, especially if it is your only colony. or first colony.

[Queen]

Is it possible for the workers to start hurting or killing off each other after the queen dies?

 

I think that is what the workers are doing now... I see them clamping their jaws on the back of some other worker's head. Not sure if the dead queen should be immediately removed or if there are traces of pheromones I should be cognizant of. I did notice that a few ants tried to drag the queen out to the trash pile and others were fighting to keep the queen in the nest.

[KitsAntVa]

Its probably a dispute where some workers believe the queen is sleeping while other are smart enough to sense the oleic acid coming off the queen and are trying to take her outside. whatever it is you know the queen is dead if they are trying to drag her away. 

[Ants_Dakota]

maybe try to find another queen of the same species and introduce it? or buy a single queen from someone in your state.

[KitsAntVa]

Make sure to chill the workers though and the queen then introduce them but make sure the queen wakes up before the workers.

[AntsDakota]

Do you know what may have caused her to die?

 

Yeah it can be weird, discouraging, and confusing.  I've lost a colony that had mysterious problems

Many of these mysterious deaths happen due to bad genetics. Most queens die in the wild, and only the fittest survive.

[Queen]

Its probably a dispute where some workers believe the queen is sleeping while other are smart enough to sense the oleic acid coming off the queen and are trying to take her outside. whatever it is you know the queen is dead if they are trying to drag her away. 

Hopefully the dispute doesn't end in deaths...

[Queen]

Update:

 

Got a new V. Andrei colony today. The queen has about 5-10 workers with brood. I put 2 of the new workers (1 by 1) with the old workers in the THA nest to see if they can merge and acclimate. So far it's been 6 hours and there are no fights or deaths. At this point I am not sure which ant is from which colony, but I notice businesses is as usual, most of the workers are tending to the surviving broods while a couple are foraging. In a few days if things remain the same, I plan to combine the remaining new colony (Queen, broods, and workers) with the old one. Hope for the best!