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Mating in test tubes?


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10 replies to this topic

#1 Offline Swirlysnowflake - Posted June 6 2021 - 12:23 PM

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I caught a bunch of pre-flight alates of an unknown species (I’ll post an ID request soon) and they are mating in the catch cup/test tubes. Will this be enough for the queens to start a colony? Does this normally happen?

Edited by Swirlysnowflake, June 6 2021 - 12:23 PM.

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#2 Offline ANTdrew - Posted June 6 2021 - 1:12 PM

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Depends on species. Not all ants mate only in the air. My Monomorium, for example, mated all the way home when I collected them with some males.
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Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#3 Offline JamesJohnson - Posted June 6 2021 - 1:43 PM

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I think it would be be neat to make a list of species that mate on the ground. Mainly for possibly the most overhyped concept in Anting. Captive breeding. It has its benefits, mainly keeping exotics/selling colonies, but some people call it the salvation of the hobby and praise its glorious benefits. Personally I would think captive breeding to be neat. A nice way to use alates from mature colonies. I know a couple that do mate on the ground, a couple that don't. I think a pretty good sized list would be useful for people wanting to breed two colony of theirs or from people who also caught a couple males from a nuptial flight and want to put them to use. A good list would include the scientific name sorted by genus and things you need to know such as specifics like whether they need UV light or a certain temperature or humidity. Some I do know mate on the ground:

Acromyrmex
   versicolor

Liometopum

Monomorium
   minimum

 

Nylanderia
   vividula

 

Pheidole
 

Pogonmyrmex 
   californicus (desert variety at least requires a heat lamp)

Solenopsis 
   molesta and other thief ant species

 
Obviously this list is quite small, these are just the genuses I can think of off the top of my head but I'd love to see a bigger list.

Note: Mating on the ground is counted as ants that can start mating, do the whole mating cabakle, and end mating on the ground. I have seen on multiple occasions Camponotus alates landing while in the process of mating. But I think it's commonly known though that Camponotus ants need to mate in the air.


Edited by JamesJohnson, June 6 2021 - 3:10 PM.

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#4 Offline Swirlysnowflake - Posted June 6 2021 - 2:16 PM

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The alates were ID’d as Liometopum

The ants also stopped mating but the queens won’t drop their wings.


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#5 Offline ANTdrew - Posted June 6 2021 - 3:02 PM

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James, you can add Nylanderia vividula and Monomorium minimum to that list.
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#6 Offline NickAnter - Posted June 6 2021 - 3:04 PM

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I have seen Solenopsis thief ants mate on the ground, so I imagine they too can mate in test tubes.


Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 


#7 Offline JamesJohnson - Posted June 6 2021 - 3:08 PM

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I think the way I'm going to format this is that because it's likely that if one member of a genus can mate on, all of them can, I will list the genus, but underneath there'll be confirmed species for those who don't want to take the chance/ want more detailed info. 


Edited by JamesJohnson, June 6 2021 - 3:13 PM.

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#8 Offline PetsNotPests - Posted June 7 2021 - 8:04 AM

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If this could be done, it would make life oh so much easier. I catch so many Pogonomyrmex male and female alates and put them in 25x200mm test tubes (I call them "fun tubes") and put them in a dark place for a few days. when I check on them, they are ether all dead or didn't mate, which stinks. If anyone can pull this off i'd be surprised, but I did hear of someone doing this in China or something. Whatever the case, good luck.


Edited by PetsNotPests, June 7 2021 - 9:28 AM.

Ants are Pets, not Pests. 

 

-Camponotus sansabeanus

-Camponotus US-CA02

-Camponotus vicinus

-Formica podzolica

-Monomorium spp.

-Pogonomyrmex californicus

-Solenopsis spp. 

 


#9 Offline ReignofRage - Posted June 7 2021 - 9:43 AM

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If this could be done, it would make life oh so much easier. I catch so many Pogonomyrmex male and female alates and put them in 25x200mm test tubes (I call them "fun tubes") and put them in a dark place for a few days. when I check on them, they are ether all dead or didn't mate, which stinks. If anyone can pull this off i'd be surprised, but I did hear of someone doing this in China or something. Whatever the case, good luck.

Are you collecting males and females from one colony and trying to breed them because that is what it sounds like. Also why continue to do that practice if you fail over and over and just kill many alates.



#10 Offline PetsNotPests - Posted June 7 2021 - 9:48 AM

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If this could be done, it would make life oh so much easier. I catch so many Pogonomyrmex male and female alates and put them in 25x200mm test tubes (I call them "fun tubes") and put them in a dark place for a few days. when I check on them, they are ether all dead or didn't mate, which stinks. If anyone can pull this off i'd be surprised, but I did hear of someone doing this in China or something. Whatever the case, good luck.

Are you collecting males and females from one colony and trying to breed them because that is what it sounds like. Also why continue to do that practice if you fail over and over and just kill many alates.

 

The alates I catch are all from different colonies, and I only put 2 of each in a single test tube. Don't worry, I have only done this a few times, and I'm going to stop doing it since it is unsuccessful. 


Ants are Pets, not Pests. 

 

-Camponotus sansabeanus

-Camponotus US-CA02

-Camponotus vicinus

-Formica podzolica

-Monomorium spp.

-Pogonomyrmex californicus

-Solenopsis spp. 

 


#11 Offline JamesJohnson - Posted June 7 2021 - 11:53 AM

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If this could be done, it would make life oh so much easier. I catch so many Pogonomyrmex male and female alates and put them in 25x200mm test tubes (I call them "fun tubes") and put them in a dark place for a few days. when I check on them, they are ether all dead or didn't mate, which stinks. If anyone can pull this off i'd be surprised, but I did hear of someone doing this in China or something. Whatever the case, good luck.

This would not work for Pogonomyrmex, or most species for that matter. The test tube in the dark set-up replicates their colony, which is the very worst place for alates to mate. Dspdrew described a way a friend of his would breed desert variety Pogonomyrmex californicus(?). He would put a queen and a couple males together into a container and put a heat lamp over. Personally I would recommend a Petri dish, preferably with a fine mesh fitted as the lid to allow apt ventilation. So long as the heat lamp was over them they would breed.

A set-up like this sounds optimal for ground mating species. If the species in question requires a heat lamp it would have to be set to their preferred nuptial flight temperature using a thermostat. I advise adding a couple males. This best replicates the wild, and it greatness the chances of the queen being fertile. Plus it’s not like males are hard to come by when queens aren’t.

Edited by JamesJohnson, June 10 2021 - 2:57 PM.

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