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Messor structor question.


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#1 Offline NikolaBale - Posted July 12 2021 - 8:06 AM

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Hello.

 

So, the colony in question is a 2 queen messor structor colony formed in may this year.

The initial yield of eggs was quite high and so there is a lot of workers for such a young colony, even a larger worker in the first 3 months!

Before even the first workers arrived one queen killed the other so now its a single queen colony.

I gave them lots of grain and they seem to like it because they are chewing on it and making ant bread constantly.

So for the most part they where doing fine making new eggs and all that, it was looking good for the colonies potential in the next few months.

But about 2 weeks ago i noticed and unusually large number of workers gathering and pulling the cotton to try to get out...In response to this i gave them more fruit flies because they already had plenty of grain.

They ate the flies no problem but, this unusual behavior continued.Especially unusual because the colony seemed to be doing well they have lots of brood and the queen is producing eggs at a solid rate.

All i could think of is to give them honey or sugar water i didn't expect this would matter because messor get their sugars from seeds.They ignored the honey and this behavior continued.

 

Now i didn't think much of this and saw it as something random and insignificant.But yesterday i checked up on them and i saw 3 workers dead.

This is quite alarming since the lifespan of the nanitics is not usually this short so something must be wrong.

 

If any of you guys have and idea of what might be missing or something i can try please help .

 

Cheers.



#2 Offline Manitobant - Posted July 12 2021 - 9:38 AM

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They might need a larger nest, considering they seem to be wanting to get out.

#3 Offline NikolaBale - Posted July 12 2021 - 1:07 PM

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They might need a larger nest, considering they seem to be wanting to get out.

The colony is indeed quite large for its age but the tube isn't overcrowded at all.
At least from what it looks like.I keep them in very large tubes.
But even if that is the case it wouldn't explain the workers dying.
A need for space is important but is certainly not something they can die from in this situation.Its all clean they have oxygen and they are well fed....
I honestly have no idea.I might try to give them more space even though i don't think that's the problem.




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