6 replies to this topic

[azzaaazzzz00]

I have a Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony that had 10 workers. I checked yesterday and found a dead worker, checked again today and found another one. They have a few eggs, 2 small larvae and one cocoon.They are down to 8 workers now. Will these two deaths affect the colony a lot? Is this normal for Camponotus?

 

Thanks

 

Note: Last year I had a queen that was caught in the spring and reached up to 20-25 workers, a nice brood pile, and a few sub majors. They didn't have a single death (until the colony died from drowning). The queen I caught this year was a gift and was probably caught in May or June.

 

Edit: sorry bout all the additions, but thought id squeeze this question in: when should I put my colonies into hibernation? what temp should I keep them at? Finally, if I don't have a mini fridge, wheres a good place to keep them? Thanks again

Edited by azzaaazzzz00, September 3 2023 - 12:43 PM.

[BleepingBleepers]

Personally, I don't think the deaths will affect the colony much because they're getting babysat by us. They're on easy street. The queen should still be acting as a replete and she still has 8 workers to help her tend to the brood. Now, if it's in the wild, that might be a very different story. Hope you're giving her some protein on the side to recover from it.

 

The first workers (nanitics) are usually the weakest and have the shortest lifespan. So you said she was gifted to you, were they sent to you with just the two workers? Are you confident that they were caught in May / June of this year? One thought that comes to mind is if the Queen was caught last year, had two workers and hibernated with just them and continued this year. So those nanitics could just be older than you think. Camponotous nanitics have one of the longer lifespans, it is not uncommon for the early nanitics to live up to around a year, though in the wild they are known to have shorter lifespans of a couple of months. So it's not impossible though it sounds a bit on the shorter side. Different factors that can change the lifespan is temperature, abundance of food and individual timers.

 

I kinda doubt it's pesticides, but I'd continue to watch for what I feed, including new batches of untested honey and whatnot.

 

There's a guy in another forum noting that he saw his ant try to climb up a vaseline barrier, fell down, and climb back up then later showed odd symptoms that his previous deceased nanitic showed.  https://forum.antsca...opic.php?t=1573

 

Lifespan of your Species in Discussion: https://forum.antsca...php?f=42&t=3677

Hibernation: https://www.formicul...to-hibernation/

Edited by BleepingBleepers, September 3 2023 - 5:12 PM.

[ANTdrew]

You can hibernate the colony when they no longer have any pupae left. Besides a fridge, you could put them in a garage, unheated basement, or a shed. Let them gradually adjust to cooler temperatures.

[azzaaazzzz00]

Personally, I don't think the deaths will affect the colony much because they're getting babysat by us. They're on easy street. The queen should still be acting as a replete and she still has 8 workers to help her tend to the brood. Now, if it's in the wild, that might be a very different story. Hope you're giving her some protein on the side to recover from it.

 

The first workers (nanitics) are usually the weakest and have the shortest lifespan. So you said she was gifted to you, were they sent to you with just the two workers? Are you confident that they were caught in May / June of this year? One thought that comes to mind is if the Queen was caught last year, had two workers and hibernated with just them and continued this year. So those nanitics could just be older than you think. Camponotous nanitics have one of the longer lifespans, it is not uncommon for the early nanitics to live up to around a year, though in the wild they are known to have shorter lifespans of a couple of months. So it's not impossible though it sounds a bit on the shorter side. Different factors that can change the lifespan is temperature, abundance of food and individual timers.

 

I kinda doubt it's pesticides, but I'd continue to watch for what I feed, including new batches of untested honey and whatnot.

 

There's a guy in another forum noting that he saw his ant try to climb up a vaseline barrier, fell down, and climb back up then later showed odd symptoms that his previous deceased nanitic showed.  https://forum.antsca...opic.php?t=1573

 

Lifespan of your Species in Discussion: https://forum.antsca...php?f=42&t=3677

Hibernation: https://www.formicul...to-hibernation/

The queen gifted hadn't gotten any workers yet and only had 2 cocoons and a few larvae. Thanks for the info tho. I moved the colony to a new test tube because other one was getting moldy. Fortunatly, no deaths have occured since those two have died. One worker eclosed, so they are at 9 workers now.

 

You can hibernate the colony when they no longer have any pupae left. Besides a fridge, you could put them in a garage, unheated basement, or a shed. Let them gradually adjust to cooler temperatures.

Should I be worried about whether or not the water in the test tube will freeze?

Edited by azzaaazzzz00, September 5 2023 - 8:24 AM.

[Virginian_ants]

Don't get them that cold just ~50

[azzaaazzzz00]

thanks, I have a fridge upstairs that we don't use often but I'm not sure my parents will let me use it. If not I might put them in the basement (Ill put a thermometer down there first to see how cold it'll get).

[azzaaazzzz00]

You can hibernate the colony when they no longer have any pupae left. Besides a fridge, you could put them in a garage, unheated basement, or a shed. Let them gradually adjust to cooler temperatures.

would it be okay if there are still eggs left?