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Lone Ants
Started By
kmoore79
, Aug 28 2021 7:56 AM
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2 replies to this topic
#1
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kmoore79
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Posted August 28 2021 - 7:56 AM
kmoore79
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LocationHaonver, IN
So a colony of mine (Camponotus. Penns) that I have recently built an outworld and formicarium for are acting strange, or at least it's strange to me. So 4 lone ants having been staying in the outworld. The other 9 are in the formicarium, where they stay with the queen. I have observed that "The Four" will bring food into the nest and then retreat back to outworld, where they spend all their time, aside from food and nectar distribution. Is this normal, or is something wrong?
There are only 3 in the photo, but the other one is on the other side of the feeder.
#2
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futurebird
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Posted August 28 2021 - 8:20 AM
futurebird
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824 posts
LocationNew York City, NY
As your colony grows the oldest ants will take on the most dangerous jobs of foraging and patrolling. These ants typically spend very little time deep in the nest. They are basically the alarm system and food getters for the colony.
Most of my colonies have gotten to this stage for me. It's a good sign of growth in confidence of the colony. They aren't hiding anymore, but saying "this little area is ours" to all the other animals in the area.
What I think is neat is since the oldest ants tend to do this job these ants are probably your smallest ants, the nanitics who were first to attend and help the queen. They have taken on guard duty in their senior years and it makes sense in the wild since ants that leave the nest are at much greater risk of dying in the wild. The deeper inside of the nest an ant is the younger it likely is. This is why majors can seem "lazy" the colony only produces majors after it's large enough (in the species that even have majors) so you see these big powerful ants cowering deep in the nest while the littlest girls seem to be doing all the hard work.
It's all such serious business for ants LMAO
Antkeeper01 and kmoore79 like this
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