36 replies to this topic

[Myrmicinae]

 

The seperation of the brood is common, it is usually sorted by size/stage of brood.  Pupae separate from large larvae, separate from small larvae, etc.

 

Sometimes queens can co-exist for quite some time, but with species that tend to be monogynous any big stresser might tilt the balance of power.  Some of Drew's colonies had 50+ workers before they removed the extra queens.

One of my queens somehow wanted to attack the termite soldiers I fed her colony. She is part of a three queen Tetramorium colony I have, 25 workers. She was tussling with an aggressive soldier almost her size. Long story short, she must have got injured, because she was in the colony debris pile the next morning.

 

 

Never feed live termite soldiers to ants, unless your colony is massive and can handle casualties.  Their mandibles are literally built for killing ants, so injuries are inevitable.

Edited by Myrmicinae, August 20 2015 - 4:20 PM.

[William. T]

 

 

The seperation of the brood is common, it is usually sorted by size/stage of brood.  Pupae separate from large larvae, separate from small larvae, etc.

 

Sometimes queens can co-exist for quite some time, but with species that tend to be monogynous any big stresser might tilt the balance of power.  Some of Drew's colonies had 50+ workers before they removed the extra queens.

One of my queens somehow wanted to attack the termite soldiers I fed her colony. She is part of a three queen Tetramorium colony I have, 25 workers. She was tussling with an aggressive soldier almost her size. Long story short, she must have got injured, because she was in the colony debris pile the next morning.

 

 

Never feed live termite soldiers to ants, unless your colony is massive and can handle casualties.  Their mandibles are literally built for killing ants, so injuries are inevitable.

 

Built? The species I feel safe enough to feed to Tetramorium has really pathetic, small, soldiers. I'm not talking African termites. The just cower and run, while a Tetramorium worker latches on with her mandibles. My Tetramorium prefer their prey whole and live, not smashed up or frozen. You end up with a watery gunk that they despise, since termites are soft bodied. They will refuse it.

[LC3]

From what I observed, ants (and maybe termites and other social insects) tend to only be aggressive when defending the nest, if they're out foraging or doing who knows what they seems to run away rather than fight. (unless you pick them up, than they have no choice but to fight) of course some are more aggressive than others. 

[Roachant]

UPDATE!!!

.....................DISASTER!! (may want to turn music down)

 

 

What you see here is tetramorium workers killing their own queen!

Well, one of them to be exact. My experiment on keeping two queens together appears to be at an end. As I write this, she is still alive so we shall see tomorrow if I find pieces of her all over the place.

I had hoped to show you all a nice video of the ants carving up an insect I put in there to eat, instead I'm showing you all some regicide!

Oh well, the colony is doing very well, I am up to about 50+ workers and...down to one queen *sniff*

Don

 

P.S: I apologize for the shaky camera, I didn't have time to set up the camera properly.

Edited by Roachant, September 5 2015 - 6:39 PM.

[Roachant]

As expected...the queen is dead. I saw her body being dragged around the nest this morning.

[Mdrogun]

next year when the flights happen, if i'm able to catch any, I will put like 5-10 tetramorium queens together.

[Roachant]

Small update
The dead queen has been taken out of the nest, that is pieces of her except her abdomen. It was taken out, brought back in and is still being dragged around by a worker. Very odd behaviour if you ask me. Maybe it's one of her own offspring and she is trying to get something from the remaining abdomen?

[Mdrogun]

I've seen my Tetramorium do this with dead workers. They seem to carry them around for a long time sometimes even a day or so.

[Roachant]

Update!
Well, something odd has been happening, it looks like some workers have been killed by others in the colony as I saw a few fighting each other. Maybe they are remnants from the other queen. In any case, my worker count went down a bit, it was at around 50 but it's now at about 30-40.
I know these ants have massive wars with each other but to have a small civil war from the same nest, that's wierd.
They eat a lot too, when I add a drop of sunburst nectar it's gone by the end of the day. And I am giving them larger and larger insects and they devour them all.
I guess that's why some workers are almost as large as the queen is.
It's a shame I'll have to hibernate these guys soon. I'd like to keep them around during winter but I have to do what's best for them.

[LC3]

Rest In Pieces

-------Tetramorium sp. queen-------

 [June(?) 2015 -- September 2015]

[Chall]

What was the song in the video?
Long live the queen

[Roachant]

The song is called invincible.
Oh the irony... ;-)

Edited by Roachant, September 27 2015 - 2:22 AM.

[ctantkeeper]

UPDATE!!!

.....................DISASTER!! (may want to turn music down)

 

 

What you see here is tetramorium workers killing their own queen!

Well, one of them to be exact. My experiment on keeping two queens together appears to be at an end. As I write this, she is still alive so we shall see tomorrow if I find pieces of her all over the place.

I had hoped to show you all a nice video of the ants carving up an insect I put in there to eat, instead I'm showing you all some regicide!

Oh well, the colony is doing very well, I am up to about 50+ workers and...down to one queen *sniff*

Don

 

P.S: I apologize for the shaky camera, I didn't have time to set up the camera properly.

yep, tetramorium sp. E is pleometrophic, not polygyne

[ctantkeeper]

 

UPDATE!!!

.....................DISASTER!! (may want to turn music down)

 

 

What you see here is tetramorium workers killing their own queen!

Well, one of them to be exact. My experiment on keeping two queens together appears to be at an end. As I write this, she is still alive so we shall see tomorrow if I find pieces of her all over the place.

I had hoped to show you all a nice video of the ants carving up an insect I put in there to eat, instead I'm showing you all some regicide!

Oh well, the colony is doing very well, I am up to about 50+ workers and...down to one queen *sniff*

Don

 

P.S: I apologize for the shaky camera, I didn't have time to set up the camera properly.

yep, tetramorium sp. E is pleometrophic, not polygyne

 

sorry about your loss though

[Roachant]

It's ok, it was very experimental after all.
It just goes to show that it's the workers who are running the show, not the queens as most people think.

[LC3]

☭ Workers of the world colony unite! ☭

[Roachant]

Update!
Well, it's been a while but this colony has survived their winter rest and are doing well despite some losses from winter and their previous civil war.
It was hard to count but I was down to about twenty workers when I woke them up last month but I am up to about thirty or so now, still a long way from a thriving colony.
The queen has been laying again and the workers are eating quite a lot. I drop in an insect two or three times a week and they eat it rather quickly. Plus I feed them sunburst nectar which they also seem to like.
The larvae are being moved around the nest a lot and I find unlike other ants I have kept, they seem to like putting their larvae in drier areas of the nest. I also find that out of all the ants I have kept, they seem to be the best at keeping their nest clean.
They are also the most active as every time I watch them they are trudging about.
I noticed the new workers are larger than last years, which I guess is not surprising considering the protein they get.
This is my only colony to survive the winter as all my others perished a few weeks after awakening them, even my beloved C.
Herculaneus.
Oh well, I will try to get my target species of crematogaster this year and will keep an eye out for queens. Our area was unusually cold this spring so I'm guessing everything got to a late start.
I know that this species is a pest and quite common, I stil recommend them as a starter species, or just for those who like ants as they are active and very fun to watch, even if they are a little small.
Don