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Why has my queen passed
Started By
Jonathan5608
, Aug 19 2022 2:04 PM
29 replies to this topic
#1 Offline - Posted August 19 2022 - 2:04 PM
My n flavipes queen unexpectedly passed today an I’m struggling to understand why. I kept them in a a wakooshi founding formicarium(Mercury I think it was called or some planet) with a mix of zoo med clay burrowing substance and sand. About an inch below the bottom of the formicarium is a heat mat. The have been in there since July 22. I had two queens originally. One passed about a week after I moved them in. The one queen left was doing fine. There were about 30 or so workers. I provided a testube for water and sugar water. I gave them fruit flies and honey. The about a week ago they moved to the restive with water. I removed the testube with water course it looked a little strange. When I looked inside there was a mold outbreak and it looked like all most of the brood had mold. I removed the testube and checked twice today an I know noticed that my queen is dead. Did the mold kill her. Was it stress from removing the testube to often.
#2 Offline - Posted August 19 2022 - 2:39 PM
From what I've seen Nylanderia queen don't die too easily form stres so unless you were throwing her around, then she probably died from mold
- FinWins likes this
#3 Offline - Posted August 19 2022 - 3:20 PM
Mold may have done it. Any dirt nests should have springtails, and you should bake the substrate beforehand to prevent mold. In general, I’d advise against dirt setups.
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.
#4 Offline - Posted August 19 2022 - 3:56 PM
Didn’t know mold was so deadly to ants. A little mold from a cricket that I forget to grab never effected my arachnids in any severe way.
#5 Offline - Posted August 20 2022 - 4:47 AM
Uh, why is that water brown?
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We should respect all forms of consciousness. The body is just a vessel, a mere hull.
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#6 Offline - Posted August 20 2022 - 5:06 AM
Yeah, looking closely at that water, it seems bacteria poisoning the water is the problem.
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.
#7 Offline - Posted August 20 2022 - 7:09 AM
I've had water turn green, blue, yellow, orange, red, and pink with bacteria. All colonies are perfectly fine. White mold is the issue here.Yeah, looking closely at that water, it seems bacteria poisoning the water is the problem.
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#8 Offline - Posted August 20 2022 - 7:49 AM
A lot of people assume mold killed their colonies, because the ants are covered in it when found, but honestly, I'll bet the majority of the time, the queen just died for unknown reasons (as they do all the time), and then the mold just grew on them. The ants constantly clean everything to keep it from molding, and once that stops, the mold takes over.
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#9 Offline - Posted August 20 2022 - 9:23 AM
True. Not trying to contradict your point, I totally agree, I just found it worth noting that sometimes colonies will be so attached to their queen that they continue to treat her as such after death, not immediately shredding her to bits and dumping her in the garbage pile. In this scenario though mold could still take root on the inside, which no longer regulates itself.
"God made..... all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. (including ants) And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NIV version
#10 Offline - Posted August 20 2022 - 9:55 AM
No it’s brown because I used brown sugar when I was making the sugar water
#11 Offline - Posted August 20 2022 - 10:02 AM
Wait, so is this their nesting tube or just a food source in the outworld?
We should respect all forms of consciousness. The body is just a vessel, a mere hull.
Welcome to Lazy Tube - My Camponotus Journal
#12 Offline - Posted August 20 2022 - 10:04 AM
Bingo. There’s your problem. It probably fermented a while ago plus super charged whatever molds were present.No it’s brown because I used brown sugar when I was making the sugar water
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.
#13 Offline - Posted August 20 2022 - 11:13 AM
The brown sugar was fermented?Bingo. There’s your problem. It probably fermented a while ago plus super charged whatever molds were present.No it’s brown because I used brown sugar when I was making the sugar water
I put a sugar test tube in there for a sweet sourceWait, so is this their nesting tube or just a food source in the outworld?
#14 Offline - Posted August 20 2022 - 11:24 AM
The ants will need a separate water and sugar source
#15 Offline - Posted August 20 2022 - 12:33 PM
They do. The one for water is right behind the pictureThe ants will need a separate water and sugar source
#16 Offline - Posted August 20 2022 - 2:39 PM
So brown sugar is bad
#17 Offline - Posted August 20 2022 - 7:04 PM
No, I've fed my ants brown sugar water in the past. They didn't like it that much but they didn't die.
(And i guess they just didn't like it because they were not used to it. My ants hate everything that isn't pure sugar water or diluted maple syrup.)
We should respect all forms of consciousness. The body is just a vessel, a mere hull.
Welcome to Lazy Tube - My Camponotus Journal
#18 Offline - Posted August 21 2022 - 5:01 AM
Perhaps it was in there for to long. How often do you replace your sugar waterNo, I've fed my ants brown sugar water in the past. They didn't like it that much but they didn't die.
(And i guess they just didn't like it because they were not used to it. My ants hate everything that isn't pure sugar water or diluted maple syrup.)
#19 Offline - Posted August 21 2022 - 9:43 AM
Wild occurring yeasts will start fermenting sugar water after about four days.
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.
#20 Offline - Posted August 21 2022 - 1:32 PM
There was individuals on discord talking about wakooshi nests killing their colonies. I have no idea how that's possible. On a side note was the water that color before the queen died? From my experience brown sugar doesn't turn water that color?
Edited by T.C., August 21 2022 - 1:51 PM.
“If I am killed for simply living, let death be kinder than man.” -Althea Davis
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