12 replies to this topic

[AntWUA]

What do I do if I have a queen ant, but in 2 days I have summer vacation.

[ANTdrew]

What kind of queen? How long are you gone? What is her setup like? Etc…
If you want helpful responses, give helpful background information.

[AntWUA]

I will be gone for about 4 weeks. She is in a test tube setup. I don't know the species, but the queen is red and the gaster is red

[ANTdrew]

Still need more info. How long has it been since you found her? Does she have brood. Also try to do an ID thread. 

If you want a helpful response, give helpful background information. 

[AntWUA]

it has been 3 days since I caught her. There are tiny white dots in the test tube. I don't know if those are eggs. What is an ID thread? Sorry, I am new to this forum.

[Manitobant]

Mate take a picture of her and post it here. We can’t help you otherwise.

[antsriondel]

Yeah without pictures identification is pretty much hopeless.

[Flu1d]

Once we figure out what type of queen she is, we will know if she needs food immediately (semi claustral) or if she can be left alone for 4 weeks with just a small drop of honey/sugar water (fully claustral).

However, if you don't know for sure our best bet is to assume fully claustral and just leave her some honey/sugar water. 4 weeks is typically not too long for a queen that is fully claustral because they don't need food right away and it can easily take that long (or longer depending on the species) for eggs to hatch anyway.

I usually give most of my fully claustral queens a little honey if they're looking thin, anyway. I have yet to have that impact them negatively.

Just make sure their tube has enough water to last the 4 weeks, however if you have a 150mm long tube and filled it halfway, you easily have enough. It might be cutting it close with a 100mm tube filled halfway.

Edited by Flu1d, June 13 2023 - 10:46 AM.

[AntWUA]

Sorry if it is blurry, I didn't want to disturb her for a long time.

Attached Images

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Edited by AntWUA, June 13 2023 - 3:47 PM.

[AntWUA]

The test tube I use is about 14 and a half cm.

Edited by AntWUA, June 13 2023 - 3:58 PM.

[AntsCali098]

Fully claustral. When are you leaving for the trip? She has wings, so she may not be fertile. How long have you had her?

[Flu1d]

Sorry if it is blurry, I didn't want to disturb her for a long time.

Looks like a Pheidole, maybe P. dentata or possibly even P. bicarinata? How long is she in millimeters? (I'm terrible at identifying Pheidole queens so I could be wrong)

Either way, Pheidole are fully claustral. I highly recommend remaking her tube with half the amount of cotton you have in there and more full of water. Use a wet qtip to carefully dab up her eggs and cut off the tip and put it in the tube with her. If she isn't a complete dummy, she will pull the eggs off the qtip and arrange them how she wants. Make sure to leave her a little honey or sugar water so she has something. She will probably have workers around time you get back or MAYBE even sooner if she is well heated. Don't put too much sugar water/honey. I like to use a small piece of tin foil to put it on. If you use sugar water, give only a TINY drop so it doesn't go bad before she drinks it. Pure honey can stay indefinitely (you still wanna clean it on your return if she doesn't eat it all) however you still only want a small drop because she COULD drown in it. If you mix water with the honey, do like with the sugar water and only put a tiny bit because once you add water to honey it can go bad like with sugar water.

Edited by Flu1d, June 13 2023 - 4:03 PM.

[AntWUA]

I have had her for four days now. I am leaving in 2 days

Edited by AntWUA, June 13 2023 - 4:06 PM.