4 replies to this topic

[AntPerson76]

A while back I brood booster my only aphaenogaster rudis queen with a few larvae that all turned into pupae and one even was about to emerge. I came back a while later and found dark ant pieces on the cotton and no dark pupae. Another worker was suppose to emerge yesterday but she killed it after it emerged. This is bad because i need this aphaenogaster colony for something I'm working on. A new nest idea I mentioned in my journal.
There are three ideas I have on why she kills her brood booster workers. One is they aren't the same species. I'm just guessing she and the colony I found in the wild are the same species. Maybe she kills the workers because they aren't her species. But that wouldn't explain why she raised some of them even from a larvae.
My second theory, maybe she's stressed. I don't have much to say about this one but maybe she just is stressed about something, maybe me checking in on her? ( I have to admit I haven't checked on her in a while though)
My last theory is the larvae still have the wild colony scent on them, causing her to kill them. But she watches over the brood and cares for them just like she does with the batch of eggs she laid alongside the wild brood, so, I'm confused and worried. Why is she killing her workers, and is there a way to stop it?

[martin_]

Hello AntPerson76,

 

My last theory is the larvae still have the wild colony scent on them, causing her to kill them. 

 

The assumption is wrong. 

Bert Höllbobler has shown in his research that the smell of a colony is learned after the hatching of the new workers. If the "foreign smell" would have been already present, the queen would have killed the larvae or pupae much earlier.

 

 

 

One is they aren't the same species. I'm just guessing she and the colony I found in the wild are the same species. Maybe she kills the workers because they aren't her species. But that wouldn't explain why she raised some of them even from a larvae.

 

This is exactly what I suspect. Ants have between 200 and 450 different hydrocarbon compounds (depending on the species) to produce the colony specific odor. If you now pushed pupae of another species, which can not produce some of the compounds, they have no chance to take the smell of the queen and are not accepted by her as own colony members.

[ANTdrew]

Have some patience and let her raise her own brood in peace. There is no need to boost quick growing species like this.

[AntPerson76]

Have some patience and let her raise her own brood in peace. There is no need to boost quick growing species like this.

You're right. Ant keeping takes patience wether I like it or not. It's better for the queen to raise her own brood. Should I take the brood boosted pupae out?

Edited by AntPerson76, July 31 2023 - 7:00 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Don’t meddle anymore. Leave her be and trust the process.