6 replies to this topic

[Antmom24]

Today I checked on a queen and she has a noticeable tear in her gaster. She’s sitting still but her antennas are moving. Last week she was normal! Does anyone know what might have happened? Is she going to be ok?

It’s hard to get a good photo with the condensation, but you can see the greenish spot where her gaster has opened.

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[Antmom24]

Update: I was looking at pictures from when I caught her and I think I see a small dent in the same spot. I think her gaster is getting bigger and so the gap is showing more. I’m going to continue to care for her and see if she is ok.

I could use advice- I was going to refrigerate her soon for hibernation. Should I treat her differently now that I know she is injured?

[ANTdrew]

No, I would just proceed as normal and hope for the best.

[bmb1bee]

What species is this? There's a chance that "gap" is just showing because of how full she is. It's called physogastrism, which is when a queen's abdomen overextends usually due to consuming lots of fluids.

[antsriondel]

I have seen this happen for some of my Queens. It is caused by the Queen being injured but it has never harmed the Queen in a way that limits her from laying eggs or starting a colony. 

[Antmom24]

The species is I think lasius neoniger, that was what I was told from the ID request post I made earlier.

Yeah, comparing the pictures it does seem like she is bigger now than before so the swelling does make sense. I do think it is an injury though, because it is uneven and just looks wrong.

Thanks for all the help! I really appreciate it. And I feel a lot better knowing that she could still survive this.

[Virginian_ants]

This is normal she'll most likely be fine.