3 replies to this topic

[SkyShadow]

I have a queen trap jaw ant with a single worker that I received from a friend. I have her in a very small founding nest (1.5cm x1.5cm). The nest has a metal mesh under her feet with a reservoir below I can fill with water to keep the nest humid. I have coco bedding that remains moist in with her and she's built a funnel like structure she raises young in. The nest sits on a heat pad regulated to 30C (the heat must then travel through the water to the floor so I keep it a bit high?)

The nest is attached to a small out world of the same size. Here I offer daily fruit flies as well as drinking water.

Her worker is a marvelous hunter and quickly brings in any offered food. The queen has many eggs, and she places them on the food to eat. They weave a cocoon, normally a light tan color and then for some reason development stops. Eventually the I find the cocoon, now a dark brown color, left in the outworld. So far I have found 5 cocoons, but no new workers are hatching.

I will admit I check on them every 3-5 days with a flashlight and if that is the problem I will stop. If not I'm honestly not sure what I'm doing wrong. I have had them for many months now. Please help me know what I'm doing wrong!!

[AsdinAnts]

(This is my best guess, so don't flame me if i’m wrong 😅)
I would try using sand or something else that’s less soft then coco bedding, since ( some larvae like trap jaw) larvae need extra support in order to build their cocoons.

[SkyShadow]

I will definitely give this a try

[Mushu]

I've had a few larvae/cocoon not develop properly. My buddy has had a few but less than me. His temps are more stable while I allow the temp to drop at night. I do suspect my temperature fluctuations may be a cause(down to 68-70, then can get up to 90-93). This was me testing different heating setups to reduce condensation and at night for the month, it was colder than normal and I mistakenly unplugged the heating cable. 

 

There's a study on Ant deformity where low temperatures or heat shock was a theory as a possible cause. It can also be genetic in origin.

https://www.zobodat....8_0034-0036.pdf

 

In fact, I had a string of about 4-5 deformed pupae hatches with the exact characteristics in the study(crooked antennae and limbs). They were born alive and some survived longer than others. There were also some larvae that did not develop and pupae that did not eclose.  Some were recycled by the workers. Others were thrown in the outworld.  It does coincide with a time of the heating cable incident and another time when I was trying to get my heating right. 

 

 

The reason while I don't think it was genetic in my case is both my colonies(M. Placodops 01 and 02/03 variant) had the same issues. I've since been able to get a more stable temperatures and I haven't seen any deformed,failed larvae development,or pupae for a while now.  

 

 

Humidity could also be a factor in development. I have no experience with Trap Jaw ants but I'd find out from your friend what natural environment they are from. 

Edited by Mushu, April 30 2024 - 6:03 AM.