9 replies to this topic

[AntBoi3030]

Begining,

 

Back in Febuary, I caught two Lasius Claviger queens and one Aphidicola queen underneath the bark of a log.

I hibornated them in my garage until mid march when it was warm enough to find hosts. I collected around 50 workers of somekind of Acanthomyops for one queen and around 50 neoniger hosts for the other queen. I introduce the workers to the queens via the worker method. I chilled host workers in the fridge and slowly added them in. It was a long process but I had sucess with both queens. The Aphidicola queen was sadly killed by hosts.

After a about a month the Claviger queen with Acanthomyops hosts laid eggs!

I actaully ended up selling this colony but I kept the other colony for myself. Last week, I checked up on the colony with neoniger hosts and saw that the queen had laid a few eggs! Sense then, the queen has laid more and more eggs and the colony now has a decent egg pile. I'm super excited for the eggs to hatch so I can start feeding this colony protien!

Video:

https://youtu.be/_QD...dDGTSLPKyO0FzBS

Edited by AntBoi3030, June 2 2025 - 7:02 AM.

[ColAnt735]

Excited to see how this colony progresses! Did you dunk the queens in vinegar before introducing the workers to them? I'm curious because I'd like to try my hand at parasitic Lasius this year.

[AntBoi3030]

Nope! Just chilled both of them. They were extremely sluggish, so there was 0 aggression. I introduced a set of 2-3 workers and left them together in the fridge overnight. Then, I added in workers, gradually making sure that they were cold the whole time. The whole thing took a while.

 

This helped:https://www.statesid...cial-parasites#

[Stubyvast]

Good strategy. Where did you originally find the queens? I want to start looking out for them, but I don't believe they show up until the end of the season, right?

[AntBoi3030]

Yes, they fly in the fall and late summer. However, you can find hibernating queens underneath debris in the spring or winter. I’d suggest bark and rocks. It also depends how long it has been warm were you are. In the past, I’ve commonly found queens underneath rocks and running around on the ground in the first few weeks it get warm (60 F+). Good luck!

[AntBoi3030]

Update 5/25/2025

Larvae! It took a long time for egg to larvae, much longer than any other of my colonies. My Camponotus are outgrowing these. I’m beginning to worry about the dwindling number of hosts. I might have to boost them with some host pupae soon, which isn’t great considering my like finding host brood.

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[AntBoi3030]

Update 5/28/2025

 

I found some Lasius brood to boost these guys with. Unfortunately, I think I may have given them a couple of alate larvae. Alternatively, this Lasius colony may have workers of varying sizes. I'm hoping that it is still too early for Lasius alates. Let me know what you think juding from the pictures.

 

On another note, this colony's larvae are beginning to grow quite a bit. I also have a creeping suspicion that the hosts are feeding the larvae dead host workers in addition to the fruit flies I've been feeding them. I've been finding a couple of bodies in the nest that aren't thrown out for the past week or so. Also, in one of the pictures it looks like a larva is consuming a dead worker.

 

[AntBoi3030]

Update 6/9/2025

 

The larvae have progressed well over the past week. I think there are now 10-15 larvae, and the queen just laid a new batch of eggs. For a species this size, their brood grows incredibly slowly. In fact, all of my Camponotus are outgrowing them. 

 

Today, I checked a flat stone I put on top of a Lasius nest a few months ago. Underneath there were mounds of Lasius pupae. I collected around 100 and gave some of it to my neoniger colony. The rest went to the Claviger to help boost them. Hopefully, with the new injection of workers, the brood production will increase.

[RushmoreAnts]

My colony just got larvae a few days ago. I can concur; they barely grew at all. I've had Formica brood go from egg to pupa in that time. It'll be worth it, though.

[AntBoi3030]

Just taking their sweet old time I geuss  .