2 replies to this topic

[Myrmicaria]

Hello,

 

I recently moved house, and took my colony of ~15 Messor barbarus workers and a queen with me, while being very careful to move them gently. However, at around a week after moving them there was a massive worker die-off of ~12 workers. They were in a test tube setup connected to a starting nest setup that I connected around two months ago, having purchased the queen in February. They had been doing well up to this point, although they had remained in the test tube rather than moving into the nest, which meant that I had no opportunity to clean the tube.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on what may have caused the die-off and how best to try and save the queen and remaining workers? For context, the humidity as measured nearby is ~70% at 22°C, and I have been feeding them seeds which they have been consuming as the colony grew.

Any advice that you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

[Ernteameise]

I have been keeping Messor for nearly 3 years now, and one thing for sure-

they are my most stressy ants.

They stress out about everything.

So moving them might have been one possible issue.

Do you have a picture of the dirty test tube?

Normally, black dirt and mold are not that much of a problem, but there is always a chance that the seed they drag into the tube might have spoiled and that might have caused an issue.

Then one thing that has happened to one of our members here:

Do you have other pets? Did you treat your dog/ cats against fleas? Did you wash your hands after? A massive die-off like that might as well be poisoning through some kind of toxin.

Another cause- do you feed fresh / frozen insects or cooked meat? There is one kind of canned crickets that contains a preservative that kills ants, and several people have had their colonies die after feeding canned crickets. 

What kind of seed are you feeding? Are these cheap bird seed? Same question goes for cheap bird sand from the shop- these can be treated against mites and will also be toxic to ants. 

Messor should be fed with organic non-sprayed seed and the sand you are using should be sand safe for ants (I know, this is expensive in the ant shops, but as a German saying goes- if you buy cheap, you will buy twice). 

 

Otherwise, keeping a small colony of Messor in a test tube is fine, I did it myself. Same goes for your humidity and temperature. 

 

EDIT: Pictures of your setup would also help a lot. 

Edited by Ernteameise, October 8 2025 - 1:09 PM.

[AntRealm]

I have Messor ants too.
They’re honestly the most stress-prone species I’ve ever seen — even gently lifting their test tube stresses them out. So you really have to be very careful with them.