24 replies to this topic

[ctantkeeper]

Hey guys, i am currently rearing 2 Laius neoniger colonies in test tube setups (one with four queens and the other with five). since, lasius neoniger is known to be pleometrophic and will kill all but one queen after the founding period, i have proposed a solution in order to reap all possible benefits of the queen reproductive capabilities. i will leave their test tube setup / founding formicarium open, allowing the queen's that are chosen to be killed to flee from the colony before they suffer any damage. once the queen has left the nest, she will find a small test tube setup in which she will move into and be collected in. After wards, two possible options are available. i can give the rejected queen to my other multi-queen lasius neoniger colony (i will lower the temperature to allow for successful adoption) or i can isolate the queen from the colony that rejected her and reintroduce her to the same colony later on (temperature will be lowered as well). this way, the queen can aid the colony she is moved into with brood production until she is either killed or flees from her colony so the process can start over again. if you have any thoughts or concerns, i would really appreciate them!!! has this ever been tested before and is it even worth it?

[ctantkeeper]

Btw, does anyone know the amount of workers produced by the initial brood of L. neoniger?

[Crystals]

Keep us up to date on what happens.

Each species or queen may react differently.  Lasius are known for being difficult to move from nest to nest, so the queen may refuse to leave the test tube and perish.  Or they may flee.  I am not sure how far the workers will chase her, it likely varies from colony to colony depending on the number of workers, etc.

If she does leave, you can see if you can introduce one of the workers to her, otherwise she will not have enough reserves left to raise more workers.

If you have wild nests nearby, you can try boosting the queens with pupae.

[ctantkeeper]

i will make sure to keep you posted if i decide to do this. Btw. if a rejected queen is captured, i do not plan to have her start a colony with a few workers from the initial colony, instead i will collect her and introduce her to another Laius neoniger colony to aid in her brood production.

[ctantkeeper]

unrelated question: is store-bought gelliton edible for ants? i was thinking about adding it to sugary liquid foods to make serving them easier and less dangerous for the ants

[LC3]

This is going to be interesting.. 

Do you think it's possible to create a multiqueen colony by taking queens and trying to merge their scent with another colony with a queen present?

[dspdrew]

I don't know why, but this was the first thing I thought of.

 

[ctantkeeper]

I don't know why, but this was the first thing I thought of.

 

maybe queen recycling would be a more fitting title XD

[ctantkeeper]

This is going to be interesting.. 

Do you think it's possible to create a multiqueen colony by taking queens and trying to merge their scent with another colony with a queen present?

if you are talking about how a polygynous colony might be formed from a pleometrophic species, who knows. i have pondered about this question as well and i can only confirm that the only way to find out is by giving it a go!!! i have no idea, what's gonna happen.

 

Btw, can someone answer my previous question about gelatin?

Edited by ctantkeeper, March 24 2016 - 4:42 PM.

[Shaye]

If you'd like an answer to your question on gelatin, take your own advice and "give it a go" with a test group. I couldn't think of a better way to find out as you said. Unless of course you don't have the workers to spare from any colonies?

Edited by Shaye, March 25 2016 - 12:43 AM.

[ctantkeeper]

i will wait until it gets warmer and i will grab some workers from outside to create a test group. if this works, it will be a huge deal!!! imagine it, we can take sunburst ant nectar, honey, sugar water and humming bird nectar and transform them into solid food items, which would make preparing foods much easier and put an end to accidental drowning!!! 

[ctantkeeper]

i will try making the gelatin formula tonight.

[ctantkeeper]

Ok I made a formula consisting of local honey, granulated sugar, water and gelatin and let it cool in the refrigerator, it has now hardened and has been made into two different forms: one solid blob which can be cut into sections for later use and small pieces of tin foil with the drops of the solid food glued onto them. If I can find Prenelopis imparis workers or Tetramorium sp. E workers outside tomorrow, I will test it on them. Wish me luck.

[Shaye]

I thought that you wanted to give them store-bought jello? I buy this natural gelatin powder that my ants love if you'd like to try it instead. It's actually this

I put this in all of my ant colonies foods to make feeding easier, and it's all natural made from plants (unlike all other jellatin which actually has some meat products in it which would make it spoil faster).   This jello powder is found at any local asian market for cheap, but expensive as all heck at walmart.

 

 

PS: If the image isn't loading, just type in "Telephone brand agar agar powder" and look at the pictures.

Edited by Shaye, March 26 2016 - 3:14 AM.

[ctantkeeper]

thanks for the recommendation, but i will see how this goes first

[ctantkeeper]

Ok, I just collected Prenolepis imparis males and workers as well as a large test group of Tetramorium sp. E workers. After doing so, I placed the two species of ants into containers and offered them a solid droplet of food on tin foil as well as a chunk of solid food that i had cut from the large piece I made earlier. The Prenolepis imparis showed no interest in the food (accept for one worker that tasted the food on the tin foil before running away), however, the Tetramorium were immediately attracted to both of the samples of food given to them, but some of the workers spent great amounts of time trying to cut the material in smaller pieces. After recording my results (and a taste test lol), I have concluded that the solution is to viscus for some ants to properly feed from and that the sugar/honey to water/knox gelatin is way to low to provide the ants with enough glucose. I will get to work on a new batch soon.

[ctantkeeper]

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, after being dissatisfied with the previous batch, I made several other samples with the same materials as last time, but with different ratios. After making three different samples, I came to the conclusion that the amount on honey I was using was preventing the formula from being thoroughly mixed while cooling. afterwards, I tried making a sample with only water, Knox gelatin, granulated sugar and sunburst ant nectar and was able to make a product that was evenly mixed and had the consistency of Jello. I then caught some Tetramorium sp.E workers from outside my apartment and placed about 15-18 of them into a small container with a chunk of the final sample of the formula and got very poor results in terms of receptivity. Out of curiosity, I placed a piece from the first batch in the small container and it was instantly fed upon by almost all of the workers in the test group (after doing a taste test, I concluded that the sugar content was much higher in the 1st batch when compared to the 4th batch, possibly due to the honey). Why the 1st batch was able to cool properly with honey while the other samples did not, I have absolutely no idea. If this experiment were to be tried at home, I would recommend using the honey sparingly and using a generous amount of the Knox gelatin (i did not measure the ingredients, sorry). In other news, my two Lasius neoniger colonies are producing tons of eggs and already have some larvae that are far into development (the smaller, four queen colony even has approx. 5-6 pupae). Once the workers eclose and the queens begin to show aggression, I can try my queen cycling experiment!!! wish me luck.

Edited by ctantkeeper, April 3 2016 - 6:45 AM.

[ctantkeeper]

I can't believe all of that work with the gelatin formula was for nothing though (facepalm).

[drtrmiller]

Any sugary food should be able to be consumed as a liquid, as is almost always the case in nature. If you can't drink it with a straw, how will the ants consume it?

Gelatin is not going to yield the results you want. It also melts at the body temperature of the animal it came from.

[ctantkeeper]

I am not really sure what you mean drtmiller, I am just trying to create a solid food product that the ants can obtain moisture/nutrition from without drowning. This would be especially good for when I raise Monomorium emarginatum later this spring. Btw, the ants are obtaining liquid from the surface of the gelatin cube and now have the added option of carrying chunks back into the net for further working/consumption.