3 replies to this topic

[Del]

Hi all, this is the first of a couple of questions I'll be posting on here.

 

The other day I caught a couple of Polyrhachis queens which I am pretty sure are semi-claustral. How do folks usually build founding setups for these girls? So far I have a normal test tube setup with a layer of plasticine covering the entrance in which I have poked a small hole for her to enter/exit. This test tube is placed into a larger acrylic box to which I have added a drop of honey, a dead mosquito and a small amount of soil substrate. However both queens immediately left the test tube, and spend their time sitting in the corner of the box doing nothing. They have ignored the food, too.

 

Any ideas what might be causing them not to to settle?

[Shaye]

I think that blocking it off until they have their first workers is best, only unplugging to feed them perhaps once a day. Even after, I would wait until they have 5-10 workers to unblock it. That's how I treat semi-claustral queens anyways.

Edited by Shaye, April 4 2016 - 7:35 PM.

[Del]

Oh, so you keep them in a test tube setup like claustral species? 

[Mads]

Yes, but rather than let them forage, you feed them in their test tube or whatever you house them in. It accomplishes the same thing, but they are still contained and less likely to dehydrate.

 

Mads