4 replies to this topic

[Dreamer]

Ever wondered how fast a colony you are thinking of getting will grow?

As a new ant keeper I've really struggled to find this information and some estimates and comparisons between species would have been really helpful. I'd like to collect the experiences of others to make a species list of approximate colony growth rates by year.

Please post your experiences with species or ones that you know and I'll collate them into a big list. Please try to use this format:

Species Founding size 1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years etc.

 

Thanks

 

Colony growth rates by species

Species	Founding	1 year	2 years	3 years	4 years	5 years
Camponotus Barbaricus	1 queen	50-200	1000-2000	5000-7000	10,000+
Lasuis Niger	1 queen	50-200	500-1000	2000-3000	5000-7000	10,000+

Edited by Dreamer, June 12 2018 - 10:43 AM.

[AntsAreUs]

What if you were to say have different colonies of the same species with different number of queens. Or will this be all with 1 queen as a constant?

[Canadian anter]

My Lasius colony, at  two years, reached 2000

[Dreamer]

What if you were to say have different colonies of the same species with different number of queens. Or will this be all with 1 queen as a constant?

Fair point, I'll have to do 1 queen as a constant

[Dreamer]

My Lasius colony, at  two years, reached 2000

I've just based that on my first year and other journals I've read and I guess it will depend on temperatures, but I've updated it. What age do you think the average colony would reach maturity/max size? 4 years? Or should I add that Niger can make it up to 10,000 which you see on care sheets, but I think that might only be in the wild as I've not read an account of anyone with such a large captive colony.