Survival Rate

[doogsy]

I was just wondering the survival rate of queens after their nuptial flight. How many should I collect to ensure the birth of a colony?
Also, is it better to start the queen out in a claustral cell, or to put thej straight into a tank full of dirt?
Thanks

[anttastic]

Hi ,

A queen after here flight can live for years thats if no harm/illnesses hit her. Also to the question on the tank or cell, I would now go for tank.

[Wood~Ant]

Hi Doogsy, and welcome to the Ant Hill

Collected queens in captivity I personally find have about a 50% survival rate, so in theory if you catch 6, you should get 2 or 3 colonies from them.
A lot depends on the genus and species, as some will allow only 1 queen per colony (monogyn) and others multiple queens (polygyn).

As for what to keep them in, I have raised small colonies from queens kept in a jam jar with a couple of inches of dirt. A small tank is also ideal, and some folks even start off a colony by using the test-tube method.
It boils down to personal choice and what sort of set up you can either make or buy!

[doogsy]

Thanks for the replys. I've always wanted an ant farm, just have to wait till spring now for the ants.
Just another question, with the monogyn colonies, when the queen dies of old age, does the whole colony die? Or would another queen mate and try and take her place?

[Wood~Ant]

What normally happens with a monogynous colony is, when the queen dies for any reason, then the entire colony often dies out.
A colony will not accept a new queen, as usually the colony scent (pheromones) are wrong.

With a polygynous nest however, in theory the colony could live forever as long as it can continue replacing its queen population.
In practice, I think any colony that reaches 100 years or more is an exception rather than the rule, as certain changes reflect on whether ants stay put, or migrate to another nesting site.

[maverickhfsb]

So basically, all the monogyn species' nests in the wild die out when the queen dies? Well, that sucks.

[Wood~Ant]

Yes Maverick, most will certainly die out; but in its lifetime a mother nest has probably produced hundreds, or even thousands of successful new queens who each in their turn found daughter nests
So the mother nest may die out, but the genetic code for that colony lives on.

Monogyn colonies are often much more adaptable, and have a greater success rate at spreading over territory than polygynous ants do.
I have found this theory of mine to be so in my local hills, where Lasius nests containing only 1 single queen per colony, far outnumber Myrmica rubra nests. The latter having smaller populations also.
It is only where Lasius were not found that the Myrmica nests were plentiful.

I hope my local ant observation studies help?

[homer]

In my experience 1/4 of my queens actually found a colony, but I deal mainly with campos which are notorious for being hard to raise.

I always start my queens out in a claustral cell. Even at a 50% success rate, here is the scenario:

catch a queen, drop her into your set up.. she digs a hole and seals it up. you cannot see her. so you wait a month or two... did she make it? or is she dead in there? so you wait and wait, not really knowing. Thats why I use claustral cells. you can look in and see her progress. Or use what wood used, jam jars.. that way you can have a dozen pretty easily and not tie up your nice big formicarium.

Transplanting new colonies from claustral cells is also much easier, you just chill the cell in the refrigerator for a few minutes, then just tip the colony into the formicarium.

that is my opinion

[nepenthes]

Id go with Test tubes or Cluastural Cells Hear are some example Pictures

Test tubes Take up less space and if you get the right size, you can easily sustain a SMALL colony until it gets 20+ workers.

(new young queen freshly caught)


A Problem with Newly founded colony's is that the Callow workers Usually don't want to leave and forage, resulting in Death due to lack of nutrients. So if you use a Test tube its easy to get a small bit of food and they usually Gobble it down so you can keep them happy for a few more months till the colony gets more mature!

Camponotus pennsylvanicus queen with a small brood


Hears what I call a CD case set up, some call them Clustrual cells But I cannot ever spell that right! ;D , Now This is good for new larger species (camponotus Sp's for example) But I don't think it is wise to cool a queen or eggs suddenly to get them to stop moving so you can dump them out... Thats why I am starting to use Test tubes more. You can of course simply open the CD case up in the feeding chamber (assuming you have one) and let the ants find their way out... but this would lead to trouble when you want to feed you're ants because they might not take the food!

Either way, its a double bladed sword!

[lasiusniger]

I'm not sure about the second question, but I just read about somebody who kept four queens, they all fought until there was only one left; and it might die, so to be on the safe side one .