L. Niger queen died. What can I do???

[shaunus]

Hi

I hope some of you have been following my somewhat patchy commentary of my colony of Lasius nigers, but if you have, tis bad news as you obviously can gather from my rather to the point title.

She has died. She remained in the test tube since arrival, but was definately alive till just the other day when I inquired as to how she was getting on. They had managed to fill most of the TT with sand but left a large part of the chamber showing, probably because no light was hitting it from that angle. Anyway, I some times looked to see how they were getting on through this gap. There was a surprisingly large egg pile when she arrived, and even bigger now. But she id most definitely dead. Big shame.

Now, they obviously weren't under fed, because she was still pumping 'em out til very recently, as some of the eggs were very very small. So, for the detectives on here: diagnosis???

Food was mostly insects, which I admit went quite moldy before I buried them deep amongst the sand. Also number did drop slightly, as there was a small hole in the cling film, apparently big enough for the buggers to escape through, as I witnessed at least 2 out and about the house before I covered it with new cling film.

And also water was not a problem, as the TT had a renewable water supply and the tank was frequently watered, but not too frequently I might add.

Is laying too many eggs a possible cause of death? You know, to much energy etc???

Now, as for the future: Is there a possibility that the remaining eggs may become males whom could then mate? I'm pretty sure males from the same nest would not mate with a female from the same nest, am I correct? Dunno if ants are incest insects...
If males are produced, if I put some females (workers) from another nest in there (removing the old lot obviously) would mating occur d'you think?

They weren't very aware of the seasons, so it not being autumn/late summer should not matter, should it??

Please reply as I am miffed as to the death of our Queen...

Thank you in advance

[Jenny]

Firstly sorry to hear of your loss regarding this colony. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, the result is inevitable. Don't let this incident put you off keeping ants, as it is not all doom and gloom.

There could be several causes to look at, as we also have had nigers die in the past. Bacteria for one from the mold on the insects. The age of the queen. The water in the base of the test tube, as an example, when I removed the cotton wool from the test tube from a colony Wood had received from Antstore, it smelt absolutely putrid and the water at the base was stagnant!

It might be wise next time to tap the tube with the colony out into the tank with your finger, and then remove the tube altogether. They then have everything fresh to start a nest with.

The remaining workers will die out now there is no queen. Mating in captivity is rare, nigers mate later on in the summer months, on a still humid day, usually late afternoon after we have had a shower of rain. See alate chamber for more detail. queenant.proboards82.com/index.cgi?board=mating

[shaunus]

Yes, I was aware that the existing workers will now die out. Shame, as some of the eggs were very freshly laid...

So you think there is a very small chance that the eggs will hatch to become winged males?

Any chance that the existing workers will lay some, as they always hatch into males when this occurs, correct? Under what circumstances does this happen by the way? Maybe lack of food... maybe starving the existing workers into producing unfertilised eggs will produce the males I desire? Or is that very unlikely, or as some might say, evil...?

The only way I can get another colony is from Germany, as that costs:(

[Formicalondon]

I wouldn't worry about producing winged males, as Sexual ants are only produced by mature healthy colonys anyway. I can't understand what it is you want to achieve by producing males anyway, as you will not get them to mate in captivity.

[trunks7777]

If I'm not mistaken, I think you want to try an get the males to mate with the workers (workers can't lay like the queen can). All I know is that workers have some thing wrong with them so they can't lay fertile eggs. So no matter how many males you can get to mate with a worker, she will still only lay unfertile egg.

I do like the ants from ant store but there is also edu-sci.com/ants-ants-c-42_77.html which seem to be good and UK based. I haven't tried them myself but for £7.50 which has P&P and full care instructions doesn't seem to bad to me.

Or you could wait for this years mating flights, which is some time in August to September and get about 5-6 queens free (but don't put them together). That way you know the queens are young and ready to start a colony.

Sorry about your bad luck this time, but hopefully next time you will have better luck and keep the queen for years