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Post by togot on Apr 29, 2008 17:03:46 GMT
I discovered a budded colony in my back yard the other day. they appear to be a smaller version of the harvester ants you get in the uncle Milton ant farms here in the US and this species is rather common in my backyard. every spring, a queen with a bunch of workers and brood seems to bud off from the main colony and move under a log. two years ago I caught such queen with workers, but that colony recently died out. the new one I found had already moved the queen into the wood so I couldn't get her, but I wonder, if I take several workers and brood from this colony, can I sustain it over a long period of time by periodically raiding the nest for new workers and brood? or will they eventually stop recognizing their long lost sisters and attack them? any insight on this will be appreciated  |
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Post by Wood~Ant on Apr 29, 2008 19:08:24 GMT
You can collect brood and workers from the mother nest for a couple of months, but don't risk it after 3 months have passed as colony scent does change and they may fight even though they are related.
I tried this once with Myrmicine ants, and the workers in the colony I collected in the spring did become openly hostile to new workers from the exact same nest collected in late summer.
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Post by togot on Apr 30, 2008 17:37:02 GMT
thank you. given that information I will probably release the workers I captured back into the parent colony since they won't be able to grow without a queen.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Apr 30, 2008 18:34:38 GMT
If you want to try keeping a queenless colony of just workers, then it is best to keep collecting a few larvae and/or pupae from the same species nests, at intervals of maybe two or 3 times during the summer.
Only pick up small amounts of brood each time, so then you won't deplete the wild colony of its future workers; but you will manage to keep your own workers only colony going for a few years.
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Post by togot on May 1, 2008 22:37:34 GMT
that might work, the wild colony brings their brood up under the log to warm them during the day. the trick will be to get the brood without the workers. thanks
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 2, 2008 7:40:49 GMT
the trick will be to get the brood without the workers. thanks I have collected brood from several wild nests in the past to boost an existing captive colony. The "trick" is to use a small teaspoon or even one of those plastic spoons that come with ice cream from Burger King or McDonalds. Use the spoon to scoop up a small number of larvae and/or pupae, say about 7-10. If the brood is from the same colony as you originally collected workers from, then it does little harm if a few workers come with it the first time; but just make sure you don't pick up any workers from a nest which is entirely unrelated, as they will be hostile to your own ants of course. |
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Post by xcanadianantx on Jul 9, 2008 23:13:34 GMT
very interesting. I have been taking brood from different colonies around my yard but they are the same species what do you think could be a problem with that?? Cause I have one queen with no workers...and roughly 25 eggs in different stages
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 10, 2008 8:08:16 GMT
very interesting. I have been taking brood from different colonies around my yard but they are the same species what do you think could be a problem with that?? Cause I have one queen with no workers...and roughly 25 eggs in different stages It should not be a problem at all, just as long as you only collect well developed larvae and pupae; and remember the golden rule of not over-fishing the area. That is to say, don't deplete any one colony of more than 10% of its brood, as the wild nest needs to maintain good colony numbers to survive. If you collect say 10 to 20 pupae from various wild nests, you will soon have a large enough number to boost your own queen's work force  |
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