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Post by formica on May 3, 2009 19:59:50 GMT
hi, I am going to keep a journal of my Formica lemani queen. She arrived on the 2nd of May 2009. I would also like some advice on how to care for her as I do not know a great deal about her. I believe many of you would like to know where I got her but in fact, I got her off ebay!! she has laid 10 eggs in her testube so she has already founded the colony. she has been very busy looking after her eggs but she has not eaten anything. I suppose she dosent need to until the workers hatch?? I have another question: Can lemani adopt other queen ants and still have the old one?? I have heard of wood ants randomly going around collecting stray queen ants after the nuptial flight and letting them join the colony. thanks!
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 4, 2009 7:49:13 GMT
Hi Formica lemani, and welcome to Ant Hill World Along with Myrmica ruginodus, F. lemani was the first ant species I kept back in the 60's about 45 years ago. While they are a polygynous species in nature, they only take in new queens with the same colony scent from those they find wandering around after a mating flight. So any new queens added to the nest are either sisters or daughters of the existing queen or queens. If you have a single queen now, she may accept another at this stage of colony development/founding, as they are not normally aggressive to other queens; but once she has workers the chances of introducing other queens successfully are greatly reduced, as her workers may consider them as hostile and would probably kill them. I tried a similar thing with Formica lusatica colony by putting in a new queen, and the workers killed her within minutes So if you do wish to try having a colony with more than 1 queen, then I suggest you do it now rather than later. Having said this however, my own lusatica colony is doing perfectly well with just one queen, and she is producing plenty of brood, whereas I have kept Formica colonies with 4 queens which did not do any better.
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Post by formica on May 4, 2009 18:43:13 GMT
hi thanks for that!! Today she was wondering around not really doing much! I had mymrica rugiodnos are however you spell it in an ant world but I could never find any queens from the colony as the queen in M.rugiodnos are not much different than the workers. The person I bought the formica lemani queen off had a colony with 5 queens and 20 workers but I decided to buy just one queen.
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Post by formica on May 4, 2009 19:02:59 GMT
hi also I do not really care about how many eggs they lay(well I am but not in this question) I want to have more than one queen so the colony will last longer.
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Post by Black Ant on May 4, 2009 19:07:41 GMT
Perhaps you could buy a second Formica queen, or even the whole 5 queen colony from the person you got your first one from? And the red ants are called Myrmica ruginodis
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Post by formica on May 4, 2009 19:18:53 GMT
Thanks that's exactly what I did, but I'm not sure whether if the other queen comes with pupa should I put the pupa in the tube as well? ?? I can't buy the colony with 5 queens as the workers would kill my queen that I have right now. Well thats what woody says.
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 5, 2009 5:47:58 GMT
Regarding your question in the other thread (Lasius niger) concerning Formica lemani, as they live in cold climate regions, I cannot understand why Antstore say you need a lamp They do not require extra heat, but what they do to warm their nests is they usually nest on the slope of a hill with a south or west facing aspect. This means they get full sun when the weather is clear, and they are protected from the colder northerly or east winds. This species profile I did may help, just click on this link below queenant.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=learning&action=display&thread=2046
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Post by formica on May 5, 2009 11:03:33 GMT
Hi woody! I will update you today when I get home as I have not had time to check on my ants today! The other queen I ordered will come on thursday and I will introduce them. If the queen ant I ordered comes with pupae as the one I have now, can I put the pupae in the same tube even if the pupae are from a different colony or will I have to kill all the pupae? Your caresheet really helps as well. The queen I have now doesn't lay any more eggs. She is probably waiting for her first ants to arrive. bye!!
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 5, 2009 15:26:09 GMT
You can safely put pupae or larvae in with the other queen, as this is often used by ant keepers and is called "Boosting" a colony. Just keep a careful eye on both the queens, and if they don't fight then all should be well
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Post by formica on May 5, 2009 19:13:52 GMT
thanks for your information woody! Do you ever buy ants of antstore because you can check in central European ants Formica lemani accessories:lamp. Nothing has happened today apart from the queen walking up and down her tube. Do F.lemani have major workers? My queen isn't laying more eggs till her first workers come!
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 5, 2009 19:30:02 GMT
I buy ants these days from Antsectopia which is based in the UK.
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Post by formica on May 5, 2009 19:43:25 GMT
antsectopia seems like a really good website so I am going buy another ant farm and buy Lasius flavus as I can get them cheaper on antsectopia than edu-sci. Have you ever tried edu-sci? they are a good website as they have a very fast service. They can be a bit overpriced sometimes, though. Antstore are a rip-off they make you pay another £22.00 for ants so you should only really use them if theres a type of ant you really want.
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Post by Shawn on May 5, 2009 19:48:59 GMT
I buy ants these days from Antsectopia which is based in the UK. I ordered a new L.niger queen from Edu-Sci didn't notice Antsectopia had some and cheaper
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Post by formica on May 6, 2009 14:26:24 GMT
formica lemani queen isnt really doing much. when I took the cover off her tube she ran away.
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Post by formica on May 8, 2009 16:40:11 GMT
Hi everybody! the new queen ant came! she has settled in very well with the first one but she didn't come with any eggs. She hasn't laid any at the minute either. When I first put her into my tube with the other one I ordered they fought a little bit, but by this morning they were taking care of each other and tapping their antennae and looking after the eggs. Would they accept another queen?
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