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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 19, 2013 9:02:37 GMT
Mounds of very fluffed up soil are all around our home now, as both Lasius flavus and L. niger nests are being opened up. A few even have alate females and males popping their heads out and testing the air, but workers are preventing them from taking flight yet. The lack of rain isn't helping, as we may have the heat needed for ant mating flights; but the air is not humid enough. However, this does not mean that ants will not fly soon, as even if it doesn't rain, as long as the air becomes hot with high humidity, some nests may send out a wave of flying ants sooner rather than later. Nuptial flights of ants tend to happen over several weeks, or certainly days apart, as sending out more than one flight gives them a higher chance of newly mated queens founding successful colonies rather than not doing so. Of course about 93% of them never survive beyond the matings, but the 7% that do will have a good chance of making a nest, although only 3% will still be there the next year, so by collecting newly mated queens from the flights ant keepers are actually saving many young queens from death by predators or accidentally drowning and other forms of deadly exploits. So, as from now keep those collecting pots in your pockets when you go out, as you never know just what you might find wandering around on paths or lawns or out in the countryside.  |
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Post by embernet on Jul 19, 2013 9:08:59 GMT
One random wingless queen wandering on path this morning. How weird is that?!
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Post by Zarbi on Jul 19, 2013 11:18:15 GMT
One random wingless queen wandering on path this morning. How weird is that?! Saw the same thing yesterday, and 2 with wings; but oddly no indications of a mating flight.  |
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Post by embernet on Jul 19, 2013 11:38:33 GMT
One random wingless queen wandering on path this morning. How weird is that?! Saw the same thing yesterday, and 2 with wings; but oddly no indications of a mating flight. Really odd. Not sure what the explanation is for this. |
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 19, 2013 13:33:53 GMT
Sometimes the odd single queen gets mated by her brothers inside the nest. They will often be evicted by the workers because they are a rival to the existing queen (if the species is monogynous that is), and so they remove their wings and wander around looking for a suitable nesting place.
Most new queens are kept away from their brothers by their worker sisters, and so have to wait for the nuptial flights. Hence the fact that ant nests send out thousands of alate males and females in a mass so the chances of inbreeding are greatly reduced, as most young queens get to mate with unrelated males from other nests.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 19, 2013 14:44:53 GMT
Would a queen who inbreeds run an increased risk of producing deformed offspring, as is the case for most animals?
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 19, 2013 15:18:32 GMT
Would a queen who inbreeds run an increased risk of producing deformed offspring, as is the case for most animals? Only if the genes were weakened by continuous inbreeding within a colony, and sometimes it can be beneficial for some species to inbreed for one generation. To avoid too much inbreeding and the eventual probability of deformities happening, the mating of none related males and females from nests which are more widespread are more ideal for the preservation of the species, assuming that the genetics are strong in the parents and will produce healthy and strong offspring in the future of course. |
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 20, 2013 7:13:30 GMT
If the weather watchers at the Met Office have predicted it correctly, then thunderstorms are forecast for next week across Britain. I hope they are correct, as we need a drop of rain to dampen down the dust and scorched earth; and of course this would make it humid enough for many ant species to launch massed flights.
Compared to previous years, nuptial flights of ants such as Lasius are a bit late; but this it not unusual, and often Myrmica and closely related species don't fly until late July and into August.
Never give up and despair about getting newly mated queens, because when those nests do release their alate sons and daughters there will be plenty of new queens wandering around just asking to be given a good home.
Those that have never collected new queens before, most flights happen in the afternoons from about 2pm until 7pm, so catch them fast before they are eaten by birds or vanish into the ground, as they become less once it gets dark and are often all gone the following morning.
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Post by Jonzii on Jul 20, 2013 11:33:25 GMT
Things are looking a bit dull here today, so was hoping for a bit of rain. Can't believe I'm hoping for rain in the middle of summer! Seen a lot of excavation at the entrances of my local nests too.
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Post by embernet on Jul 20, 2013 12:40:34 GMT
Surely any lateness this year is no surprise given the persistently cold conditions earlier in the year, which delayed the arrival of Spring?
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Post by Zarbi on Jul 20, 2013 13:00:25 GMT
Surely any lateness this year is no surprise given the persistently cold conditions earlier in the year, which delayed the arrival of Spring? Cold starts may delay things a bit, but in most ant species in the UK male eggs are laid in February; and female larvae destined to become queens develop from eggs laid in early Spring too. Most of our ants are waiting for rain followed by very hot and humid weather, then we shall see them fly.  |
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Post by embernet on Jul 20, 2013 19:34:02 GMT
In February? During hibernation?!
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 21, 2013 7:38:00 GMT
In February? During hibernation?! By late February and early March, ants are awake enough deep underground for queens to start laying eggs. Due to the cold which inhibits their first eggs from receiving sperm from the queens spermatheca, her eggs are destined to become males. New queens come from eggs which are fertilised and are always female, but these eggs can become workers, (soldiers in those ant species which have this caste) or queens depending on diet and where in the nest they are raised. Ants may not forage until well into April, but this does not mean they are still in hibernation mode in the depths of their nest. |
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