[2021] Red-headed Messor barbarus queen

[TenebrousNova]

I ordered this queen from The Ant Lady and today she has arrived. She already has her first young worker and a healthy pile of brood. One of those pupae will likely eclose to become the second worker in roughly 2-3 days. The queen is quite calm and preoccupied with caring for her young, but I know from past experience that these queens are very sensitive to vibrations and light and don't stay so calm for long if repeatedly bothered. 



It'll be nice to try this species again, as they were my first foray into non-UK ants.

[TenebrousNova]

As predicted, there are now two workers! There's three pupae, about 5 larvae and a small pile of eggs. I also put in a few small mixed seeds, but then put the test tube back to avoid agitating the queen.

[TenebrousNova]

This week there's two workers, four pupae, 2-3 larvae and the egg pile. During my inspection the queen was trying to hide it all behind the cotton!

[TenebrousNova]

This week there are three workers, three pupae, two big larvae and several newly hatched ones- as well as some eggs. I suspect that when I check again next Tuesday, there will be four workers. They have rejected the seeds I gave them and left them in the corner.

[TenebrousNova]

The fourth worker has not yet eclosed to my surprise, but it looks very close. I swapped out their seeds for new ones since they hadn't touched them and also gave them a tiny piece of cheese, which my old colonies loved. And as I hoped, a worker found it and immediately took it to the others.

[TenebrousNova]

The colony now stands at five workers, with the sixth and seventh workers soon to come. Today I noticed a pale round object with pieces chewed off, which at first I thought was a horribly deformed larva before I realised it was actually a seed with the shell taken off. You can actually see small bits of "ant bread" in these photos!





The queen usually panics at first at the light but settles down quite quickly.

[TenebrousNova]

The colony now stands at 6 workers and they've taken a greater interest in seeds. When I checked there was a half opened seed. I put in some more and most of them were quickly gathered by the workers. Unfortunately, one of those earlier brown pupae apparently died before it could eclose, because I saw it dumped by the entrance.

[TenebrousNova]

There are now seven workers. The brood pile is definitely getting bigger, slowly but surely. They still love cheese.

[TenebrousNova]

Here's the queen holding a rather impressive clutch of eggs that were not there before. I estimate there's 15-20 there.
She's definitely looking better fed, even though she hates it when I check on her colony. You can see a pupa that will become Worker 8 very soon.