Post by TenebrousNova on May 30, 2021 21:49:55 GMT
I obtained this queen from The Ant Lady about a month ago, the same time as my Camponotus nicobarensis and Messor barbarus. I did not post about her immediately because of my poor track record with parasitic Lasius. She has about 30 Lasius niger workers with her, but not yet any brood of her own.
Today I went out into the countryside in search of wild ant nests that I could pilfer brood from. Although I did find a few Lasius niger nests, all of the larvae I found were alates and there were no pupae in sight. I did, however, manage to obtain larvae from a Lasius flavus nest. The workers regarded the larvae with bewilderment and suspicion at first, but are now looking after them. I banked on the larvae being familiar enough to their dark cousins for them to take them in and it seems to have worked.
I also found a few Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii (ant woodlice) in the Lasius flavus nest and took them to see how they interact with my colony. They are currently sitting in the midst of the colony, where the workers have been ignoring them. These small white woodlice feed on the waste of ants and keep their nests clean.
Hopefully the addition of the wild larvae will encourage the parasitic queen to begin laying eggs of her own, but I'd still like to obtain more brood (preferably pupae) if possible. Unfortunately I have very little luck in this regard.
Let's hope this colony prospers.
Today I went out into the countryside in search of wild ant nests that I could pilfer brood from. Although I did find a few Lasius niger nests, all of the larvae I found were alates and there were no pupae in sight. I did, however, manage to obtain larvae from a Lasius flavus nest. The workers regarded the larvae with bewilderment and suspicion at first, but are now looking after them. I banked on the larvae being familiar enough to their dark cousins for them to take them in and it seems to have worked.
I also found a few Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii (ant woodlice) in the Lasius flavus nest and took them to see how they interact with my colony. They are currently sitting in the midst of the colony, where the workers have been ignoring them. These small white woodlice feed on the waste of ants and keep their nests clean.
Hopefully the addition of the wild larvae will encourage the parasitic queen to begin laying eggs of her own, but I'd still like to obtain more brood (preferably pupae) if possible. Unfortunately I have very little luck in this regard.
Let's hope this colony prospers.
