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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 10, 2011 7:54:29 GMT
Hi Everyone, As you know you cannot post directly on my journals, but all members can post on this sub-board  So if anyone has any questions or comments about the Myrmica rubra queen group (which I sincerely hope will found a colony within the next few weeks), then please feel free to post them here on this thread  |
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Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 10, 2011 8:02:48 GMT
Blem12 has sold me a pair of Myrmica rubra/ruginodis queens that I hope will arrive today. I hope yours go well, with six queens they probably have a good chance. |
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Post by Jenny on Aug 10, 2011 9:39:22 GMT
We are not entirely certain that these queens are rubra, as they look a bit like Myrmica scabrinodis. We do know they are not Myrmica ruginodis or M. sabuleti, neither are they M. lobicornis or sulcinodis; so the main contender is M. rubra with M. scabrinodis being a very close second  |
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Post by TenebrousNova on Aug 24, 2011 11:32:03 GMT
One of my paired queens also seems to be dying, while a solitary one has laid four eggs and is nursing a captured Myrmica pupa.  Have you tried offering them a very small bit of honey? |
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 25, 2011 11:17:49 GMT
They are eating the fly and a small spider, and the only way I could feed them honey would be to place the end of a cotton bud in the set up, as I don't want to drown or get any of the remaining queens stuck in it.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 2, 2011 8:49:55 GMT
At least one of your queens should be capable of laying eggs. I too have noticed that they are harder to get to lay than Lasius. My best Myrmica queen has about 15 eggs and a worker who eclosed from a wild pupa, so maybe you could consider boosting the queens if there's an accessible nest nearby? I was only at my Nan's a few weeks ago, and I found a few nests of Formica fusca and Myrmica rubra who had loads of pupae, so it isn't too late for that- unless you want a colony formed without 'cheating'. |
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 2, 2011 9:04:44 GMT
Yes, the idea is to see how Myrmica queens co-operate in founding a colony, and as there are no nests nearby to find any pupae the queens will have to get laying pretty darned quick if they want to have any workers before winter set in |
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 11, 2011 19:29:54 GMT
Wood~Ant, Myrmica rubra and it's close cousins are Semi-Claustral, and require 24/7 access to food. This is very likely the problem. Yes I know that these queens actively hunt/forage for food, and they have been eating some of the food that I place into the set up. They may have decided not to lay eggs with the year approaching winter, as they are kept cool in their present location. Other myrmicine ant queens I have kept often do this and wait until February or March before they lay any eggs, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed |
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