Hibernation questions - L Niger - UK

[imdsm]

Hi all,

Happy 2012 to everyone!

My L Niger colony burrowed into some sand about a month after I got them back in june/july. Towards the end of september they had a REALLY active day when I put a lot of sugar and meat out, and then disappeared back into the colony. I haven't seen any since the end of sep and I am just wondering - is this a normal time for them to hibernate? I have no way of seeing them as their main chambers are deep in the sand and the tunnels I can see are just for transport and they are empty. Is this normal for them to be hibernating so long? Do you think all of the resources I gave them prompted them to hibernate? They are in my computer room so the temperature is always about 18-22 C, all year long.

What month do they usually come out of hibernation?
How do I know if they are alive or not?
Is there anything that could have killed them? I fed them pork & cornbeef along with some sugar before they disappeared (was too cold to find insects).

One thing to note is there are no dead ants anywhere to be seen..

Looking forward to your replies!

Adam

[Jenny]

Hi Adam,
being the temp of your room what it is, nigers won`t hibernate at anytime. This begs the question, are they dead in a chamber somewhere, you really need to find out by doing an archaeological dig using a fine paintbrush. It might be the case where the sand has collapsed in on them because it`s not wet enough. Yes you do have to be watchful of any fresh food you give to ants especially meat as it harbours all sorts of bacteria after a few hours. Keep us informed of your findings, but I really think to know the answers you`ll have to painstakingly take the nest apart, as I have seen Wood have to do several times

[imdsm]

I feared as much I thought so but I thought maybe biological clock and all that..

It will be difficult as the nest is in the side compartment that is a tall thin bit of sand. If I introduced a new colony of Lasius nigers, what would they do with the old nest & dead ants? Would they clean them out?

Thanks for your messages, and sorry for the late reply, been so busy recently. I will investigate and get back to you.

Regards,
Adam

[imdsm]

It turns out that they were dead. The reason why - I don't know, but I found only the queens body as I excavated them. All the larva and smaller ants (about 40) had just.. disappeared..maybe they'd crumbled and become part of the sand.

I received my new colony today (bit.ly/xYHnme) and have put them into the cleaned set up. I've removed the tall divider that made a tall thin bit, and flattened out the ground, I've put rocks in every corner and a mound of sand in the middle.

My guess is that they will nest under a rock. Hopefully with the sand only being 1" thick, there will not be as much chance of a cave in.

[Wood~Ant]

When using sand it is always best to keep it damp at all times, as dry sand collapses much easier than soil does owing to its nature of drying out faster.
Good luck with your new colony.

[Black Ant]

Your new colony looks good Adam, hope they do well for you. Did you buy them from anyone here or a seller on the internet?

[imdsm]

I will try and keep it damper, I've removed the side partition so now the sand is only 1" deep all along (400x400mm area). It was hard to get the water to the bottom of the sand before.

I bought them from edu sci, or ants unearthed. Two sets - one for me and one for my brother, worked out at £12 each including delivery. Queen + 10 workers.

A question: my brothers ants have put the eggs on top of the queen. Why would they do this?

[Wood~Ant]

I can't really explain that, as ants do some peculiar things and only they know the reason why. It may be something to do with colony bonding by using the queen to lay down her scent?