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Post by marctulley on Aug 6, 2007 6:02:26 GMT
Hi guys n gals! Been very interested in ant farms lately so.. Yesterday I went round and grabbed a few flying ants while there's ANY left, got about 7 in a big tub. I know the process (fly, sex, land then loose wings right?) well 2 of the ants lost their wings and started trying to dig/hide Are these ants 'knocked up' do you think? If so, will it be ok to keep then in a tub till they start to produce untill my antfarm arrives? Any help and tips much appreciated as I'm a noob to this! MANY THANKS!!! marc  |
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 6, 2007 7:48:50 GMT
Hi Marc, and welcome to the Ant Hill  It is almost a certainty that the 2 queens who have shed their wings, and then tried to dig in, are fully mated and fertile. They will be fine kept in a small tub in some damp soil for now, and as they will probably lay eggs very fast, it may be best to leave them in the tub until they have their first workers; as moving them when they have eggs may either damage the eggs, or stress the queens, in which case they may eat their brood. I don't know what species of ants you caught, but any that still have wings on are likely to still be virgins and have not mated successfully  You may find that later on, if your ants are a monogynous species that is, that if you house the 2 queens together, the stronger one will take over the colony. Workers will also aid the best queen to either kill, or drive away and exile the weaker queen. This is normal, as only the strong survive to pass on the strongest possible gene pool to their colony. In the wild only a small percentage of new queens make it. If they all made nests which went on to reach maturity, then the world would be overrun with ants. As it is, these girls are highly abundant, so it is doing many young queens a big favour to actually capture a few, as most would only die after or during the mating flights. Just enough do survive to ensure that their species lives on, and as social insects thrive in many parts of the world, you can see that's why ants are so popular with so many of us  |
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Post by marctulley on Aug 6, 2007 15:32:34 GMT
TOP NOTCH REPLY thanks a lot buddy! standard niger black ants I'm afraid easier and safer too look after I hear... I'll let you all know how I get on, my farm/arena starter set up should get here soon but as you say ill let them settle before trying a transfer. ONE more question if I may, got home today and I can't see the ants ! will the pregnant queens be 'IN' the soil? I gave them both a bit of card and a rock to go under assuming they would sit under them... they probably didn't escape, but didn't want to go digging though to find them just in case there because in the soil! suppose they burrow do they? THANKS again for a wicked reply! |
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Post by marctulley on Aug 6, 2007 15:51:41 GMT
IGNORE THAT LAST QUESTION ! (about queens tunneling)
I looked at the bottom of the tub which is clear and there they were ! tunneling around happilly ;D yay
+ I see 2 eggs ! double yay ;D
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Post by Jaikaiman on Aug 6, 2007 18:39:19 GMT
Just a quick note for anyone still thinking about putting their queens into a tub etc (if you can still find any). I read quite a lot about people losing their queens, in fact I have a friend who threw out their entire tub of earth because they thought the queen had escaped. This can be pre-empted by creating a starter hole for the queen using a piece of stick etc, down the side of the tub. That way you can easily keep tabs on her. Hope that helps.
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