New To Messor Barbarus Queen

[alexiaashford]

Hey I'm new to ant keeping, did lots of research, Finally decided to get my first Queen Ant she just arrived in the mail, by herself with no worker ants but she is fertile. ;D very excited about it. I just wanted to know a couple of things about these Queens from the best experts, I was told this site was really good. I had cleaned her test tube as the cotton had mold on it. I added some seeds for her to eat I'm not sure if that was smart, she seems to be o k though. I was told to keep her in the test tube is that wise? Also will she lay her eggs in the test tube? Oh and 1 more question. How do I make her feel comfortable into laying eggs and how many workers do I wait for till I put her in her new habitat?. Sorry for all the questions. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[Jenny]

Hi Alexia welcome to AHW. Your queen will be ok in the test tube until she lays her eggs or has a few workers. However they do love soil nests and digging for them seems to be a must! Leave her quiet and dark, the less disturbance the better for now.

[IceWhyte]

Hey Alexia,

Welcome to the forum. I too have a new barbarus queen and kept a small colony before which didn't go so well.

I would say it was a good idea to give her a clean test tube as mould isn't good for ants. I would be careful though of putting in too many seed as they may germinate. The queen shouldn't really need food as she will produce brood using her reserves but some people say giving them a bit of extra food helps too.

I would definitely keep her in a test tube just now as it is much easier to look after her and keep her clean until she has some workers.

She will lay eggs in the test tube. In my experiences with barbarus is that they can stress really easily at the starting stage and may eat their eggs. I think if you leave her in a vibration free, warm, dark place for a couple of months you will have plenty of workers, I just check mine every week to see any progress and every time I am surprised.

In regards to putting her in a new habitat, I would wait till she has at least 10-15 workers, the more the better though I would say but it all depends on what kind of habitat you are going for.

Hope this has helped and I am sure some other members will have some useful information for you too.

[TenebrousNova]

Welcome Alexia.

Messor queens are very sensitive to disturbances and panic easily if they're disturbed too much, ultimately eating their brood and lowering their chances of forming a colony in the worst case.
I have a new Messor as well, and I am keeping her in a dark cabinet with a heat mat underneath the test tube, which is covered in bubblewrap.

From experience with my other queen who has about 25 workers, you're in the clear when there's 15 or more.
And yes, Messor queens are enthusiastic diggers.

[Wood~Ant]

Hi Alexia and welcome to the Ant Hill

Some will say that Messor barbs are difficult to keep, while others find them easy. This applies to almost every ant species I know, so it's a luck of the draw thing as to how good a queen does at founding a colony really.

From my own experience of keeping this species for about 5 years now, as long as the queen is young and healthy, most will lay eggs by late February to mid March, and raise workers in a matter of 10 to 12 weeks.
The trick is to keep them quite warm in the early stages, in the dark with very little disturbance except for just a few minutes per day.

I also find that the queen will dig into the damp cotton wool if kept in a test tube too long, and eggs may rot away if kept in wet or very damp conditions.
Queens love to dig out a claustral cell (brood chamber) in which to hide away and lay their eggs, and then raise their first brood into worker ants. She may nibble on any seeds you have given her, but her main priority is to lay eggs, so she needs a nice just damp soil to make her nest in and get on with the business of starting a family.

You will find more info in my ant journals and those of other members who keep Messors. Enjoy digging around in the forum's boards, and we will do our best to give your questions accurate answers.

[alexiaashford]

thank you all for the tips, I got some great advice and tips. Hopefully everything works out well I'm very patient and enjoy a challenge.