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Post by TenebrousNova on Jan 5, 2011 22:06:14 GMT
I figured that since I got a pair of Messor Barbarus queens today, then I may as well make a journal for them. There are two queens with brood in varying stages of development. The first is a all-black queen who is unnamed for now. She has a few eggs. The second is a red-headed queen codenamed 'Scarlett'. (Yes, even my ant queens have names.) Scarlett possesses a small number of eggs and larvae, with one large larva and two pupae. Both pupae are pale but should hopefully hatch within a number of weeks. Both queens were reasonably calm upon arrival, with Scarlett holding some of her brood with her head tucked down. In the few hours I have owned them, they have taught me some interesting things. For example, a queen of Lasius or similar British ants will stand on all six legs at all times. Both Messor Barbarus queens appear to balance on their back four legs while sitting, with their gasters curled underneath so that they can clean themselves with their front legs. Pretty clever, really. Notes for today: Black queen possesses a few eggs, but does not seem to carry them around. She has not spent much time near them, possibly due to her journey. The damp piece of cotton wool in her plastic pot seems to have been placed loosely, as it rolled slightly and bumped into the queen, causing her to start snapping at the air around herself and begin running around looking for the threat. I'll check up on her tomorrow to see if she has calmed down, I am sure that she will be okay. Red queen (Scarlett) Possesses a small number of eggs and larvae, with one notably large larva and two pupae. Wood had informed me that there was only one pupa at the time the queens were sent, suggesting that a larva matured during the journey. She is calmer than the black queen and is either grooming herself or inspecting her brood, sometimes carrying them around with her head tucked down. That is all for today. Do feel free to comment if you wish.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jan 7, 2011 16:51:01 GMT
I wouldn't consider this a update, but a summary of the last few days. The black queen still has no visible eggs, I swear I saw a few when I first got her so she may have eaten them or placed them on the wool. Scarlett (Red queen) is calmer than before and has put all of her brood into view. She must have hidden them well within the cotton, as I never saw half of them before. Brood consists of: Two pupae. The 'eldest' one is still pale, but seems well developed. The second pupa is noticeably smaller than her sister, about the size of the largest larva. I do not know much about Messor Barbarus, so for now I will assume that pupae grow slightly as they develop, and that this isn't just a smaller worker. A batch of larvae. The largest is close to the pupa size and moves its head around on occasion. Her younger sisters are about half of her size, while the very youngest larvae are only slightly bigger than an egg. Several eggs are located in a small pile, and seem to be hidden sometimes as the queen places them out of view. I noticed that whenever the queen picks up a member of her brood, it is usually the eldest pupa. She holds her for a while before putting her back down, I assume that this extra attention is acknowledgement from the queen that she is close to the full worker stage. The queen herself is constantly attending her brood, sometimes carrying them around. She may focus on a particular subject and carry it around for several minutes. [Additional Note: The larger pupa is a faint shade of yellow now, hopefully she will darken and hatch soon.] That concludes my observations from now. Expect more in the future.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jan 13, 2011 7:48:44 GMT
Just got round to checking up on them again. Red queen has a number of eggs scattered around in small piles, with tiny larvae. There is still one fat larva in there who is close to pupa stage. I checked on the all-black queen, and I found at least one egg in there with her. I'll check on her in another 3 days to see how she's getting along.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jan 19, 2011 22:09:14 GMT
Red queen seems to spend all of her time sitting on the cotton, and I haven't seen her interact with her brood for some time. However, the pupa is now a light brown. Perhaps the first worker will make the queen start thinking about more pressing issues. Black queen still guarding her single egg.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jan 21, 2011 17:09:28 GMT
The red queen is meeting an unexpected end. All I know is that she is dying, without any cause I can see. The black queen has just accepted her larvae and pupa, and is now looking after them. Since the pupa is turning a darker brown, hopefully it will hatch for her surrogate mother and help her found a nice colony. It is a shame to see her go like this though, she does not move at all unless gently touched.
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shane
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Post by shane on Jan 21, 2011 19:49:09 GMT
The red queen is meeting an unexpected end. All I know is that she is dying, without any cause I can see. The black queen has just accepted her larvae and pupa, and is now looking after them. Since the pupa is turning a darker brown, hopefully it will hatch for her surrogate mother and help her found a nice colony. It is a shame to see her go like this though, she does not move at all unless gently touched. Don't give up hope yet, I've though same with black queen but she was semi hibenating "been realy slow moving" Try heating her up abit and see if she comes around in a hour or 2. If she do not
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jan 21, 2011 20:10:10 GMT
She's in the same position as before. She does move her legs and antennae when she senses movement, but we will see how she is in the morning. Even if she lives, I don't think I could take her larva and pupa off the black queen. The black queen is watching them very closely and eagerly nursing them right now. Taking your advice into account Shane, I will try to keep them insulated in this little set up I just made. It is a clean and empty ice cream box, with the test tubes placed in and with cotton wool that serves the dual purpose of retaining warmth and preventing the tubes from rolling around. Here they are, nice and cosy. From top to bottom: -The ill red headed Messor Barbarus queen -The Lasius Niger queen with five workers -The black Messor Barbarus queen. They should be warm and dark, I'll see what they think of it tomorrow. Do you recommend it?
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Post by odesssus on Jan 22, 2011 11:45:18 GMT
I lost one of my ones in November and she died the same way. not moving unless disturbed getting slower every day I know just what it is like you don't want to squish her just in case she gets better
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jan 22, 2011 11:49:47 GMT
I lost one of my ones in November and she died the same way. not moving unless disturbed getting slower every day I know just what it is like you don't want to squish her just in case she gets better Precisely, I couldn't do that as it is against my nature. She is motionless apart from small twitching of her antennae. On the positive side, the black queen is still looking after the pupa, larva and her own egg. The pupa looks like it will hatch within the week as it is now turning dark brown. I also found my old Tarantula's heat mat, which luckily wasn't thrown away when she died of old age. The heat mat gives a pleasant warmth and the ice cream box is now placed on it. They should be fine. I'm just giving it a check every so often to make sure it doesn't get hot. Just got a bag of tiny bird seed- the ones that are smaller than a grain of rice that you feed to Finches and similar small birds. The queen did not appreciate one of the 3 seeds I placed in there bumping into her. Hopefully she will give it a try by the time the worker hatches.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jan 22, 2011 18:24:03 GMT
Red queen is now officially dead.
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shane
Ant Photographer
Ant Species Image Gatherer
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Post by shane on Jan 22, 2011 20:59:15 GMT
You tryed, sorry to see her die
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jan 23, 2011 8:58:28 GMT
Red queen is now officially dead. Sad news, and it is hard to know why she died after being so healthy for the past 4 months
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jan 23, 2011 11:00:12 GMT
Yeah. Maybe it was a unseen illness or just bad luck. I think the pupa will hatch within the next few days, it is now a brown-reddish black colour.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jan 24, 2011 15:37:48 GMT
The pupa has hatched! The new worker is uneasy on her feet but I expected that. The queen picks her up and carries her around every so often, and I placed a few seeds in for when they are hungry. My concern is that the larva seems to be gone and there is only one egg in there now. If any of you want to put in small tips that could help them, then I would appreciate it.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jan 25, 2011 15:24:28 GMT
Worker is bolder than she was before, but the queen often picks her up and carries her around. There is still only one egg, and I put in a small dead cricket and some seeds in for them. Unfortunately, the queen immediately piled them all on top of the wet wool and they haven't bothered with them since. I wonder when she will lay more eggs?
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