Sam_the_Ant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Country: United Kingdom
Pets: 2 x dog, 1 cat, 4 mantids, tropical fish.
Favourite Ant: Camponotus Herculeanus
Likes: 2
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Post by Sam_the_Ant on Jul 15, 2012 17:08:18 GMT
Well since the weather has been just rain these past couple of months, I haven't let it dampen my spirits in ant hunting. I've been looking only for L.niger nests and taking a tally chart and count of 3 nests and seeing how they develop over a period of 1 year. Since I've started this chart back in march, there has been a lot of progress in all 3 nests, but recently I noticed something really strange about the Alates developing in the nests. One nest had about 4 alates, another 6 and the one I checked yesterday only had 3 inside the nests. These nests are all underneath slabs, and all the cocoons and ants have not buried into the soil because I can see everything, unless there is a separate place for alates to be placed in, or I've missed the flights. I will check again in 2 days, but is this normal to have this many alate cocoons in a nest, and is it normal for them to still be cocooned?? Please help with my research!
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Post by batspiderfish on Jul 16, 2012 0:36:15 GMT
Why don't you think they're just underground?
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 16, 2012 8:39:20 GMT
It has been too cold and wet for any flights down here on the South Coast of England in Sussex, and I know for certain that there hasn't been any mating flights of any species within a 7 mile radius of my home, which does include countless nests of Lasius flavus, L. niger and some Myrmica rubra as well as the odd other species of Leptothorax and Temnothorax.
The low numbers of alates near the top of a nest means nothing, as workers tend to supress the winged males and females urges to fly off during bad weather, and keep them in the lower levels of the nest. Like BSF says, most alates are deep down below the surface; and will remain there until flying conditions are just right.
If it gets too late and some nests don't get their alates to fly, then come the winter all males will be killed and in most cases so will many, if not all, of the young queens. Keeping winged ants in a nest for a long time is a drain on the resources, and as wings can become damaged, it makes sense to produce new winged males and females next year and get rid of any that don't fly and mate this year.
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Sam_the_Ant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Country: United Kingdom
Pets: 2 x dog, 1 cat, 4 mantids, tropical fish.
Favourite Ant: Camponotus Herculeanus
Likes: 2
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Post by Sam_the_Ant on Jul 17, 2012 21:33:58 GMT
Well 1 reason I do not think they are under the ground is because the entire nest and all its eggs and queen are under the giant slab.... just a guess! Thanks very much wood, thats pretty impressive to know that the workers control the drones and young queens, and actually stop them from leaving the nest. Well I also live on the south coast, and there is sunshine on the way! I'm guessing, and hoping the flights may happen next week when the summer arrives haha. Thanks for your help wood, I still have a lot to learn
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 18, 2012 7:42:38 GMT
Actually Sam, many people think that because the mother(s) in ant nests are called "queens", that this implies they are the rulers of that society and other ants obey their commands.. This is far from true, as often it is the daughter workers that control things; but having said that, no single ant gives the orders while others obey blindly; and queens are just basic egg laying machines and simply the mothers of all (or most) ants in the nest. Each ant is like a human brain cell, and it takes many cells to perform an action. The Hive Mind as I like to call refer to it as makes a colony of ants behave like like one huge super brain, and although a queen has to think for herself when she is founding a colony and newly mated, it later becomes evident that the more ants there are in a nest, the more structured and organized it gets, like a child's brain learns more from growing up and being educated, finally becoming a wise old man or woman. Age of a colony of ants is very important, as a young colony behaves completely different to a more mature one, much as a 10 year old child knows more than a 5 year old; but less than when they reach the age of 40 or older. The same applies to worker ants, as older ones take on far riskier jobs than their younger sisters, as young ants stay in the nest while older ants go out foraging. Think of any ant nest as one big super-brain, and not as a bunch of individuals running around with no sense of purpose; and there you have it.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jul 23, 2012 9:52:43 GMT
I think that today will be the day; it's hot and cloudless where I am and there's a lot of birds on the lookout for the nuptials. A female alate landed in my garden before taking off again. Good luck, everyone.
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Sam_the_Ant
Nurse Ant
Posts: 104
Country: United Kingdom
Pets: 2 x dog, 1 cat, 4 mantids, tropical fish.
Favourite Ant: Camponotus Herculeanus
Likes: 2
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Post by Sam_the_Ant on Jul 23, 2012 17:18:20 GMT
I've seen lots of queens and drones today about, its been really good weather and glad the flights are happening, as I'm off to the canary's and didnt want to miss the flights!! Hopefully I can find more than just Nigers flying around ;D
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 24, 2012 11:12:16 GMT
Jen spotted a newly mated queen while waiting for the bus to take our dog to the vets for his yearly jab. I have just been out to my shed to get a tank prepared for any new ants that may come my way, and several winged alate females were landing close by. If we didn't have a major flight yesterday, then as today is hotter I think we should see a lot of Lasius flavus and L. niger around this afternoon.
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