New Formica Lemani Colony

[abaddon]

As a keeper of this species for many years I decided today to set up a new colony from scratch.

I had 6 queens and one worker in 3 different test tubes which I had caught last year after flights.
The good thing about f. Lemani is that young queens will band together to start nests, this gives them the best chance of survival. even the worker accepted the other 5 queens ok. once the colonies get more established, one queen will be come the dominant queen and may drive or kill the lesser ones ( sometimes the workers will do this too. I have kept colonies for years starting with 5+ queens and over the years they reduce the queens as they grow, this also happens in the wild a lot with this species however more slowly if lesser queens given more room. In the end, no matter what u do after 3-5 years only one queen will be left, sounds harsh? This technique is used by many ants all over the world from Formica, to acres, to myrmica, its a proven evolutional trait that works. 5 queens have a better chance of survival than 1.

Anyway, after leaving the 6 queens and 1 worker for 3 days in a testube I transferred them today to an 'ant world' ( I usually use more professional set ups, but had this spare and works just as well).

Al;l the queens have settled in together and the worker is exploring so all is good.

I will update this on a regular basis to keep you all informed of progress.

Please feel free to comment or ask any questions.

[Wood~Ant]

For several years I studied this species in the wild as well as keeping a captive colony with 7 queens. I did find that if the worker ratio is low then they tend to allow more queens to survive.
At present I still have a colony of lemani with 2 queens, as 1 died last year and a 4th when they arrived back in 2010.

I have kept F. lemani now since I was 14, and that was 47 years ago. Hope your colony does well as I have fond memories of their wild nests.

[abaddon]

I am glad the colony is doing well and still thriving

[antsengland]

hope all goes well for your lemani's, I currently have a colony with 3 queens & a hell of a lot of workers , had them for 2 years now & they still seem to be growing each day, always active but are not as aggressive as my Fusca's from what I have studied.

little bit of advice: if you ever run out of high protein for your Lemani's such as crickets, then as a last resort try out honey with egg yoke, I have fed my lemani's this since I collected the three queens 2 years ago, they have thrived on this & the colony is huge from this day

good luck, they are a superb species