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Post by zchuanru on Sept 21, 2007 14:08:18 GMT
Hi my name is Chuanru. I live in a tropical country called Singapore and I am facinated about ants the way you people are, the only problem is my country men treats ants as pests.
I got a great colony and I have been feeding them mealworm but I fear that one day the queen may die. When that happens, I still wish to continue rearing those amazing insects. So I wish to know, how I can bring about the next generation of queens and males from my current colony?
How do I increase the chances of my current queen bringing about the next generation and what preparations should I do when the winged ants emerge from the nests?
I am not very sure what species my ants belong to, their workers are small, 2-3 mm but the majors can be as big as the queen, ~ 2 cm. The ants are black in color and deliver a terrible sting through their mandibles. And they can't swim.
Thank you for taking time to read my post.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 21, 2007 15:01:43 GMT
Hi Chuanru and welcome to the Ant Hill You may find that your colony will produce males and females, though in a captive colony this is rare. Also ants usually need to fly before they mate, as males are not normally allowed to copulate with their sisters, being prevented from doing so by the workers. The best way to make colonies is to look out for newly fertilized queens. These can be found after a mating flight, and will wander around looking for nest sites immediately after removing their wings, which is also a good indication that they have mated successfully
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Post by xennon on Sept 21, 2007 15:20:44 GMT
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Post by zchuanru on Sept 24, 2007 15:20:51 GMT
Yea you are right, thats the kind of ants I'm having currently.
You say that males are not allowed to copulate with their sisters
By sisters do you mean the new queens or the workers?
Cause what I'm thinking is, to create a huge barrier around my terrarium and when the new males and queens emerge, I would seperate them and hopefully mate them again, is that possible?
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Post by Wood~Ant on Sept 24, 2007 18:09:23 GMT
You say that males are not allowed to copulate with their sisters By sisters do you mean the new queens or the workers? The new unfertilized queens are usually prevented from mating with related males (brothers) inside the nest. Some may mate once they fly away from the nest, but as many nests release their winged males and females at the same time, the chances of interbreeding (I.e. brother/sister matings) is greatly reduced.
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Post by zchuanru on Sept 25, 2007 15:07:19 GMT
Thank you so much for the information you guys have provided. Maybe I will just wait for the mating season after all.
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Post by Formicalondon on Sept 28, 2007 17:51:05 GMT
You could try to get them to mate as Pheidologeton diversus sexuals mate on the ground and have a habit of mating on shiny surfaces. So if you was to collect and contain them in a large humid container with say kitchen foil on the base, you could be in with a chance, although it would be inbreeding which may not be good in the long run. Wouldn’t it be better to collect mated queens from the wild, as they have their mating flight every couple of months I believe. You're lucky to keep these, I once had a small colony with 2 queens, unfortunately they died after about 2 months.
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