13-7-2013 : Physogastric Lasius niger queen.
Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nt_z-IcIwg
I captured this queen by mistake when I was scavenging Lasius niger mounds for brood. I toke the queen home and recorded some videos/picture - afterwards the queen was safety returned back to her colony.
For those who want to try to repeat the feat, she was capture i 3dm high mound, 17:00, a warm and dry day, and she was in the lower middle of the mound. :)
Some ant species create additional ovaries during the summer to maximize their ability to produce eggs. Lasius niger is one of those species, if you look at the video you can see that her abdomen is pulsating, constantly producing eggs.
The queen is very energetic, and despite her huge size, she has no problem running around.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7353/9288532204_55f679c5e4_c.jpg
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3822/9288532392_d9f0c445ab_o.png
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5443/9285754457_89632923f7_o.png
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7320/9285754343_1e500643b3_o.png
After taking some pictures and recording a few videos I gently put her back in her colony.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7448/9285755071_b800e528ee_o.jpg
She is immediately surrounded by workers.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3706/9285755935_6ded517f9b_c.jpg
After about 2min she is gone.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7299/9288629534_4d94e77cec_c.jpg
Really cool :D have never seen this before with a lasius niger queen. thank you for sharing it with us! :)
Really cool :D have never seen this before with a lasius niger queen. thank you for sharing it with us! :)
No problem, I agree, it is very cool. :P
She is really fat :D
Thats crazy :shock:
i think that they moved to new nest and u was near. u lucki 8)