Hello everyone,
In this past late summer of 2011 I managed to catch a number of queens. I also believe that I've caught 2 M yrmica ruginodis queens as well as they differ slightly from the others. I've kept these queens together in test tubes. Myrmica spec. are not claustral, and need to forage whilst they raise their first brood. In colony A, I have 4 queens. Colony B has 2 queens. I tried putting them together once but it was unsuccessful (no damage to any queen). I had a third tube which I gave to a friend of mine to keep.
Colony A: 4 eggs, 10 larvae, 2 pupae.
Colony B: 1 egg, 6 larvae, 2 pupae.
This is what they look like now:
So to update, the first workers have eclosed and both colonies are doing well. Many new eggs have been laid and as well as hatched. The colonies are growing very quickly. Here is a portion of a high-resolution photo I took of the ants last night. I ended up purchasing a new D-SLR Nikon D5100 with a standard 18-55mm lens. Macro lens will be purchased when I have saved up a little more.
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!
Update:
The colonies are doing extremely well, there is a LOT of brood. No new workers yet but a large number of pupae, larvae and eggs. Both colonies are growing fast. Today I just witnessed one of my queens from colony B laying a new egg. Amazing stuff to witness!
Vas
Sounds like your colony's doing well :grin: I myself have never been able to catch a myrmica rubra queen- come to think of it I don't think I have even seen a reproductive cast of that species, but this year that's gonna change... I hope :?
Sounds like your colony's doing well :grin: I myself have never been able to catch a myrmica rubra queen- come to think of it I don't think I have even seen a reproductive cast of that species, but this year that's gonna change... I hope :?
I wish you the best of luck! The founding stage can be difficult, but try following the method I did and you should be good!
Thanks, and I will follow your advice :)
Keep us updated
No problem, my website also shows updates
http://www.antsnational.webs.com
Search my forum :)