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Caught 4 more but 1 of them died, one of her leg was missing.
Hello bulldog,
this species key might help: http://antbase.org/ants/publications/21185/21185.pdf. I have not worked through it (and would most likely not be able to supply help without a specimen or pictures with much higher magnification of important body parts), and most of the information appears to be refering to workers (especially worker size). But i'd like to ask about something else:
when picking up the ants, what kind of behaviour where they showing? where they digging? or running around? Was it anywhere near a visible colony of Pheidologeton cf. diversus ?
Could you store the recently deceased queen in alcohol?
I have read contradicting information about colony founding behavior.
best regards,
Necturus
Hey Necturus,
Thanks for your help. It seems that 3 of the queens have started to lay eggs now :D they are very small (1-2mm) which makes me wonder if they are really eggs.
Anyway to answer your question, the queens and males caught were wandering around on the floor. Some of the queens had already shed their wings when I caught them and for those that didn't they promptly shed their wings 1-2hrs after capture. However there is a queen with wings still intact which I hope to be able to capture a male to mate with her during the next "mating flight". Mating seems to be done on the ground. And yes there are a few nest around the area.
Sorry to say that I threw the deceased queen already. I will try to take some pics of the unfertilized queen as I do not wish to startle or stress the mated queens. I hope I answered all your queries. Feel free to ask more if need be. :wink:
Regards,
Bulldog
Hello bulldog,
thank you for your answer. Yes, they actually are eggs. Often those are carried at the dorsal gaster side:
http://picmirror.de/index.php/view/3927_3709_jungkoenigin1.jpg
The shedding of wings does not seem to always be related to sucessfull mating. I can confirm copulation on the ground, could you describe the place where you saw mating taking place and distance to the surrounding nests? What did the mating look like exactly? Were several males involved? I found the males very attracted to light, did you see any reflecting surfaces or foliage in bright color? Details welcome at this point :)
Unlike with many other species, i could see a sucessfull mating with a male even in captivity. After removing a big amount of alate reproductives I observed copulations in the very unromantic collecting basin.
Please keep reporting on their developement!
Someone has mentioned adding workers of an established colony. Since it is possible that none of those queens will survive founding alone, you could consider adding a few hundred workers to one of the queens (separate them in packs of 50-100 and give them a day or two alone, to allow possibly critical colony odor to disperse. Dont forget offering a water source, ie wet cotton. Only add one "pack" at a time and give them some time to adapt. adding a big number all at once might lead to aggression). It would be interested to observe if the other queens manage to found colonys be themselfes, or if colony founding is indeed achieved by returning queens and nest splitting.
If you observe anything else in nature, please report as well.
Best regards,
Necturus
PS:
Although it will not be any help with their identification:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4372019301_5990e8cd39_o.jpg
I know someone who founded several colonies of P. diversus with a queen only. Though, for the best success rate i suggest to do as Necturus and baumarkthammer says.
Hey Necturus,
You are right, the ants holds the bunch of eggs on the underside of her gaster. Pretty cute, like a protective mama.
The matings took place pretty near the nest. 15-20 metres away from the nest. However I've spotted another nest some 300-400 metres away. And yes you are right again the males are very attracted to light on the other hand the queen seems to be wandering "off" away from it. The ratio of male to queens are 2:1.
I'll try to experiment with some workers from other colonies but first I'll have to catch them (gonna get bitten :( ) and update more. Btw should i freeze the workers for a little while before i introduce them to the queen? And if successful how often should i feed them? thanks for all the help guys
Hi bulldog, any news?