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Things seemed to be going well since my colony moved out of the tube.
I've just noticed however a lot of dead workers (10+) in the basin, I'm not sure how long they have been there but they weren't there when the colony moved. There are still lots of active ants in the farm but I'm concerned. How long does a worker live for? Is there anything I should be thinking of that could be killing my ants?
well that would bring up a few questions:
What are you feeding them?
What species?
What kind of setup?
If you give us some more information like this we might be able to figure it out :)
Im guessing if they are ordered ants and have just left the test tube i dont think that they will be dying of old age
~Calco
depends on the species, first generation workers are not very long lived
sorry I should have tagged this onto one of my older posts.
L niger.
Antstore starter setup farm sand/loam and basin.
Moved from testtube about 3 weeks ago, queen+ 10-15 workers arrived 3 months ago. Before they moved about 40 workers or so.
Fed on honey water + assorted insects, mostly small moths.
Kurgan
I would suggest that the big change is in exposure to the atmosphere. When they were in the tube they were relatively protected. Now they are in the basin, anything in the air can affect them.
Do you use an aerosol deoderant? Air freshener? Insecticide to treat fleas on other pets?
Also did you use any chemicals to clean the basin or substrate.
Are you a heavy smoker? Did you smoke while observing your ants?
That kind of thing.
The only thing I can think of is the mothballs in the wardrobe but it is a ways away from the ants. Could that really affect them?
I doubt it.
I think Laisus niger workers live for up to one year in captivity.
Like miszt said, first generation workers don't live very long. Normally a Lasius niger worker can live up to 3 years. I'm not sure what is wrong, if there is something wrong, but i would keep an eye on them, if more will die soon there is something wrong.
if you started with 10-15, then had 40, but 10 died, its safe to say that is a normal colony progression and that it was 1st gen workers dying off, as long as you dont see to many more and your colony size drops below the level of new workers being produced
make sure the colony is not to hot (21C is a good temp for L.niger), they have access to fresh water and sugar/honey, try to keep them sumwhere without to many tempreture fluxtuations
good luck :)