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 Myrmica 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:


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 

