ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Mika]

Hallo,

Ive got a few questions concerning the keeping of Oecophylla longinoda.

I've got a small part of a colony for 5 months now, and I am beginning to have males. I have no mated queens. Are intranest matings possible?

What is the ideal temperature for Oecophylla? I have them at 30°c.

[Mika]

Gonzobey, I am kind of looking in your direction.

[gonzobey]

Hello Mika,

I never heard about intranest maiting by Oecophylla, so I think that you´ll stay with a non-mating queen in youryoung colony. Interessting that you get a nest with a queen which had not been cmated, maybe there was something going wrong during the copulation, I don´t know.

Did you hold you colony all times with a temperature of nearly 30°? It could be possible (just a guess) that the eggs will determate to males with this temperature. The best temperature - I don´t think that I could say this by having expirience with ONE colony - but I try to explain how I keep my ants.

I´m having a special lamp (kind of energy saving lamp) which light is very similar to the sunligh (nearly over 90% of the natural full spektrum). The lamp has 23W (thats 120 Watt of a normal lamp) and have a good heat emmission. Added to this lamp I´m using a halogen lamp (in future also full spektrum). Thats are the only heating sources that I use at the moment. I plan on doing to test a heating cable wrapping on the plant trunk because the dry heating source of the radiator is not the best way. So the ants have normal room-temperatures except the two spheres of the lamps, where they mostly build their nest.

Hope this could helped you forward. Otherwise just ask again (maybe send me a pm that you answered in this thread - it was luck that I saw this post)

best regards
Bianca

[Mika]

Hello Mika,

I never heard about intranest maiting by Oecophylla, so I think that you´ll stay with a non-mating queen in youryoung colony. Interessting that you get a nest with a queen which had not been cmated, maybe there was something going wrong during the copulation, I don´t know.

I definitely have virgin queens, one of which is sexually mature, the other one isn't yet, both of them have deposited eggs.

Did you hold you colony all times with a temperature of nearly 30°? It could be possible (just a guess) that the eggs will determate to males with this temperature. The best temperature - I don´t think that I could say this by having expirience with ONE colony - but I try to explain how I keep my ants.
There is no ants species in which temperature has an influence in sex determination. Sex determination in ants is strictly genetic and follows the haplodiploïd reproduction rules, infertilised eggs give rise to males, fertilised to females. This is also the genetic basis for the ants colony structure, so it isn't just a topic.

In Nigeria, where my ants come from, the average daily temperature is 35°C. Can you give an update on your colony, with pictures, growth, etc.?


I´m having a special lamp (kind of energy saving lamp) which light is very similar to the sunligh (nearly over 90% of the natural full spektrum). The lamp has 23W (thats 120 Watt of a normal lamp) and have a good heat emmission. Added to this lamp I´m using a halogen lamp (in future also full spektrum). Thats are the only heating sources that I use at the moment. I plan on doing to test a heating cable wrapping on the plant trunk because the dry heating source of the radiator is not the best way. So the ants have normal room-temperatures except the two spheres of the lamps, where they mostly build their nest.

I believe the energy saving that happens is due to a reduction of heat emission, so the heat from the lamp will be limited. Do you have aphids on the tree for feeding or not? (not recommended, because of the risk of infections).

Hope this could helped you forward. Otherwise just ask again (maybe send me a pm that you answered in this thread - it was luck that I saw this post)

best regards
Bianca

[gonzobey]

Hello Mika,

its clear that sex determinating is only influenced by gentic items, I thought of the time producing mals and females for the wedding fly (don´t know if this word is also used in english). I have my Oecophylla since more than one year and there are no males. How great is your colony?

I don´t recognize that the energy saving lamp I use have a lower heat emmission, but in the second way I use a halogen lamp for this point and hopefully in future a real heating spot.

I just started to make a report of keeping my oecphylla in german but maybe interesting - look at this linkOecophylla smaragdnina

Greetings
Bianca

[Mika]

Production of sexual offspring occurs in the dry season, but still along with worker offspring.

The eggs in my small ant group cannot be fertilised.

[Mika]

Hallo Bianca,

I have lost my colony quickly after the deaths of the workers in the summer months.

How is your colony?

Greetings, Mika

[Martin S.]

Dear Mika,

Bianca had Oecophylla smaragdina not Oecophylla longinoda.
but the ants are OK.
We have Oecophylla longinoda in our shop-room :

[web]http://www.antstore.net/viewtopic.php?p=24687#24687[/web]

Greetings Martin