Messor Barbarus egg development

Re: Messor Barbarus egg development

Beitragvon alanjbernard@me.com » 24. Jul 2019 11:12

My First post in this forum.

I received a Messor Barbarus Queen with eggs four weeks ago she has a number of eggs in her mouth and one or two on the floor of a test tube setup.

However I can’t see any development of the eggs they don’t seem to be getting any bigger or change.

How long should I expect to wait before I see a marked difference in the eggs?

I’m worried that perhaps the eggs she is laying are unfertilised?

Might she need to go through a Hibernation, Nov. - Feb before the eggs develop?
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Re: Messor Barbarus egg development

Beitragvon Serafine » 24. Jul 2019 11:44

Eggs don't grow (at least not to any significant degree). They will hatch within 3-4 weeks, depending on the temperature, however the first instar larvae are often barely distinguishable from the eggs from which they hatched. Within 5-6 weeks you should be able to see a change in size of the brood.
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Re: Messor Barbarus egg development

Beitragvon alanjbernard@me.com » 24. Jul 2019 16:44

Thanks very much for getting back to me.

Iv wanted to keep ants for many years, I’m 52 and I made a formicarium out of two clear Perspex sheets and wood I found but wasn’t very successful when I was 9. I thought about keeping Ants 10 years ago but there wasn’t the sites, stuff on YouTube and stores that there seems to be now.

It was searching on YouTube that I realised there are other folk that have this strange want to keep ants.

Iv been reading up on as much information about keeping Ants as I can on line and purchased a couple of books.

Getting back to my Queen. Iv been checking up on her once a week and she seems reasonably happy. I have her tube on a woollen scarf with a woollen scarf on top. Surrounding her tube I have a 15watt reptile cable coiled round not touching her tube. It’s on a Day/Night thermostat which is set for 29c during the day and 24c at night. However because of the warm whether we’re getting in Scotland the temperature at the tube is up to 31c in the room.
She keeps a load of eggs in her mouth, I’m assuming she is cleaning them or maybe giving them some kind of nourishment, I’m not sure. Iv been trying to find out what this behaviour is but haven’t so far found any documentation on this.

I’m going to leave her alone for 4 weeks and not check her to see if she might get on a better.

I’m hoping I’ll see the first nanitics before November and I put her into Hibernation.
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Re: Messor Barbarus egg development

Beitragvon Serafine » 24. Jul 2019 17:58

alanjbernard@me.com hat geschrieben:It’s on a Day/Night thermostat which is set for 29c during the day and 24c at night. However because of the warm whether we’re getting in Scotland the temperature at the tube is up to 31c in the room.
She keeps a load of eggs in her mouth, I’m assuming she is cleaning them or maybe giving them some kind of nourishment, I’m not sure. Iv been trying to find out what this behaviour is but haven’t so far found any documentation on this.

If it's that warm you don't need to heat them, Messor barbarus likes temperatures around 25-30°C. I recently plugged out the heating cable of my Camponotus barbaricus nests (those ants come from the same area as Messor barbarus) and I'll put it back in when temperatures drop below 25.

Ants keeping eggs in their mouth is normal. They "communicate" with the eggs by vomiting hormones onto them to tell them to develop faster or to stall development (of course they also keep them clean). When the larvae get too big to be carried around all the time they will be put on the ground (or in sometimes temporarily pushed against the wet cotton).

alanjbernard@me.com hat geschrieben:I’m going to leave her alone for 4 weeks and not check her to see if she might get on a better.

That's a good idea, you can buy seeds and prepare a setup in that time (a simple plastic container is sufficient for the first months, just make sure there aren't any gaps through which the ants can escape).

alanjbernard@me.com hat geschrieben:I’m hoping I’ll see the first nanitics before November and I put her into Hibernation.

Messor barbarus multiply quite quickly and they only start hibernation in mid December so I'm fairly sure you'll see even a second and third wave of workers before that point.
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Re: Messor Barbarus egg development

Beitragvon alanjbernard@me.com » 25. Jul 2019 11:29

Thanks for you your reassuring reply and advice, it’s much appreciated.

Your Quite right about the heating cable it’s not really getting used at the moment as it’s always above 29c during the day in the room at the moment and 24c at night. I have it there in case we get a break in the whether and it falls below 29c daytime and 24c night time.

When I eventually decided on the species I wanted to keep Messor barbarus I read as much as I could about there habitat and food they use to survive in there natural surroundings.

Coming from Southern Spain, Portugal, North Africa there average temperatures are closer to 30c. And I wanted to mimic as close to what they are used to.

I will keep you informed on how I get on will check back in about 4-5 weeks time when I next check to see she is ok.
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