ANTSTORE World of Ants

[nortino]

Hi, So I think I've got a Formica lemani queen. I've put her in a glass apartment with sand, and she doesn't look too happy. I made a starter hole for her but she poked her head in it and since then has completely ignored it. For about two days she just stood at the back of the tank not doing much, so I got a test tube with wet cotton wool (like the ones the ants get delivered in from the ant store) and wrapped it in tin foil to make it dark, and put that in. She's gone into it, but I can see that she's just standing near the entrance to the tube looking bored. What sort of environment do you think she would like? What do they nest in normally? I don't think she's too interested in the whole digging holes thing . . . should I put some pine-needles and leaves and rotten logs and stuff in for her? Any help appreciated . . .

[JimmyVe]

I do not have experience with this species, but i think the tube is a good idea for now. Until the workers arrive.

[mpir]

I have some very bad experience with Formica fusca. Queen laid eggs but she wouldn´t take care of them. All turned brown. Then I put in the nest a few cocoons from other nest and she didn´t take care of them too. When it was time for workers to hatch she wouldn´t help them out. The only workers that hatch were the one that I opened.

It is needles to say that it never worked out and afer a while all ants were dead.

I think in nature Fromica queens after nuptial flight return to the home anthill and then leave it with old workers and start a new colony. Not sure about which species exactly does this, though.

I´ve read that some Formica queens are unable of independent start of the colony. So they need help of the old workers.

[miszt]

nortino, ants need lots of patience, dont be tempted to poke around at her, you will only stress her out, just put a tiny drop of honey for her, maybe a dead insect, then LEAVE HER ALONE! I know its tempting to keep looking at her, but dont! leave her sumwhere quiet for at least a week before checking on her

[miszt]

as for setup, well, these guys usually make HUGE mounds of pine needles, and dig into soil, but you should have success with a ytong, bare in mind that these nest can become very very big, so make sure it will be easily 'upgradable', ie make sure you can attach new ytong areas for them to nest in, with minimal nest disruption......you do not want these guys gettin on you while adding bits to the nest, Formic acid is very nasty stuff

[nortino]

nortino, ants need lots of patience, dont be tempted to poke around at her, you will only stress her out, just put a tiny drop of honey for her, maybe a dead insect, then LEAVE HER ALONE! I know its tempting to keep looking at her, but dont! leave her sumwhere quiet for at least a week before checking on her

I don't know how I managed to give you the impression that I was 'poking around at her'; all I've done is add 1 test-tube to the tank, which she has moved into of her own accord.
Thanks for the replies; I'll see how she gets on in the test-tube; I had read the same thing about them going back to the mother colony after mating, so maybe she won't be able to get along on her own, but we'll see . . .

[miszt]

you just gave me the impression that you wanted her to be doing stuff, but I wuldnt expect her to do anything really at all in the begining except lay a few eggs and hang around