ANTSTORE World of Ants

[miszt]

culdnt find the thread steve, which one woz it? lol i'm a speed forum reader, frequently loose track of where i'm reading/writing



Some more strange behaviour

Any ideas what might be going on?

I thought at first that these workers where killing another sister, but they've been like this for around 2 hours now, they've moved positions a few times

A. These ants are holding onto what appears to be a queen, by the legs, flat on her back, or a large worker, her thorax is rather large, so i suspect a queen, but its hard to see as workers keep moving around

B. This ants behaviour is very strange, most of the time shes just watching whats happening, then sumtimes she will 'lunge' at the queen, and either clean her, or bite her between the thorax and gastor, its hard to say which she is doing, but the queen seems to curl her gastor over her body, so my bet is shes not very happy about it

C. Queen, or possibly large worker, shes being held prisoner, and upside down (on her back)! I'm sure thats against the geneva convention...!

Either they are trying to kill her, which is a strange way to do it as they culd quiet easily rip her to pieces, or they are trying to clean her, which is even strange, coz i'm pretty sure ants dont behave in that complex a way (planning to turn her over to remove something thats bad for her? i wuld expect something to need more brain power for that kind of decision)

There are also several ants that run back and forth, shaking there heads rapidly, waving there antenna about, looks very frantic, whenever they get close to the queen

[miszt]

Mystery Solved: 14 of them just ripped her head off!

[mzfckr]

you had one queen in colony or more?

[Purifier]

I believe he have more than one queen cause Polyrhachis have never only one queen. Maybe at little colonys but he have a larger one i believe...

[SteveUK28]

Np miszt.. here is the link:
http://www.antstore.net/viewtopic.php?t=6681&start=30
just in case it dont take u to the page... its page 3.

[miszt]

I have counted at least 12 diffrent queens (with no wings, there are also quiet a few winged queens), however a few of them behave like workers, despite the male alates attempt at fertilizing them, i've collected a couple, will see if they lay any eggs in the next few days


cheerz steve!

[miszt]

well, they didnt move! lol

I think they just didnt like the tube, so i've converted into a bridge, I'm not happy about doing this, due to the number of alates in the nest, but unfortunetly I dont have a choice, as its either that, or the whole colony will move into my house eek!

I setup the bridge a few days ago, and they where slightly interested in it, but to speed things up, i've been burning tiny incense sticks in the main tank, not something i really want to do, and I only do one a day, but its working, I recon about 1/4 of the colony has now moved into the new basin there is an unbelievable number of queens, at LEAST 50, and thats not counting the ones that have been killed by workers


i'm really kicking myself now, usually I spend months prepearing any vivarium for its occupant, but i rushed this one, and now its all a bit Pete Tong....but hopefully they'll have all moved by tomorow and I can collect up the stragglers and redo the basin!

[SteveUK28]

mate.. when i get mine next yr.. your soooooooo giving me some help.. once ive asked nicely saying that.. perhaps u could sell me a colony

[kashmir79]

I have counted at least 12 diffrent queens (with no wings, there are also quiet a few winged queens), however a few of them behave like workers, despite the male alates attempt at fertilizing them, i've collected a couple, will see if they lay any eggs in the next few days


cheerz steve!

oh wow !!!

if they do lay eggs, ill buy one off you !

[Purifier]

50 queens???
Thats really a lot! Maybe thats the reason the workers kill some queens. They know there are too much queens and they need extreme much proteins. Dont really know but thats maybe a reason of it...

But nice that they finally move. Did you make some pics of this bridge? Or when they move?

[miszt]

yeah think u might be right purifier, also I havnt given them any protien in the last 5 days as I want them to be more active looking for food, and hopefully moving home!

they'r nearly there, its not so much a bridge as...well...u can see the pics lol

(the test tube on the top has 7 queens i've rescued from workers)

[Purifier]

that construction looks....funny and innovative especially the one bug (or Pound?) as mat
The main thing is that they move! ^^

Hmm 5 days without proteins is really a long time for Polyrhachis i believe. Give them more and than we see if the behavior changes

[kashmir79]

wont the queens fight if they lay any eggs ?
if they are all in the same tube ?

[SteveUK28]

Miszt Just wondering.. How ummm easy are these to keep ??? As in could it be done with a ytong ?

[miszt]

kashmir, P.dives always have lots of queens, so no they wont fight i've found reports of 500+ queens found in nests in the wild, with millions of workers! lol

Steve, yes and no, I have quite a bit of experience with Vivariums and various species of animal/insect and ant, and although they guys are easy, they are definitly not the easiest...they are very aggresive, even with my experience I have several bites that are a bit nasty, there is a big risk of them being able to live in your house to if they escape, this issue is particuly important to recognize once you start getting winged Alates, they culd easily get out into ur house if you dont have it sealed up well (hence my concern with the current way I am moving them! (however there are currently no winged queens in the nest now)

They can also chew thru wood, a serious problem if they get into the structure of your house and find a nice warm bit to live in!


Ytong is no good, these ants are weaver ants, although i suspect they may live in a ytong, they will probly cover the class with silk, so really best to have them living in a tree or basin (check out the picture on antstore of the tree, thats the setup I will have when i finally move)