ANTSTORE World of Ants

[yomchi86]

Hello all,

I got a Manica rubida queen back in September last year. She came with 3 eggs, 2 of which hatched and she has presumably laid more eggs as there are 3 workers that I have seen together - possibly more. One thing I have noticed is that the queen seems to be very active (compared to my messor barbarus & pheidole pallidula queens). Just last night I saw her in the nest above ground wandering about and she even went into the arena too but came back pretty quick. I wondered if it wasn't humid enough for her so I put a test tube with water in (blocked with cotton wool) into the nest and left them to it.

This morning, the queen is staying very close to the moist cotton wool and the workers keep trying to drag her back into the nest.

I've had a look at some of the other posts about humidity so I'll keep reading about it.

If anyone is interested, here is a link to the Manica rubida section on my "Ant Gallery"

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[MichaelBiermans]

As you should know the Manica is semi claustral.
This means that even in the founding stage of the colony she will hunt herself.
This indeed also means that manica is one of the few species with a very active queen.
While queens of other species create a chamber and in nature actually rarely move from it.

What I don't understand is why you put them in a sand nest already.
This to my opinion is not a good idea.
Manica's are very moisture sensative wich in a big nest is almost impossible to controle.

To my opinion its best to keep them in a tube until about a 100 workers.
Then you can put them in a sand nest, then the queen will have enough workers to better regulate the moisture.

I also advise you to look up a caresheet, these are definately not an easy species to keep.

This i copy pasted from my caresheet:
Manica rubida are very sensitive to moisture!
It is therefore always and high humidity is recommended.
- Temperature: Outside World: 18-28 ° C Nest: 21-24 ° C
- Humidity: Outside World: 50-60% Nest: 60-70%

Another tip: Manica rubida larvae feed themselves. It is very important to provide them daily with fresh very small crickets for example wich they can hunt, kill and be able to cary back to and in the nest.
But I think it is best to not use the sandnest for at least a year possibly even the first 2 years.

[yomchi86]

Hello Michael, thank you very much for your informative response. I will take a look at the care sheets, I thought I had done before buying the Manica but perhaps I missed certain parts such as the keeping of them in a tube. I will take on board your advice and see if I can make the ants happier

Thank you again for the assistance!

[yomchi86]

Very sad and slightly disturbing news I'm afraid. When I saw the workers pulling the queen around a few days ago, I thought that they were trying to guide her back into the nest. I can see into the nest through the red sheet and I noticed yesterday that they had their abdomens bent towards her in the nest like they did with the small crickets I put in the arena. The Queen wasn't moving and part of her leg was missing. I watched the nest for hours wondering if she was just having a sleep or something like that but she didn't move. She hasn't moved all day and this morning the workers have dragged her up to the top of the nest and just dumped her

I can't find any literature anywhere that matches this type of behavior. Do ants ever attack their own Queen and if so, for what reason?

So I have 4 workers and 3 larvae now - no Queen

[yomchi86]

Just as an update to this - it would appear that the nest had some sort of mite infestation in it which I believe caused the queen to die. I've subsequently "quarantined" the remaining workers & brood and I've sanitised the nest and arena with boiling water repeatedly to cleanse everything in preparation for a new Queen arriving shortly (although I won't introduce the old ants to the new queen for fear of infection and I will keep the queen in her test tube until she has many workers).

[joshjw]

has the new queen arrived yet

[yomchi86]

Hello, yes she has indeed. She arrived with 4 eggs, 2 of which are now in the pupae stage. She is looking healthy and active in her test tube. Eating and drinking when she likes (shes taken to enjoying meal worms and honey water).