Ant brood stages question

Questions from those who are just starting or considering getting into the ant keeping hobby. If you’re intimidated or confused by the in-depth posts of the other sections of this forum, feel free to post here, and we'll start from square one!

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jasont200
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2016 8:05 pm
Location: Canada

Ant brood stages question

Post: # 29883Post jasont200
Tue Aug 22, 2017 4:05 pm

I have my first campanotus queen. And she has been caring for what I think is 1 egg. My question is what are the stages of development for it and what each one looks like so I can have a better idea when I will need to put the test tube setup In a out world.
Thank you to any how read this and all help is very welcome.

AntsRule
Posts: 813
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2016 2:02 pm
Location: Chester County Pennslyvania

Re: Ant brood stages question

Post: # 29886Post AntsRule
Tue Aug 22, 2017 4:51 pm

Egg-larva(grows looks like a small grub)-pupa(looks like a cocoon)-ant. You will only need to put them in an out-world when you have 3+ ants. Make sure only to check the queen once a week because camponotus queens can get stressed really easily.
With all the things ants can do, you wonder, who rules the planet :?

Keeper of:
Camponotus Pennsylvanicus
Pheidole sp.

jasont200
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2016 8:05 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Ant brood stages question

Post: # 29913Post jasont200
Tue Aug 22, 2017 9:58 pm

So I should not give them food if she only has 1 worker? Won't it go hungry? And it looked like a small ant in a shell but last I looked it looked different?

Serafine

Re: Ant brood stages question

Post: # 29932Post Serafine
Wed Aug 23, 2017 3:00 am

In this picture you can see pretty much all brood stages of Camponotus (barbaricus).
Image
(right-click -> show image, to enlarge)

Remember that your first workers will be a bit smaller than the regular ones (it is also possible that your ants may have ***** pupae when in a test tube, this is nothing to worry about - they just failed to latch on their silk strains to the glass surface and thus pupate without a cocoon).
When the first worker arrives you can put them into an outworld and offer a small drop of sugar water or honey. However the queen has some reserves and it is unlikely that the colony will start to forage before there are at least 3 workers, unless the queen is extremely exhausted.
Camponotus are generally pretty smart, there is little risk that they drown in liquids (unlike other ants, especially Pheidole) but a small drop is sufficient anyway. You can also offer a bit of protein (very little, a fruit fly is enough for the start) which they may or may not take.

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