to think she was almost buried alive!

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antnest8
Posts: 1438
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2018 2:11 pm
Location: Detroit, MI

to think she was almost buried alive!

Post: # 34478Post antnest8
Tue Mar 13, 2018 6:26 pm

ok ill start from the beginning. every day when I get back from school i check on my queens to see how many died, flooded test tubes, brood development, new workers and more. when i looked i saw two of my lasius umbratus queens dead. so i picked up there test tubes and put them on my desk for later. a while later I went to go throw them in the trash when i decided to look at them through the microscope. when i looked i discovered that they looked different. the two queens got ID'd the same species, lasius umbratus. though when i looked at them closer i noticed one was darker and one was lighter, one had a larger gaster and one smaller and so forth. i was just about to post about this when i looking at the smaller lighter queen i saw it's head turn toward me.(this was me :shock: :o :shock: ) and i was freaked out because when you are looking at an insect thought dead and it looks at you it is like from a horror movie. i jumped back rubbed my eyes and looked again. it was not moving thinking i was just dreaming i continued to look. then it started to get up. one it got up it took one step then collapsed. i took out my tweezers and lightly touched it. it did not respond. then i looked again it's leg twitched it's antenna twitched. i did not know what to do. currently she is in a test tube again.
Here is my thinking of what just happened:
her body was getting in the "dead" position for insects
she was in a coma for over 4 hours with no sign of life
her nerves system was just doing what dead cockroaches and mealworms do
she is a zombie :? :lol:
she was alive this whole time and really good a tricking me.
Some of My Informative Sheets
https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=19099
Includes :
  • Ant Care Sheets
    Queen Hunting
    How To Identify Ants
Goal is to become #2 poster on the forum

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antnest8
Posts: 1438
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2018 2:11 pm
Location: Detroit, MI

Re: to think she was almost buried alive!

Post: # 34491Post antnest8
Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:09 pm

one hour later i took her out to look at her. she still was not int the dead position but still twitched. then i noticed it was mostly coming from the gastor. i was confused on what was happening until i saw a wired pulsing shape in her gastor and then realized what was happening. she was infected by a parasite fly. before things could get grosser I threw her in the trash and put the trash outside in below freezing temps. so that's the end of that.
Some of My Informative Sheets
https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=19099
Includes :
  • Ant Care Sheets
    Queen Hunting
    How To Identify Ants
Goal is to become #2 poster on the forum

CherrieEvolved
Posts: 56
Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2017 7:39 am
Location: Seattle

Re: to think she was almost buried alive!

Post: # 34500Post CherrieEvolved
Thu Mar 15, 2018 1:38 pm

Gah, I hate those flys!!! :x
Keeper of:
Formica Sp
Myrmica Sp

Founding:
4x Formica Sp
1x Camponotus Sp

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