I accidentally adopted an ant
Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 9:51 pm
So I was at this barbecue the other day, and in the midst of biting into a nice juicy piece of chicken, I spotted something my eyes have been scanning for constantly for the past few months: an ant alate. But just one, and clearly struggling to keep her wings closed in the wind. Being the scientist I am, I wanted to document her species, as well as get her out of the wind. How did she get so far from her nest on her own? I looked around. Absolutely no workers to speak of, just this single, unfertilized alate. So I guarded her with my hand, which she hid behind almost immediately. I realized I had left all my test tubes back at my room, so I asked my buddy for some help, who kindly drained the last of his water with a very impressive swallow, and handed me the empty bottle. I shook out what water I could, and encouraged the little alate to shelter inside it.
I made my way back to my room, and let her crawl around on my desk for a minute, before offering her a fresh test tube setup, complete with water and a small dot of raw honey. I snapped a few photos of her, and made my way to the door to return her to her colony when I realized something: I have no idea where her colony is. Normally I deposit specimens exactly where I found them (down to the same crumbs of dirt if I can) as quickly as possible, but I had found her on a fold up picnic table, which was likely folded up already. I could search around in the dirt I suppose, but I could never guarantee that I could find the right spot, or that her colony would even accept her back after I found them. No matter where I released her, she would surely die. So, I've kept her, and named her.
Meet Emily.
Being an alate, she will certainly survive longer than just a few months if I can feed her protein and carbohydrates regularly, but since she's unfertilized, she won't lay any eggs, or if she does, they'll be male. And her test tube takes up virtually no space at all, so I am now the proud caretaker of a single alate, though I'm not sure yet on her species. She is about 3mm long and is pretty camera shy, so this is actually the only clear picture I could get. I was able to get a side profile but it's pretty blurry.
Now, normally I would place a queen under a black towel near a heated pad in a drawer I don't use, but I'm not sure about unfertilized alates. I remember hearing that alates like dim lighting. Does anyone have any tips on caring for her? For now I'm going to give her small snacks every few days, and see how she does. This will be interesting. I think I'll make regular updates regardless of how she's doing, just to keep this going.
I made my way back to my room, and let her crawl around on my desk for a minute, before offering her a fresh test tube setup, complete with water and a small dot of raw honey. I snapped a few photos of her, and made my way to the door to return her to her colony when I realized something: I have no idea where her colony is. Normally I deposit specimens exactly where I found them (down to the same crumbs of dirt if I can) as quickly as possible, but I had found her on a fold up picnic table, which was likely folded up already. I could search around in the dirt I suppose, but I could never guarantee that I could find the right spot, or that her colony would even accept her back after I found them. No matter where I released her, she would surely die. So, I've kept her, and named her.
Meet Emily.
Being an alate, she will certainly survive longer than just a few months if I can feed her protein and carbohydrates regularly, but since she's unfertilized, she won't lay any eggs, or if she does, they'll be male. And her test tube takes up virtually no space at all, so I am now the proud caretaker of a single alate, though I'm not sure yet on her species. She is about 3mm long and is pretty camera shy, so this is actually the only clear picture I could get. I was able to get a side profile but it's pretty blurry.
Now, normally I would place a queen under a black towel near a heated pad in a drawer I don't use, but I'm not sure about unfertilized alates. I remember hearing that alates like dim lighting. Does anyone have any tips on caring for her? For now I'm going to give her small snacks every few days, and see how she does. This will be interesting. I think I'll make regular updates regardless of how she's doing, just to keep this going.
