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Lasius Niger queen dismembered. What happened?

Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 10:00 am
by Kristian
Hi,
I have a small Lasius Niger colony of ~10 workers. They were living inside a test tube within terrarium. I decided to take the test tube out and just keep them there till I make a good formicarium.

Today I was feeding them fruitflies, but 20 minutes later I noticed they haven't really touched them, which was strange because last time they got protein was 5/6 days ago (but I fed them honey during this time). I took a flashlight and looked inside the test tube (they carried a lot of dirt in it) and saw the queen dismembered and few workers gathering around her abdomen, it seemed like one was chewing on it.

I'm trying to understand what happened.

-The temperature has been in the range of 24-26C, humidity should be fine as it's test tube.
-They got fed 5 days ago silverfish, I see they have many eggs and even 5 eggs in the last stage, so I would assume they were not starving, since queen would eat the eggs if they had lack of food, correct?
-The soil they carried inside was the same soil they were living previously for a month. I have only seen one soldier die during all this time while I have this colony (2 months). I didn't disinfect it, but I would assume something would have happened by now. In addition 2 other colonies live in this soil and they're doing fine (Pheidole pallidula).

-Only thing I could think of is that maybe it's stress related, since I made them switch nests 4 times within 2 months, but then again, I did the same to other colonies, and they're doing great.

Any hints how I could attempt to identify the problem?

P.S: How long will the workers survive for? I keep finding mixed information on the lifespan of the Lasius Niger worker. Some places state few months, some even up to 4 years.

Thanks!

Re: Inquiry

Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 10:48 am
by Phoenix
Sometimes Queens Just Die For No Reasons, And Then They're Dismembered By The Workers To Prevent Bacteria From Growing On Her & Spreading Throughout The Colony. As For The Workers, It'll Probably Be Best To Introduce A New Lasius Queen / Parasitic Lasius Queen Since The Colony Is Doomed At This Point.