Page 1 of 1

Beheaded Queen?

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:51 am
by Benjamin
Ok lets get to the main point. I have had this ant colony of an unknown species for about a week or two. It was doing quite well and is showing promise of becoming a healthy colony. I fed this colony once every two to three days for a week with honey and boiled spiders. Today, I went to check on the colony but what I saw was two shocking parts of the queen. The head was separated from the queen's body.



Does anyone know what happened? Could it be some sort of parasite or disease? Did the workers decapitate the queen? I am clueless. I'm still inexperienced and this is my first ant colony to have ever succeeded its founding stage. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Re: Beheaded Queen?

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 6:16 pm
by idahoantgirl
Benjamin wrote:
Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:51 am
Ok lets get to the main point. I have had this ant colony of an unknown species for about a week or two. It was doing quite well and is showing promise of becoming a healthy colony. I fed this colony once every two to three days for a week with honey and boiled spiders. Today, I went to check on the colony but what I saw was two shocking parts of the queen. The head was separated from the queen's body.



Does anyone know what happened? Could it be some sort of parasite or disease? Did the workers decapitate the queen? I am clueless. I'm still inexperienced and this is my first ant colony to have ever succeeded its founding stage. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Oh no! That is terrible! I have absolutely no idea but maybe by bumping this someone else will answer

Re: Beheaded Queen?

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 7:23 pm
by Canadiananter
The queen probably had one of those mysterious deaths and was in the process of being thrown out or fed to the brood