Two Camponotus nicobarensis queens founding stage

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Percy23
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:29 am

Two Camponotus nicobarensis queens founding stage

Post: # 47883Post Percy23
Sun Aug 19, 2018 7:43 am

Hi,

I received two Camponotus nicobarensis queens without workers. I put them into a container with some sand and a fresh test tube. I opened their test tubes but after some careful inspection of their entrances they quickly retreated and wouldn’t leave so I resealed the tubes to keep the moisture inside. After leaving them alone in the dark to not disturb them they both produced a small ball of eggs and one queen already has two small larvae.
The queen that is a bit behind sadly has a broken antenna but seems to do ok with one. Do you guys have experiences if that will influence her life?

I have received the queens together in a kit but in two separate test tubes. There is conflicting information if the species is monogyny, oligogyny or even polygyny. Searching for ant keepers with this ant I have found colonies with up to 4 queens that are in close proximity so I would suspect that they are at least slightly polygyny. Now my question would be how do I go about combining the queens.

Should I …
-combine them before their first worker hatch
-wait till both have some workers and keep them separate and enclosed till then
-combine them when one queen has her first worker and the other has none
And with all these options should keep them at both ends of the container to give them space, put the test tubes end to end, or put them in close proximity but not end to end?

I hope this is not a stupid question but I looked at many guides but information about founding a colony with multiple queens that are separate is hard to find.

Thanks in advance for any help :)

ImageImage

AntnoobSG
Posts: 99
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 8:33 am
Location: singapore

Re: Two Camponotus nicobarensis queens founding stage

Post: # 47886Post AntnoobSG
Sun Aug 19, 2018 8:30 am

Most camponotus species is monogyny
Keeper of :
Camponotus albosparsus x2 :o
Camponotus Irritans ;)
Hoping for pheidole colony :D

Percy23
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:29 am

Re: Two Camponotus nicobarensis queens founding stage

Post: # 47888Post Percy23
Sun Aug 19, 2018 9:28 am

Interesting but it seems that this species is an exception. Sorry I only have links in German but here are a few forums, shops and videos with Camponotus nicobarensis colonies ranging from 2 to 4 queens.
  • 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDQwb-adGtE
  • 2 - https://ameisen-boutique.de/epages/d0e4b90d-0579-4919-9975-ad3efad0e09c.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/d0e4b90d-0579-4919-9975-ad3efad0e09c/Products/13014
  • 4 - https://ameisencafe.de/cafe/index.php/Thread/8986-Camponotus-nicobarensis-4-Gynen/
  • 2 - https://www.ameisenforum.de/camponotus-nicobarensis-haltungsbericht-t57156.html
  • 2 - https://ameisencafe.de/cafe/index.php/Thread/8790-Stefan-s-Haltungsbericht-Camponotus-nicobarensis/

Alex07
Posts: 35
Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2019 12:07 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: Two Camponotus nicobarensis queens founding stage

Post: # 61631Post Alex07
Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:18 pm

Percy23 wrote:
Sun Aug 19, 2018 7:43 am
Hi,

I received two Camponotus nicobarensis queens without workers. I put them into a container with some sand and a fresh test tube. I opened their test tubes but after some careful inspection of their entrances they quickly retreated and wouldn’t leave so I resealed the tubes to keep the moisture inside. After leaving them alone in the dark to not disturb them they both produced a small ball of eggs and one queen already has two small larvae.
The queen that is a bit behind sadly has a broken antenna but seems to do ok with one. Do you guys have experiences if that will influence her life?

I have received the queens together in a kit but in two separate test tubes. There is conflicting information if the species is monogyny, oligogyny or even polygyny. Searching for ant keepers with this ant I have found colonies with up to 4 queens that are in close proximity so I would suspect that they are at least slightly polygyny. Now my question would be how do I go about combining the queens.

Should I …
-combine them before their first worker hatch
-wait till both have some workers and keep them separate and enclosed till then
-combine them when one queen has her first worker and the other has none
And with all these options should keep them at both ends of the container to give them space, put the test tubes end to end, or put them in close proximity but not end to end?

I hope this is not a stupid question but I looked at many guides but information about founding a colony with multiple queens that are separate is hard to find.

Thanks in advance for any help :)

ImageImage
Did you ever merge these queens together??? Literally looking this up and curious myself!?! I've gotten both yes and no from ant keepers.

Percy23
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:29 am

Re: Two Camponotus nicobarensis queens founding stage

Post: # 61635Post Percy23
Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:56 pm

Sadly my story did not end well. I decided to put the test tubes at both ends of the outworld and see how they would react. First they were shy and stayed in their respective tubes. Some days passed and I happily noticed that they moved all the eggs into one tube and were living in it together. Sadly, the next morning I was shocked at what must have happened overnight. The bigger queen was still in the test tube with all the eggs but was injured. After some searching in the outworld I found the other queen hiding under a rock at the outer edge of the container. The smaller queen died soon after and the second queen had a broken leg and even with the help of the first workers never recovered.

From that experience I would strongly advise you to not combine them if they are in separate test tubes. Maybe if you get your hands on a working colony with 2 queens it can work out but founding a colony with 2 separate queens is in my opinion not a good idea.

I ended up getting a Pheidole pallidula queen with 15 workers and it worked out great. They are smaller but extremely busy from day 1.

Alex07
Posts: 35
Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2019 12:07 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: Two Camponotus nicobarensis queens founding stage

Post: # 61638Post Alex07
Fri Jul 26, 2019 3:32 pm

Percy23 wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:56 pm
Sadly my story did not end well. I decided to put the test tubes at both ends of the outworld and see how they would react. First they were shy and stayed in their respective tubes. Some days passed and I happily noticed that they moved all the eggs into one tube and were living in it together. Sadly, the next morning I was shocked at what must have happened overnight. The bigger queen was still in the test tube with all the eggs but was injured. After some searching in the outworld I found the other queen hiding under a rock at the outer edge of the container. The smaller queen died soon after and the second queen had a broken leg and even with the help of the first workers never recovered.

From that experience I would strongly advise you to not combine them if they are in separate test tubes. Maybe if you get your hands on a working colony with 2 queens it can work out but founding a colony with 2 separate queens is in my opinion not a good idea.

I ended up getting a Pheidole pallidula queen with 15 workers and it worked out great. They are smaller but extremely busy from day 1.
Well I thank you for sharing! I will learn from your lesson and not do the same (so tempting to have multiple queens in a set-up).

Hawkeye
Posts: 1557
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2019 4:38 pm
Location: Almelo

Re: Two Camponotus nicobarensis queens founding stage

Post: # 61646Post Hawkeye
Fri Jul 26, 2019 4:29 pm

Percy23 wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:56 pm
Sadly my story did not end well. I decided to put the test tubes at both ends of the outworld and see how they would react. First they were shy and stayed in their respective tubes. Some days passed and I happily noticed that they moved all the eggs into one tube and were living in it together. Sadly, the next morning I was shocked at what must have happened overnight. The bigger queen was still in the test tube with all the eggs but was injured. After some searching in the outworld I found the other queen hiding under a rock at the outer edge of the container. The smaller queen died soon after and the second queen had a broken leg and even with the help of the first workers never recovered.

From that experience I would strongly advise you to not combine them if they are in separate test tubes. Maybe if you get your hands on a working colony with 2 queens it can work out but founding a colony with 2 separate queens is in my opinion not a good idea.

I ended up getting a Pheidole pallidula queen with 15 workers and it worked out great. They are smaller but extremely busy from day 1.
We have someone in our Camponotus crew with the same species. He too was under the impression that the species would accept multiple queens. I don't know where this info comes from but it is wrong! Sorry to hear about the demise of your queens!

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