Dying adult ants

Questions from those who are just starting or considering getting into the ant keeping hobby. If you’re intimidated or confused by the in-depth posts of the other sections of this forum, feel free to post here, and we'll start from square one!

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Dyingrat9
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2022 4:11 pm

Dying adult ants

Post: # 96685Post Dyingrat9
Fri Sep 23, 2022 4:21 pm

Hello! I have a new colony of honeypot, or Myrmecocystus mexicanus ants. They are kept in a test tube and there are 5 workers. A cotton ball is on one end and the colony is staying on some sort of blue silicone like thing with water behind it. The queen lays eggs regularly- I saw her laying one, very cool. There is waste in the opposite side of the test tube and a few larvae that the ants won’t touch, possibly dead? I got it from a gan farmer nearby. When they arrived there was a corpse of an ant and another appeared yesterday though I cannot tell if there is a decline in the population of ants around the Queen. Any ideas what is going on?

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antperson24
Posts: 1226
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2022 4:01 pm
Location: North East Iowa

Re: Dying adult ants

Post: # 96688Post antperson24
Sat Sep 24, 2022 8:24 am

Dyingrat9 wrote:
Fri Sep 23, 2022 4:21 pm
Hello! I have a new colony of honeypot, or Myrmecocystus mexicanus ants. They are kept in a test tube and there are 5 workers. A cotton ball is on one end and the colony is staying on some sort of blue silicone like thing with water behind it. The queen lays eggs regularly- I saw her laying one, very cool. There is waste in the opposite side of the test tube and a few larvae that the ants won’t touch, possibly dead? I got it from a gan farmer nearby. When they arrived there was a corpse of an ant and another appeared yesterday though I cannot tell if there is a decline in the population of ants around the Queen. Any ideas what is going on?
The old workers are probably dying off, but don't worry, there will be plenty to replace them! :)
Why keep ants that aren't found in your yard?
There are so many fascinating ants right where you live!
I disagree with the keeping/buying of ants that aren't in your area.

Join Ants, Plants, and Myrmecology: https://discord.gg/BeQuNf8yTN

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RubyAntKeeper77
Posts: 127
Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2023 6:31 pm
Location: powell wyoming

Re: Dying adult ants

Post: # 98227Post RubyAntKeeper77
Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:07 am

The nanitics are probably dead because of old age. They also could be starved if you have not fed them recently, if that is the case just add a drop of something like honey to help boost the worker energy.
Why don’t more people like ants?
Is anyone from Wyoming who wants to sell ants?

You can email me about ants at Tucker.reynolds13@gmail.com

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