Hi there,
I have recently started keeping ants. The species I have are messor barbarus. All was going fine, the queen had moved out of the test tube and into the nest chamber. However I noticed a few ants had begun to die and were not moved to a graveyard site instead left with the queen. I didn't attempt to move the dead ants as that would have disturbed the queen too much I thought, so I carried on with the normal care of food, water replacement and moisture control. However now the queen has moved back into the uncovered test tube in the light and has left the ants in the nest chamber who are still caring for the few eggs (3) the colony has. Any thoughts? I really don't want these little guys to perish.
Werid Queen behaviour!!
Moderators: ooper01, Trusted User
Re: Werid Queen behaviour!!
That, unfortunately, is exactly what happened to one of my early colonies. It seemed as though she left her young and went off to die. The other ants lived a couple of days longer before dying themselves. Wish I had better news.
Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditiones habes
Main interest is C. Pennsylvanicus, interested in most native ants to my area.
Main interest is C. Pennsylvanicus, interested in most native ants to my area.
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- Location: Honolulu
Re: Werid Queen behaviour!!
AntsLuxerbourg has the same problem!!! He never mentioned the ants not being taken to the graveyard, so I don't think he has that part of the problem. However, he has the same species and the queen is in the outworld. Perhaps your nest is too small, so they started making a graveyard inside it. If you want to read all we've discussed, it is "Messor Barbarus Queen Funny Behavior". So that's three people I know it's happened to. Weird. Is this some weird seasonal thing? I know I'm late, but I'm currently also trying to help AntsLuxembourg. This is the weirdest problem, with a single species, I've ever heard of.
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