New Queen rejecting her eggs???

Discussions about the care and keeping of ants

Moderator: ooper01

Post Reply
jessners21
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2021 2:52 pm
Location: Mighigan

New Queen rejecting her eggs???

Post: # 78819Post jessners21
Wed Jun 23, 2021 3:04 pm

So this would be my first colony. My son and I fell in love with the AntsCanada YT channel and decided to start a colony. We found a carpenter queen with wings broken off and set up a test tube for her. A few days later she laid her first eggs. Then more eggs to about 12-14 total and kept them in a neat little pile that she tended. I read that carpenter ant eggs take longer to hatch then others so I wasn't worried at first. It has been 3 weeks and a few days since she laid the first eggs. However the other day I noticed she was in the "open" part of the tube. Normally the tube is 90% covered for light except for a small section near the end. I checked and see that she has torn some of the cotton down and she placed some of the eggs on the other side of the tube where the light is. It seems like she rejected these eggs but is still tending to the rest of the pile.

Any idea on what this behavior means?

User avatar
AM1C39
Posts: 1012
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2020 12:17 pm
Location: Canada, ON
Contact:

Re: New Queen rejecting her eggs???

Post: # 78830Post AM1C39
Wed Jun 23, 2021 8:40 pm

If I where you I would not worry she probably just put them there so they can get some better heat witch will make them grow faster.
My current colonies:
-Miniature Military(formica neogagates)
-Black Hearts(crematogaster cerasi)
In search of new camponotus colony
[Have a look at antmaps.org]

jessners21
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2021 2:52 pm
Location: Mighigan

Re: New Queen rejecting her eggs???

Post: # 78843Post jessners21
Thu Jun 24, 2021 10:41 am

ok thanks. I am using lost of self restraint to not check on her very much cause I don't want to stress her out. But if I look sideways into the tube I can see her rear so it looks like she is still tending the other eggs.

AntsLuxembourg
Posts: 1578
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:17 am
Location: Luxembourg
Contact:

Re: New Queen rejecting her eggs???

Post: # 78995Post AntsLuxembourg
Mon Jun 28, 2021 7:44 am

I would say she just tries to thermo and hydro regulate the eggs some. Also depending on the species and current temperature it can take 54 days or more. Also self restain is very important. Checking daily might make her eat the eggs or kill her if it gets too much. And usually after the first queen died many people learn how essential it is to just wait. ^^'
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

jessners21
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2021 2:52 pm
Location: Mighigan

Re: New Queen rejecting her eggs???

Post: # 79050Post jessners21
Mon Jun 28, 2021 7:09 pm

We only check every 1 to 1.5 weeks. She stays on a table in the bedroom so away from the main living area where the dogs are running around and can cause noise and vibration. The temp is 74 in the house. So I think it is ok. We are just going to wait and see. I did check her before last weekend and she was still tending to the main group. Maybe she is checking on the others at other times and we just don't know.

I thought maybe she was infertile cause I read about that but it seems most of the times that happened they stop tending them after a week or so. She has been caring for her eggs for 3 weeks so I wasn't sure about that possibility.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests