Queen Not Being Fed

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Toastant
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2021 3:21 pm

Queen Not Being Fed

Post: # 98413Post Toastant
Fri Mar 24, 2023 8:52 am

My carpenter ant colony entered their third year this March. They were all lethargic coming out of hibernation, but even after the workers seized their first crushed cricket this year the queen remained slow and stumbling. I never saw them do trophallaxis with her, and they seemed to not be staying around her like normal.

At one point I even caught her venturing into the AC portal in an attempt to eat some leftover protein jelly. Multiple times I feared she had died on the spot. I checked on them this morning and she was away from all the workers, at the end of the test tube.

What's going on? Did she somehow lose the queen scent? I've never had this issue before and I'm really worried about her. Could she starve because of this?

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

Re: Queen Not Being Fed

Post: # 98414Post antperson24
Fri Mar 24, 2023 9:48 am

Toastant wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 8:52 am
My carpenter ant colony entered their third year this March. They were all lethargic coming out of hibernation, but even after the workers seized their first crushed cricket this year the queen remained slow and stumbling. I never saw them do trophallaxis with her, and they seemed to not be staying around her like normal.

At one point I even caught her venturing into the AC portal in an attempt to eat some leftover protein jelly. Multiple times I feared she had died on the spot. I checked on them this morning and she was away from all the workers, at the end of the test tube.

What's going on? Did she somehow lose the queen scent? I've never had this issue before and I'm really worried about her. Could she starve because of this?
How long have they been out of hibernation? They will be out of sorts for the first week or two, but after a bit they will be back to normal. I highly doubt the queen will starve.
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

Toastant
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2021 3:21 pm

Re: Queen Not Being Fed

Post: # 98427Post Toastant
Fri Mar 24, 2023 4:06 pm

antperson24 wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 9:48 am
Toastant wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 8:52 am
My carpenter ant colony entered their third year this March. They were all lethargic coming out of hibernation, but even after the workers seized their first crushed cricket this year the queen remained slow and stumbling. I never saw them do trophallaxis with her, and they seemed to not be staying around her like normal.

At one point I even caught her venturing into the AC portal in an attempt to eat some leftover protein jelly. Multiple times I feared she had died on the spot. I checked on them this morning and she was away from all the workers, at the end of the test tube.

What's going on? Did she somehow lose the queen scent? I've never had this issue before and I'm really worried about her. Could she starve because of this?
How long have they been out of hibernation? They will be out of sorts for the first week or two, but after a bit they will be back to normal. I highly doubt the queen will starve.
They have been out since the 11th. The workers are incredibly lively but I remember her acting different.

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

Re: Queen Not Being Fed

Post: # 98428Post antperson24
Fri Mar 24, 2023 6:57 pm

Toastant wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 4:06 pm
antperson24 wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 9:48 am
Toastant wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 8:52 am
My carpenter ant colony entered their third year this March. They were all lethargic coming out of hibernation, but even after the workers seized their first crushed cricket this year the queen remained slow and stumbling. I never saw them do trophallaxis with her, and they seemed to not be staying around her like normal.

At one point I even caught her venturing into the AC portal in an attempt to eat some leftover protein jelly. Multiple times I feared she had died on the spot. I checked on them this morning and she was away from all the workers, at the end of the test tube.

What's going on? Did she somehow lose the queen scent? I've never had this issue before and I'm really worried about her. Could she starve because of this?
How long have they been out of hibernation? They will be out of sorts for the first week or two, but after a bit they will be back to normal. I highly doubt the queen will starve.
They have been out since the 11th. The workers are incredibly lively but I remember her acting different.
I think they will be ok, they are probably not very hungry.
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

Toastant
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2021 3:21 pm

Re: Queen Not Being Fed

Post: # 98429Post Toastant
Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:03 pm

antperson24 wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 6:57 pm
Toastant wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 4:06 pm
antperson24 wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 9:48 am


How long have they been out of hibernation? They will be out of sorts for the first week or two, but after a bit they will be back to normal. I highly doubt the queen will starve.
They have been out since the 11th. The workers are incredibly lively but I remember her acting different.
I think they will be ok, they are probably not very hungry.
Ok. I felt like something was wrong with 0-1 workers remaining at her side. There's 13 to go around at the moment.

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

Re: Queen Not Being Fed

Post: # 98447Post antperson24
Sat Mar 25, 2023 7:51 am

Toastant wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:03 pm
antperson24 wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 6:57 pm
Toastant wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 4:06 pm


They have been out since the 11th. The workers are incredibly lively but I remember her acting different.
I think they will be ok, they are probably not very hungry.
Ok. I felt like something was wrong with 0-1 workers remaining at her side. There's 13 to go around at the moment.
Queens seem to take longer to wake up than workers, so maybe that's why she is acting weird.
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

Toastant
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2021 3:21 pm

Re: Queen Not Being Fed

Post: # 98582Post Toastant
Fri Mar 31, 2023 6:08 pm

antperson24 wrote:
Sat Mar 25, 2023 7:51 am
Toastant wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:03 pm
antperson24 wrote:
Fri Mar 24, 2023 6:57 pm


I think they will be ok, they are probably not very hungry.
Ok. I felt like something was wrong with 0-1 workers remaining at her side. There's 13 to go around at the moment.
Queens seem to take longer to wake up than workers, so maybe that's why she is acting weird.
(I am so sorry if this counts as necroposting but I didn't want to make a new thread for the same issue and it had been less than a week)

I have only witnessed trophallaxis between the queen and a worker once, and it seemed... Forced (she was at a weird angle, and seemed like she was trying to break away). The queen seems to "request" it often, waving her antennae around near a worker's and getting her face near the worker's face. In previous years, that always resulted in trophallaxis.

She still leaves the tube often to feed on her own, often falling asleep out there, even on a dried up strawberry piece I wanted to clean up. When she got off of it, she went back in the test tube, fleeing my tweezers, (I know I wasn't supposed to scare her but they were searching for food) and then tried to come back out again the moment it calmed down.

It's almost like they don't even know she exists. This doesn't feel right... She is also still lethargic. I actually found her today, three years ago, in 2020. Shouldn't she be active again by the time her species flies? They have heating too.

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AM1C39
Posts: 1012
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2020 12:17 pm
Location: Canada, ON
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Re: Queen Not Being Fed

Post: # 98584Post AM1C39
Fri Mar 31, 2023 9:03 pm

Nothing to worry about! Different species may do odd things that could be undocumented, but that is about how trophallaxis works within the colony. You don't have to worry, the workers ussually know what's best for their queen. Maybe she is just getting borred. :lol:
My current colonies:
-Miniature Military(formica neogagates)
-Black Hearts(crematogaster cerasi)
In search of new camponotus colony
[Have a look at antmaps.org]

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