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Help: C. Pennsylvanicus Eggs Yellowing

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 3:20 pm
by JustCliff
A queen I caught this year in June laid about 8 eggs the last week on June/ First week of July. She took around 2 weeks to start laying eggs.

I've noticed the eggs weren't growing and eventually began to turn yellowish. I googled this and it seems she likely stopped caring for them out of stress or because they might be drones.

Few questions:

Is this more likely a sign of stress or being infertile?

How do I handle this? Do I move her into a new test tube? Will she lay more this year or will I have to hibernate her without brood?

Will moving her into a new, cleaner container encourage her to lay again?

If I moved her into a more long-term founding nest should I move the eggs too? Will she eventually eat them or will that not happen now that the eggs are dead/dying and just cause stress?

Re: Help: C. Pennsylvanicus Eggs Yellowing

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 5:51 pm
by AntsDakota
JustCliff wrote:
Tue Aug 07, 2018 3:20 pm
A queen I caught this year in June laid about 8 eggs the last week on June/ First week of July. She took around 2 weeks to start laying eggs.

I've noticed the eggs weren't growing and eventually began to turn yellowish. I googled this and it seems she likely stopped caring for them out of stress or because they might be drones.

Few questions:

Is this more likely a sign of stress or being infertile?

How do I handle this? Do I move her into a new test tube? Will she lay more this year or will I have to hibernate her without brood?

Will moving her into a new, cleaner container encourage her to lay again?

If I moved her into a more long-term founding nest should I move the eggs too? Will she eventually eat them or will that not happen now that the eggs are dead/dying and just cause stress?
She probably cares for them when you're not looking. And Camponotus naturally have yellow eggs. You don't have to do anything, unless the test tube is getting moldy or infested with bacteria.