My queen has died after 3 months

[RvBVakama]

Today I checked the test tube, my queen was on her back not moving.
A couple of ants looked like they were biting her?

She had like 20-25 workers and a nice pile of brood, I fed them every 2 days with protein (bugs) and sugar (honey).

I wonder why she died and the workers are so lively.

Did I not feed them enough?
Did the workers just kill her off for some reason?
Stress?
Not enough food?
Mold related death? - there was some mold?
Was it just in her genes?

She never looked very lively. When I watch videos online they are always moving about everywhere.
She was just kinda slow.

Does anyone have any clue as to why this happened?
Thanks.

PS. I just bought a ton of equipment.
PPS. Wow, I'm really sad ;(

[RvBVakama]

I have two theories:

1. Not enough space:
This is probably not the reason due to the fact that many many other videos show test tube setups with 50x more crowded than mine, but all the time the workers were trying to escape. and even when I opened it they just tried to get out.

2. Hungry.
Every time I put in a bug they ate the whole thing pretty much, moths, never but anything else, cockroach, silverfish, isopod. I never thought they needed more since it did not look they could physically eat more, and I thought the waste would just rot and mold and cause issues. Maybe I needed to feed more and they were just soo hungry they had no other option. Earlier on when the first worker died, I noticed after 1 day it had vanished, they probably ate it

[JoeHostile1]

First what species was it and are you sure it’s even dead? Sometimes ants just sit there curled up and look like their dead and when you poke them with a toothpick they get up and run.

Obviously laying on her back is usually not a good sign. But is it possible the test tube flooded a bit? She could just be knocked out because water got into the part of her that absorbs oxygen. If that’s the case she can recover if she dries off.

It’s extreamly rare for the queen to die and the workers to be fine as the queen is much more hearty and tolerant of every adverse condition. If you fed them protein and sugar every two days then if definitely wasn’t from lack of food. Ants can go a long time without food and worse comes to worse they will eat their eggs and larvae for months before they starve to death. The queen can even lay trophic eggs specifically for eating.

Definitely has nothing to do with lack of space. Ants don’t want space. They want to be cramped together.

Could the test tube have gotten too hot? That’s really the only thing I can think of, but then you would think the workers would have died too. It could have just been in her genes. As far as for all your new gear; don’t fret you can always use it on a new queen/colony.

[RvBVakama]

First what species was it and are you sure it’s even dead? Sometimes ants just sit there curled up and look like their dead and when you poke them with a toothpick they get up and run.

Obviously laying on her back is usually not a good sign. But is it possible the test tube flooded a bit? She could just be knocked out because water got into the part of her that absorbs oxygen. If that’s the case she can recover if she dries off.

It’s extreamly rare for the queen to die and the workers to be fine as the queen is much more hearty and tolerant of every adverse condition. If you fed them protein and sugar every two days then if definitely wasn’t from lack of food. Ants can go a long time without food and worse comes to worse they will eat their eggs and larvae for months before they starve to death. The queen can even lay trophic eggs specifically for eating.

Definitely has nothing to do with lack of space. Ants don’t want space. They want to be cramped together.

Could the test tube have gotten too hot? That’s really the only thing I can think of, but then you would think the workers would have died too. It could have just been in her genes. As far as for all your new gear; don’t fret you can always use it on a new queen/colony.

I was pretty sure she was gone, but it was a colony that attacker her, despite being the only queen, they have have been an interbred colony as black house ants do this? I believe that was the general species. after I found her, I left for work and came back to find one of her legs missing, I just assumed the ants wanted to eat it. Another reason I thought they killed her for food, was because these ants exploded in population, it was my first colony, but compared to any video online, I had 30 + workers 3 months in, most others have like 5 ish? They were very small ants. It did not flood, if anything too dry, not heated, even though I had a pad, I opted out of using it. And pretty sure not playing dead, because I rotated the tube and she just stayed solidly still and just tumbled.