Strange tetramorium behavior

[AntChuck]

Earlier today I gathered workers from a wild tetramorium colony. A fairly large and aggressive one... I had rescued a few newly mated queens from their clutches. I decided to experiment with two queens I had via hibernation and introducing these workers. It was a success for the most part although one of the test queens died due to hibernation i believe... the other was accepted and is doing well so far. I released the workers from the dead queen and they fought their sisters immediately leading me to believe that although she died enough of her scent was transferred to cause those workers to be changed enough to become foreign invaders.

I decided to try it without hibernation with a queen I had caught but unfortunately may have damaged her gaster so I was prepared to lose her. I gathered roughly 25 workers and placed them in the tube with this queen and much to my surprise after the initial shock of being jostled died down they began to clean her and even feed her. They sat together in the dark for over an hour and when i returned they were gathered around her cleaning and such... so I decided to grab another 10 workers from the wild colony to see what would happen. Initially it appeared that these new workers showed aggression but I attributed it to dropping them in and causing them to clump and panic. One worker had her by the leg so i jostled the tube enough that it let go. Again she was quickly grabbed by two workers one on a back leg and the other on an antenna... surely this meant they do not accept her however they also let go. I watched another worker pull her around by her mouth soon after but again she let go. So far it seems that the workers appear to be accepting her. This behavior seems a bit strange due to what I've previously witnessed and read about concerning tetramorium and their territorial aggression. Has anyone encountered this behavior before with tetramorium?

[Whitelotus]

I have never gone and caught a wild colony in this manner before. This is unique from what I have typically seen with this genus.

[AntChuck]

I have never gone and caught a wild colony in this manner before. This is unique from what I have typically seen with this genus.

Queen still alive this morning and has moved into the tube with water. Of slight concern though is the workers slowly tearing pieces of cotton ball away lol

[AntChuck]

I have 3 now that I've introduced foreign queens to the sane wild colony... one hibernation with about 9 workers, the 2nd without hibernation and around 35 workers and the 3rd without hibernation and 6 workers. The 2 without hibernation have not laid any eggs. The one with hibernation Im not sure if she has since I placed brood in there. They all however share one common theme... attempting to escape. Each one with workers has the workers vigourously trying to tear through cotton... the two without hibernation even have the queens taking part on the attack of the cotton barriers the last one she has moved back to the other tube with what looks to be like 3 workers tending to her, another worker appears to be tending the brood while the rest are trying to kill the cotton

[Hawkeye]

I have 3 now that I've introduced foreign queens to the sane wild colony... one hibernation with about 9 workers, the 2nd without hibernation and around 35 workers and the 3rd without hibernation and 6 workers. The 2 without hibernation have not laid any eggs. The one with hibernation Im not sure if she has since I placed brood in there. They all however share one common theme... attempting to escape. Each one with workers has the workers vigourously trying to tear through cotton... the two without hibernation even have the queens taking part on the attack of the cotton barriers the last one she has moved back to the other tube with what looks to be like 3 workers tending to her, another worker appears to be tending the brood while the rest are trying to kill the cotton

Well seeing as you caught them in the wild, and they now suddenly find themselves in a glass tube with cotton, both unfamiliar materials to them, I guess it would make sense for them to try to escape right? I mean wouldn't you? Just give them some time to get used to their new surroundings...