I caught a camponotus sansabeanus queen!

[SolenopsisKeeper]

So I decided to take the time to explain how ants behave in my general area. Almost all the ant genus in my area (eastern Arizona outside the town know as show low) nest under rocks the one exception I’ve found so far is a colony of pheidole ants that built a dome shaped mound. So far I have found pogos, crematogasters, and camponotus all nesting under rocks as there is an abundant amount of them in my area. Now back to the queens that I got, I had presumably missed their nuptial flight but because they choose to nest under rocks they don’t bury themselves under ground thus making it as easy as me flipping over rocks to find queens. Now my main concern was that the queens must have already laid their eggs. However every time I flipped up a rock and found a queen I searched very carefully for eggs and I know they are bright white, and that stands out very nicely on our dark reddish dirt, but after three finds (the first queen I found in wood) I could not find a single egg. Concluding that either all four queens I found are infertile (but can’t infertile queens still lay eggs but they are all males?) or they have yet to lay their eggs, after all it is still around 60-70°F outside in the afternoon not exactly the warmest temperature for them. I am interested in the comment SYUTEO made that they “might have been starved” before they left their colony.

Lucky… ants that live under rocks means the queen is probably near the surface or under the rock. Here, invicta just nest wide open and Crematogaster under cement.

[LaniLyne0106]

Saturday queen update!
Ive labeled the queens #1, #2, #3, and #4 so it’s easier to keep track. #1 is the one i found in wood. I am quite pleased with their progress. Queen #1’s gaster is swelling which could be good or bad news. #2 is very much the same. #3 has one egg! And her gaster is very swollen more so than #1 and #2’s I will be expecting more eggs from her . #4’s gaster is the same size as #3’s so I’m hoping for eggs soon! I have given them no food since the honey water. And I have been and will continue to check them only once a week to prevent stress as much as possible.

[SolenopsisKeeper]

Saturday queen update!
Ive labeled the queens #1, #2, #3, and #4 so it’s easier to keep track. #1 is the one i found in wood. I am quite pleased with their progress. Queen #1’s gaster is swelling which could be good or bad news. #2 is very much the same. #3 has one egg! And her gaster is very swollen more so than #1 and #2’s I will be expecting more eggs from her . #4’s gaster is the same size as #3’s so I’m hoping for eggs soon! I have given them no food since the honey water. And I have been and will continue to check them only once a week to prevent stress as much as possible.

3 and 4 could have parasites, but you never know. My pyramid ant queen I recently caught looked as if she would burst, but now I have so many eggs.

[LaniLyne0106]

Saturday queen update!
Ive labeled the queens #1, #2, #3, and #4 so it’s easier to keep track. #1 is the one i found in wood. I am quite pleased with their progress. Queen #1’s gaster is swelling which could be good or bad news. #2 is very much the same. #3 has one egg! And her gaster is very swollen more so than #1 and #2’s I will be expecting more eggs from her . #4’s gaster is the same size as #3’s so I’m hoping for eggs soon! I have given them no food since the honey water. And I have been and will continue to check them only once a week to prevent stress as much as possible.

3 and 4 could have parasites, but you never know. My pyramid ant queen I recently caught looked as if she would burst, but now I have so many eggs.

#3 is the one who laid an egg. #4 on the other hand hasn’t laid any eggs even though her gaster is large, she may or may not have parasites. Also their gasters don’t look like they’re going to burst just very large compared to when I caught them. However your not wrong just about any thing could happen at this point.

[SolenopsisKeeper]

Saturday queen update!
Ive labeled the queens #1, #2, #3, and #4 so it’s easier to keep track. #1 is the one i found in wood. I am quite pleased with their progress. Queen #1’s gaster is swelling which could be good or bad news. #2 is very much the same. #3 has one egg! And her gaster is very swollen more so than #1 and #2’s I will be expecting more eggs from her . #4’s gaster is the same size as #3’s so I’m hoping for eggs soon! I have given them no food since the honey water. And I have been and will continue to check them only once a week to prevent stress as much as possible.

3 and 4 could have parasites, but you never know. My pyramid ant queen I recently caught looked as if she would burst, but now I have so many eggs.

#3 is the one who laid an egg. #4 on the other hand hasn’t laid any eggs even though her gaster is large, she may or may not have parasites. Also their gasters don’t look like they’re going to burst just very large compared to when I caught them. However your not wrong just about any thing could happen at this point.

They could be waiting for weather conditions in your area. I doubt it, but some queens will make a founding chamber and not lay eggs for a while. Where I live, (Florida) it drastically changes so I will get queens not Kay eggs for a while, then start laying loads.

[LaniLyne0106]

Noted thx! @solenopsiskeeper

[LaniLyne0106]

Queen update

Queen #3 now has a total of three eggs! And queen #4 has one egg! As for queens #1 and #2 they have no eggs but their gasters are swelling a bit more they are either really late or they have might parasites. #2 showed strange behavior of wanting to just get out of her test tube and pulling at the cotton while the other three were calm and hardly moved around.

[SolenopsisKeeper]

Queen update

Queen #3 now has a total of three eggs! And queen #4 has one egg! As for queens #1 and #2 they have no eggs but their gasters are swelling a bit more they are either really late or they have might parasites. #2 showed strange behavior of wanting to just get out of her test tube and pulling at the cotton while the other three were calm and hardly moved around.

Queen do that if they haven’t settled in quite yet, or they are stressed. Taking into account you only check n them once every week, they haven’t settled down yet.

[LaniLyne0106]

Queen update

Queen #3 now has a total of three eggs! And queen #4 has one egg! As for queens #1 and #2 they have no eggs but their gasters are swelling a bit more they are either really late or they have might parasites. #2 showed strange behavior of wanting to just get out of her test tube and pulling at the cotton while the other three were calm and hardly moved around.

Queen do that if they haven’t settled in quite yet, or they are stressed. Taking into account you only check n them once every week, they haven’t settled down yet.

Okay good to know. Also I got some photos!:https://photos.app.goo.gl/xLg27ugD5UpJTHNY8

[SolenopsisKeeper]

Queen update

Queen #3 now has a total of three eggs! And queen #4 has one egg! As for queens #1 and #2 they have no eggs but their gasters are swelling a bit more they are either really late or they have might parasites. #2 showed strange behavior of wanting to just get out of her test tube and pulling at the cotton while the other three were calm and hardly moved around.

Queen do that if they haven’t settled in quite yet, or they are stressed. Taking into account you only check n them once every week, they haven’t settled down yet.

Okay good to know. Also I got some photos!:https://photos.app.goo.gl/xLg27ugD5UpJTHNY8

Beautiful queens. Wish we had them here, but instead we have similar species Camponotus Americanus.