A Parasitic Queen Success
Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 7:14 am
So where I live in Calgary, Alberta there is a spot along the Bow river known as Bowmont. This place runs along for about 2 or 3 kilometers beside the river, and it is full of ants. The main inhabitants of the park are Wood Ants or Mound Ants, species like Formica rufa and Formica ulkei. I was biking around the park this past Tuesday (June 5) and I caught 5 Wood Ant queens. This was amazing for me! Knowing that most Wood Ant queens are parasitic queens I had to figure out a way for her to found a colony and I did.
So this is what worked for me, here are the steps I took. I looked for wild Formica fusca or a species close to Formica fusca. Once I found my Formica fusca workers with pupae under a rock I put them in plastic test tubes and took them home. At home I took a plastic container with some sand in the bottom and I put a test tube setup in there (a test tube half filled with water that is blocked off by a cotton ball). I then put my Formica fusca workers and brood in there and left them for about 15-20 minutes. When I came back I introduced one my Wood Ant queens to the workers and they accepted her or she accepted them, I am not sure. Now they are living happily in their tubs & tubes setup.
I hope you all find this helpful! Shout out to the Nordic Ants channel on Youtube for the idea. Watch his video on parasitic queens, the link is below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbOuZCBZaLo&t=580s
So this is what worked for me, here are the steps I took. I looked for wild Formica fusca or a species close to Formica fusca. Once I found my Formica fusca workers with pupae under a rock I put them in plastic test tubes and took them home. At home I took a plastic container with some sand in the bottom and I put a test tube setup in there (a test tube half filled with water that is blocked off by a cotton ball). I then put my Formica fusca workers and brood in there and left them for about 15-20 minutes. When I came back I introduced one my Wood Ant queens to the workers and they accepted her or she accepted them, I am not sure. Now they are living happily in their tubs & tubes setup.
I hope you all find this helpful! Shout out to the Nordic Ants channel on Youtube for the idea. Watch his video on parasitic queens, the link is below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbOuZCBZaLo&t=580s