So do i have a queen in my small colony???

[ZaGaGa]

I found this colony of Camponotus sp and brought it home.

https://i.imgur.com/jBwtMwl.jpg

here i asked for specie identification (https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=6443&p=38674#p38674)

And was also informed that no queen was visible (some ant were not visible in the photos).

Still I've kept the "colony" as an experiment. (https://i.imgur.com/4xcCfR5.jpg)

After a month they seems healthy and they care about each other, the cocoons and the eggs... Yes eggs, some eggs they brought with them, but i've found a pile of them.

How do i know if i have a queen? waiting for the colony to increase its numbers? will they care for the cocoons /larvae and eggs even without queen? will they hatch?

[Thorond0r]

If you cannot find the queen, the only way to know for sure is waiting if new eggs show up.
Egg development is unrelated to the queen, the queen only lays eggs.
As they already had some eggs that will develop further more workers doesn't necessarily mean there is a queen.
So you probably won't know for sure for a couple of weeks unless you spot either the queen or new eggs