tetramorium journal
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2016 5:51 pm
I caught 8 tetramorium queens about 5 ??? days ago. I decided to do a little experiment. out of the eight, this is how i split them up:
2 queens by themselves in individual test tubes
2 queens together in one test tube
4 queens together in one test tube.
I checked on them yesterday (Yes I know, I'm HORRIBLE at leaving them alone. I have some red photography film on its way so that I can view them with out disturbing them) anyways, I checked on them yesterday and the two queens in separate test tubes had both laid eggs. The two queens that were together in the same test tube had also laid eggs. Then I went to check on the one with the four queens... or should I say one queen. Yeah. One of the queens had killed the other three and was happily taking care of the others brood. two of the dead ones had been decapitated, and the other had just been kinda mauled to death. I removed the dead queens. SO, yeah. I am glad I tried the experiment even though three of them died.
So, I had a question. They say tetramorium are a very fast growing species. Does anyone know how long until I can expect to see workers?
Oh, and another question. Which workers are usually bigger, Lasius or tetramorium? I'm trying to decide which ants I should put in my Lasius hybrid nest when the time comes. I'm thinking that which ever one has bigger workers for better visibility. it would be cool to get your guyses opinion on this. Lasius or tetramorium? Thanks
2 queens by themselves in individual test tubes
2 queens together in one test tube
4 queens together in one test tube.
I checked on them yesterday (Yes I know, I'm HORRIBLE at leaving them alone. I have some red photography film on its way so that I can view them with out disturbing them) anyways, I checked on them yesterday and the two queens in separate test tubes had both laid eggs. The two queens that were together in the same test tube had also laid eggs. Then I went to check on the one with the four queens... or should I say one queen. Yeah. One of the queens had killed the other three and was happily taking care of the others brood. two of the dead ones had been decapitated, and the other had just been kinda mauled to death. I removed the dead queens. SO, yeah. I am glad I tried the experiment even though three of them died.
So, I had a question. They say tetramorium are a very fast growing species. Does anyone know how long until I can expect to see workers?
Oh, and another question. Which workers are usually bigger, Lasius or tetramorium? I'm trying to decide which ants I should put in my Lasius hybrid nest when the time comes. I'm thinking that which ever one has bigger workers for better visibility. it would be cool to get your guyses opinion on this. Lasius or tetramorium? Thanks