The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

Not much new. Colony still growing. Crematogaster workers take quite some time to develop. There are actively between 10 to 15 workers at a time about ready to eclose. There should be about 60 to 70 active workers at this point. I'd estimate at least double that for the number of eggs/larvae/pupae in their various stages of development.

I've been mostly feeding them fruit flies that inevitably show up when I buy fresh fruit and the occasional insect that I get from outside.

I think my crematogaster queen is dying... she doesn't look well. Earlier today she was convulsing and now she is lying on her side, only moving a leg occasionally. The workers all seem fine and there is a large pile of pupae ready to eclose. I don't know what to do.

When I checked on her this morning, she was still "kicking". The workers were still grooming her. But at this point she doesn't appear to be moving anymore and I think she is dead.

If I were to introduce a new queen to the workers, what are the chances that they would accept her? It's the season for crematogaster, so I don't consider it impossible that I may be able to find a new queen for them.

OK. At this point, my queen looks completely dead. Curled up legs, no movement. She has been this way since my last post. It looks like her antennae may be missing now too. HOWEVER, the workers are still looking after her and, it appears, feeding her.

Today I went to check in on them an interestingly, the workers are carrying around NEW eggs! ?????

I have no idea what to make of this. I'd appreciate some input on it.

I am very certain the queen is dead. The workers are still caring for it nonetheless. And some of the workers are still carrying around what appear to be new eggs. I can't possibly see how the workers could be laying the eggs as the eggs are large relative to the workers' gasters IMHO.

Could the dead queen still have viable eggs that are still coming out and this be the reason why the workers are still caring for her body?

I hope somebody is still following this topic. My queen has got to be dead. She's belly up, with legs curled in. Her antennae are gone.

HOWEVER, the workers are still caring for her after all these months. AND new eggs still keep appearing!!! What is going on here? I mean it's not a lot of eggs, it's only one here or there every once in a while but they are still appearing. The newest worker to eclose just today has got a fresh egg in its jaws right now!


?????????

timeshell wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 26, 2022 9:09 pm

I hope somebody is still following this topic. My queen has got to be dead. She's belly up, with legs curled in. Her antennae are gone.

HOWEVER, the workers are still caring for her after all these months. AND new eggs still keep appearing!!! What is going on here? I mean it's not a lot of eggs, it's only one here or there every once in a while but they are still appearing. The newest worker to eclose just today has got a fresh egg in its jaws right now!


?????????

The queen probably is dead. The workers will still care for her until her body is not reconizable anymore… also, workers can lay eggs, and I can present scientific articles if needed. These eggs however, are ALWAYS infertile and will be layed in the absence of a queen. Also, are their any alates? The alates may be responsible for eggs if they somehow mated…. Just an unlikely guess, maybe the queens egg laying muscles are still firing months after death?.?

SolenopsisKeeper wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 26, 2022 11:05 pm

timeshell wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 26, 2022 9:09 pm

I hope somebody is still following this topic. My queen has got to be dead. She's belly up, with legs curled in. Her antennae are gone.

HOWEVER, the workers are still caring for her after all these months. AND new eggs still keep appearing!!! What is going on here? I mean it's not a lot of eggs, it's only one here or there every once in a while but they are still appearing. The newest worker to eclose just today has got a fresh egg in its jaws right now!


?????????

The queen probably is dead. The workers will still care for her until her body is not reconizable anymore… also, workers can lay eggs, and I can present scientific articles if needed. These eggs however, are ALWAYS infertile and will be layed in the absence of a queen. Also, are their any alates? The alates may be responsible for eggs if they somehow mated…. Just an unlikely guess, maybe the queens egg laying muscles are still firing months after death?.?

There are no alates. The colony is still small...there's probably only about 50 or 60 workers at most. I wondered if it might be the workers but considering the size of crematogaster workers and the size of the eggs it would surprise me. The eggs have all been developing so far. I was wonder if perhaps the dead queen was still popping them out perhaps if the workers were keeping her body nourished enough somehow. As it is, there are 2 brand new eggs today.

timeshell wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 27, 2022 7:55 am

SolenopsisKeeper wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 26, 2022 11:05 pm

timeshell wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 26, 2022 9:09 pm

I hope somebody is still following this topic. My queen has got to be dead. She's belly up, with legs curled in. Her antennae are gone.

HOWEVER, the workers are still caring for her after all these months. AND new eggs still keep appearing!!! What is going on here? I mean it's not a lot of eggs, it's only one here or there every once in a while but they are still appearing. The newest worker to eclose just today has got a fresh egg in its jaws right now!


?????????

The queen probably is dead. The workers will still care for her until her body is not reconizable anymore… also, workers can lay eggs, and I can present scientific articles if needed. These eggs however, are ALWAYS infertile and will be layed in the absence of a queen. Also, are their any alates? The alates may be responsible for eggs if they somehow mated…. Just an unlikely guess, maybe the queens egg laying muscles are still firing months after death?.?

There are no alates. The colony is still small...there's probably only about 50 or 60 workers at most. I wondered if it might be the workers but considering the size of crematogaster workers and the size of the eggs it would surprise me. The eggs have all been developing so far. I was wonder if perhaps the dead queen was still popping them out perhaps if the workers were keeping her body nourished enough somehow. As it is, there are 2 brand new eggs today.

Black magic….
Anothe r
Possibility is that somewhere there is another queen that found her way into your setup. Ants will accept ants that don’t have a colony sent, so…. It is still possible the workers are laying them…. But….

SolenopsisKeeper wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:23 pm

timeshell wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 27, 2022 7:55 am

SolenopsisKeeper wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 26, 2022 11:05 pm

The queen probably is dead. The workers will still care for her until her body is not reconizable anymore… also, workers can lay eggs, and I can present scientific articles if needed. These eggs however, are ALWAYS infertile and will be layed in the absence of a queen. Also, are their any alates? The alates may be responsible for eggs if they somehow mated…. Just an unlikely guess, maybe the queens egg laying muscles are still firing months after death?.?

There are no alates. The colony is still small...there's probably only about 50 or 60 workers at most. I wondered if it might be the workers but considering the size of crematogaster workers and the size of the eggs it would surprise me. The eggs have all been developing so far. I was wonder if perhaps the dead queen was still popping them out perhaps if the workers were keeping her body nourished enough somehow. As it is, there are 2 brand new eggs today.

Black magic….
Anothe r
Possibility is that somewhere there is another queen that found her way into your setup. Ants will accept ants that don’t have a colony sent, so…. It is still possible the workers are laying them…. But….

I feel like the queen is dead, workers are laying tropic eggs which the workers usually just use to feed the larvae so expect either less workers or males...