Hello everyone, I recently caught quite a few Queens and they are now (for the most part) in their claustral chambers either tending eggs or still holding off laying. Most of these Queens are Lasius Niger with one or Two Crematogaster Cerasi, but I came across another one yesterday while at my grandmothers.
She doesn't look like a Lasius Niger or Neoniger, and she was doing something interesting when I found her, I noticed a small Lasius colony being raided by Carpenter Ants, they were in the process of carrying off the Queen, defenders, and young brood when I noticed a small Queen running past the Carpenter ants with a Pupae in her mandibles. I watched her go back and back again until she stopped coming I then went and flipped the rock she was under to find several pupae piled in a neatly dug claustral chamber, surprisingly she didn't steal larvae or eggs, only five pupae.
I thought this was interesting because I've never seen a Queen act like this, I have her in a temporary set up until a few new workers emerge and can transport the rest to a better set up, she's mothering them well, cleaning them constantly and even acting aggressive when I take a look at their set up. I'm honestly not sure if she was just a sister to those being killed and heard the distress calls, or if she's some kind of a social parasite Queen who took full advantage of the situation.
Either way she's an interesting find and is definitely getting her own journal. So here she is with the pupae, Lasius something.
Parasite Queen?
Moderator: ooper01
Re: Parasite Queen?
Thats really cool! Usually its best to give parasite queens pupae so im not surprised that was her first target.
Re: Parasite Queen?
That is not a parasitic queen. Looks like possibly Lasius alenius.
Re: Parasite Queen?
Or Lasius neoniger. Very interesting behavior. Are you sure she wasn't the original founding queen?
Re: Parasite Queen?
I'm positive she wasn't, since I saw the original dead in a carpenter ants mandibles, (I tapped the Carpenter ant and got her to drop it to be sure it was a queen, she was) So the original is dead currently, but I was thinking that maybe she was an alate that had flown from that colony earlier in the year, and had scented her sisters distress pheromones, and since her claustral chamber was close she maybe felt some devotion to her old colony and got some of the brood out? I don't know if there is an ant Medal of Honor but I think she deserves it for facing off with ants twice her size to save young.
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