Worried about my queen

[AntDude2908]

I caught her on july 22, and she laid about six eggs within a couple of weeks of catching her. The only problem is, they're still eggs. They haven't grown, and she hasn't laid any more. I don't know what the problem is, does anyone have an idea? She's a black carpenter ant as far as I can see, if that's any help!

Hi there!

First of all, do you have any pics of your queen? We might be able to help you identify her if you don't know her species. Generally speaking the larger the ant, the longer it takes for the eggs to develop. For my Camponotus species it could be up to 12 weeks. It does however require an environment that is suited for their development. You might want to try a heating mat, to raise the temperature to about 24 degrees Celsius.

With hibernation approaching quickly, pretty much all you can do is hope for the best and pray to the Ant Gods for your eggs to survive the winter. Then at the end of February or early March, start to gradually increase the temperature. For now make sure you feed your queen. She'll likely prefer sugars at this point and will neglect proteins but who knows. Try offering some cooked egg whites covered in honey.

Then settle her somewhere like a basement with stable 'cold' temperatures between 5-10 degrees Celsius.

It should never take a Camponotus queen 12 weeks to get workers... If that is indeed true, you are doing something terribly wrong.

[Hawkeye]

Well nanitics take less time

[NKantsalberta]

I caught her on july 22, and she laid about six eggs within a couple of weeks of catching her. The only problem is, they're still eggs. They haven't grown, and she hasn't laid any more. I don't know what the problem is, does anyone have an idea? She's a black carpenter ant as far as I can see, if that's any help!

Hi there!

First of all, do you have any pics of your queen? We might be able to help you identify her if you don't know her species. Generally speaking the larger the ant, the longer it takes for the eggs to develop. For my Camponotus species it could be up to 12 weeks. It does however require an environment that is suited for their development. You might want to try a heating mat, to raise the temperature to about 24 degrees Celsius.

With hibernation approaching quickly, pretty much all you can do is hope for the best and pray to the Ant Gods for your eggs to survive the winter. Then at the end of February or early March, start to gradually increase the temperature. For now make sure you feed your queen. She'll likely prefer sugars at this point and will neglect proteins but who knows. Try offering some cooked egg whites covered in honey.

Then settle her somewhere like a basement with stable 'cold' temperatures between 5-10 degrees Celsius.

It should never take a Camponotus queen 12 weeks to get workers... If that is indeed true, you are doing something terribly wrong.

All Camponotus I have caught in the spring/early summer did not have their first nanitics until the following year. large brood piles mind you, but no workers or even pupae until after hibernation. This was even with a heated environment. I gave a small amount of honey after they exited hibernation. After the first winter, successful hatchings and quick growth,

[AntDude2908]

Well nanitics take less time

Nanitics (in Camponotus especially) take up to 2 weeks longer to reach maturity than workers produced after founding. Where did you get this information?

[Hawkeye]

Maybe we're talking about different things here? I was talking about the stages from egg till ant.

[AntDude2908]

Maybe we're talking about different things here? I was talking about the stages from egg till ant.

Yep. Should never take 12 weeks for an ant to go from egg to adult ant.

[Formicarufa]

The brood might go into hibernation

My lasius ants brood did not develop at all until the temperature warmed up

Now they have pupa

Myrmica reproductive brood need to be hibernated before they can become alates