Formica queens still not laying eggs

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Scynthius
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2017 4:55 pm
Location: Camrose, Alberta

Formica queens still not laying eggs

Post: # 29259Post Scynthius
Wed Aug 16, 2017 7:00 pm

so i caught 8 queens a couple weeks ago and 2 this week, I've had a few of them identified here, one as formica aserva which is a social parasite she has a single host workers eclosed from pupae(the rest still haven't eclosed yet) that we took from another formica nest. She appears to be doing well and laying a couple of eggs.

We had a Formica Ulkie but she didn't make it.

The other 6 queens have been in the closet for the past 2 weeks and we still don't see any of them with eggs yet, i'm worried they aren't being kept warm enough, the closet should be room temperature. One of the 6 has been identified as a Formica Podlizica and the others look similar. should i be concerned or should i leave them another couple of weeks, someone mentioned that in the wild they can go through winter hibernation before they even lay eggs, if that's the case should i somehow raise the temp a couple of degrees to simulate hotter summer days? or if they need to hibernate before they decide to lay should i feed them before i hibernate them in the winter?

New to ant keeping this year, just wondering what i should be doing, if anything.

AqdasHassaan

Re: Formica queens still not laying eggs

Post: # 29288Post AqdasHassaan
Wed Aug 16, 2017 10:23 pm

Just let em do their thing. Ants have this internal clock inside that tells them to go to sleep so I don't think increasing the temperature can help you out there.

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notmyidea
Posts: 60
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2015 3:30 pm
Location: Victoria, BC, Canada

Re: Formica queens still not laying eggs

Post: # 29418Post notmyidea
Fri Aug 18, 2017 1:26 am

I have formica podzolica and have produced colonies over the last few years. They won't typically lay eggs till next Spring. You don't need to feed them till then. In fact, I have tried giving them honey after hibernation and they won't eat it. Once there is about 1/2 dozen workers around May of next year, they will forage and feed the queen.

Scynthius
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2017 4:55 pm
Location: Camrose, Alberta

Re: Formica queens still not laying eggs

Post: # 30190Post Scynthius
Fri Aug 25, 2017 11:40 pm

I just had the queen that was identified as podzilica did in the last week

AntsDakota
Posts: 1283
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:22 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Formica queens still not laying eggs

Post: # 35244Post AntsDakota
Fri Apr 20, 2018 5:26 pm

Scynthius wrote:
Wed Aug 16, 2017 7:00 pm
so i caught 8 queens a couple weeks ago and 2 this week, I've had a few of them identified here, one as formica aserva which is a social parasite she has a single host workers eclosed from pupae(the rest still haven't eclosed yet) that we took from another formica nest. She appears to be doing well and laying a couple of eggs.

We had a Formica Ulkie but she didn't make it.

The other 6 queens have been in the closet for the past 2 weeks and we still don't see any of them with eggs yet, i'm worried they aren't being kept warm enough, the closet should be room temperature. One of the 6 has been identified as a Formica Podlizica and the others look similar. should i be concerned or should i leave them another couple of weeks, someone mentioned that in the wild they can go through winter hibernation before they even lay eggs, if that's the case should i somehow raise the temp a couple of degrees to simulate hotter summer days? or if they need to hibernate before they decide to lay should i feed them before i hibernate them in the winter?

New to ant keeping this year, just wondering what i should be doing, if anything.
You can't fool ants when winter comes. They have a biological clock, and they follow it no matter how warm it is.
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25

AntsDakota
Posts: 1283
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:22 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Formica queens still not laying eggs

Post: # 35245Post AntsDakota
Fri Apr 20, 2018 5:27 pm

AqdasHassaan wrote:
Wed Aug 16, 2017 10:23 pm
Just let em do their thing. Ants have this internal clock inside that tells them to go to sleep so I don't think increasing the temperature can help you out there.
You are absolutely right.
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25

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