Lasius ants that sting

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AntsDakota
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Lasius ants that sting

Post: # 49914Post AntsDakota
Sun Sep 09, 2018 5:02 pm

I heard from Hunter360 that Lasius niger have stingers. I noticed that Lasius claviger also have stingers. I could see them sticking them out of their abdomens. I'm assuming a lot of common Lasius species have stingers, which is interesting because I've never heard of a species from the subfamily Formicinae that stings. Most spray formic acid. The stinging genera and species are usually from the subfamily Myrmicinae, including Myrmica, Solenopsis, Tetramorium, ect.
"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

Hunter36o
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Re: Lasius ants that sting

Post: # 49945Post Hunter36o
Mon Sep 10, 2018 5:08 am

Hey!! That's Hunter36o to you haha. O is a lower case letter :p (sorry it's not a random callsign it's was actually made like 5 years ago. So if u see that anywhere. It's me :D )

And yes I took me completely off guard to see. Now with out a micro lens or scope to get a good look we cannot confirm exactly, but though a lot of image and video watching (spent 3 hour straight >.<) It does not look like a spay pose from the abdomen because they do not touch the surface they spray where as these Niger's full on pressed against the victim.
Personally I am really excited to discover more.
Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

AntsDakota
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Re: Lasius ants that sting

Post: # 50040Post AntsDakota
Tue Sep 11, 2018 3:15 pm

Hunter36o wrote:
Mon Sep 10, 2018 5:08 am
Hey!! That's Hunter36o to you haha. O is a lower case letter :p (sorry it's not a random callsign it's was actually made like 5 years ago. So if u see that anywhere. It's me :D )

And yes I took me completely off guard to see. Now with out a micro lens or scope to get a good look we cannot confirm exactly, but though a lot of image and video watching (spent 3 hour straight >.<) It does not look like a spay pose from the abdomen because they do not touch the surface they spray where as these Niger's full on pressed against the victim.
Personally I am really excited to discover more.
Yeah. I always wondered how Lasius queens could kill each other so fast. But a stinger makes since.
"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

Hunter36o
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Re: Lasius ants that sting

Post: # 50099Post Hunter36o
Wed Sep 12, 2018 3:43 am

It also backs up a their natural aggressive behaviour, I also see that about Lasius but at first I did not fully get it because I could not understand how a weaponless/ defenceless ant would even want to be aggressive as it would prove dangerous, however a stinger back this up and gives them cause to push forward then to submit.

Honestly the best we can do for now is either look at these girls under a microscope or lens or if that is not possible, send some workers and or a dead queen to someone who can take a closer look to see exactly what is going on.

I am in love with my friends question tho. He is not a big ant lover but he is a thinker and loves to ask the right questions. This one coming up after I explained why it is bad to import ants. He wonders if with the introduction of stronger and more aggressive ants could the Lasius species instead of backing down or allowing them to be pushed back from being the most common European species they could have "evolved to be come more adapt at defending them selves?"
Although rare evolution has been known to go into hyperdrive when a new generation is born if the species is in particular trouble that nature refuses to let them go into alone. Thus allowing newer gens of Lasius to possess a stinger.

Or another rare but possible reason behind this is somewhere down the lines Lasius mated with another species but that would involve a bigger understanding of ant DNA to be able to tell if this is probable. All round this proves we know a lot less then we think about any specific species of ant. Opening up the door to be able to take part in the discovery of species behaviour or maybe even go as far as to make a scientific discovery (like Lasius having stingers, and no I did not discover this trait only that I have been put in the situation where I can confidently back this up)

So remember when keeping your ants. We do not know all there is to know so do not be afraid to experiment with so long as it is not a dangours one that could result in the end of your colony.

Also some little things you may want to investigate for your self is that I have personally read that Lasius Niger's are the European architects of the ant world. Some colonies have been known to build bridges!! So test this also. :D
Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

Hunter36o
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Re: Lasius ants that sting

Post: # 54718Post Hunter36o
Tue Dec 11, 2018 7:23 am

Well I've not gathered much to update on as all of my ants are almost completely inactive. They are under low temp but not ideal due to the original room of choice having a breach. Thank you Mr and Mrs bats... (Attic) This has caused a change in approach and caused last minute issues so they are semi active due to this. As a result the need irregular feedings. Less then normal but still in need of nourishment :( I'm not proud of me if I am honest. I never took the bats into consideration when fitting up the attic originally.

This as a result has have 2 semi positive reactions. It is still too cold for the queen to even want to lay eggs so no more are being produced giving her somewhat of a break for the season. However it's not too cold for the larvae so they are still developing into pupae. Which in a sense is good as a whole load of brood has not been wasted. Now I cannot say this for all early stage colonies as one has had almost all brood die out from the lower temps. Heartbreaking really.
Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

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antnest8
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Re: Lasius ants that sting

Post: # 54841Post antnest8
Mon Dec 17, 2018 1:59 pm

so i'm interested at this topic and I've been locking at close up images of lasius. here is what I found. On the tips of their abdomens they have a little pointed rear ends. When This does look like a stinger but looking closer I see that It looks more like 2 stingers my personal hypotheses is this is where the ants could lay eggs. Since most ants are barren FEMALES this might be a evolutionary dead end so to speak on this species. Some species of ants do have workers that lay trophic eggs and this could also be the cause.
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Hunter36o
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Re: Lasius ants that sting

Post: # 54842Post Hunter36o
Mon Dec 17, 2018 2:05 pm

Okay that is interesting and I really got to look into that.
The only thing is that they seem to do it during aggressive moments. In my personal case one queen did it to the cotton of the test tube the minute I stuffed it in and she was also pulling at it.
There is a video of workers doing it on YouTube from antsuk I think. I know I have the tuber, just not sure which one so I'll go dig it up. His Lasius Niger workers did it to some fresh food.
Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

Hunter36o
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Re: Lasius ants that sting

Post: # 54843Post Hunter36o
Mon Dec 17, 2018 2:15 pm

Okay found the vid I saw the Lasius Nigers stinging or something of that nature.

https://youtu.be/N4CBkJxB3T4
Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

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antnest8
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Re: Lasius ants that sting

Post: # 54911Post antnest8
Thu Dec 20, 2018 10:40 am

Don't lasius have formic acid? this could be the reason they look live there stinging you since the glands are at the sides of there gastors.
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Hunter36o
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Re: Lasius ants that sting

Post: # 54927Post Hunter36o
Fri Dec 21, 2018 5:28 am

It is actually previously believe Lasius, particularly Nigers have no acid or sting so the possibility of either being present is both mind blowing and will contradicted all wikis and journals all across the internet and libraries and such.
I'm looking forward to my own colonies growth so I can investigate further and more frequently
Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

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