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Lasius social parasite
Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 4:35 pm
by AntsDakota
I found a Lasius social parasite queen that I believe to be Lasius claviger. I am hoping to acquire a Lasius colony from a friend to start the colony.
Re: Lasius social parasite
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 1:38 pm
by ClashOwenBash
AntsDakota wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 4:35 pm
I found a Lasius social parasite queen that I believe to be Lasius claviger. I am hoping to acquire a Lasius colony from a friend to start the colony.
(*slightly jealous*)
Re: Lasius social parasite
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:18 am
by Hunter36o
I'm 50-50 on getting a future parasite queen. Like it is perfectly natural for them to take over existing small colonies but I'm torn at the idea of doing it myself just to add a new species to the ranks
Re: Lasius social parasite
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 2:54 am
by ClashOwenBash
Hunter36o wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:18 am
I'm 50-50 on getting a future parasite queen. Like it is perfectly natural for them to take over existing small colonies but I'm torn at the idea of doing it myself just to add a new species to the ranks
It's rare but sometimes certain ant shops have parasitic queens already with host workers, if that helps.
Re: Lasius social parasite
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 4:06 am
by Hunter36o
No GAN or Irish based ant shop. I would have to ship one from England and although not illegal, it is still not something I would go for as we all know it does not guarantee ants will survive and I'm not one to put a creatures life on the line for my own gain.
I will just have to try convince myself at some point it's a natural part of ant life and just bite the bullet with a small young colony. Or maybe wild workers slowed via a few seconds in a mid temp fridge?? I dono
Re: Lasius social parasite
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 10:37 am
by antnest8
When I tried with this i just took workers from the outside. some brood to start with might help also.
Re: Lasius social parasite
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2018 5:13 am
by Hunter36o
What approach did you take to introduce them?
I see most people try slow the workers down but should the queen be chilled out also? Also is there a way to ease them into it rather then just openly putting them straight into the same container and hoping for the best?
Re: Lasius social parasite
Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 4:25 pm
by AntsDakota
Unfortunately, the cold killed her. Now I know not to put anything that isn't Camponotus in the garage over the winter. Oh well- there's always this year.
Re: Lasius social parasite
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:36 am
by JoeHostile1
AntsDakota wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2019 4:25 pm
Unfortunately, the cold killed her. Now I know not to put anything that isn't Camponotus in the garage over the winter. Oh well- there's always this year.
If the cold didn’t kill the camponotus than it’s unlikely it killed the claviger Queen. Those queens fly in October in Canada right before winter and then just sit somewhere until spring comes and then they look for a host colony. They could literally survive -20C just sitting under a piece of bark or a rock. Could be that your queen just didn’t make it. Or maybe it wasn’t claviger but another Lasius parasite that look almost identical because there are a few different species of parasitic Lasius that look alike.
Re: Lasius social parasite
Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 12:41 pm
by AntsDakota
JoeHostile1 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:36 am
AntsDakota wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2019 4:25 pm
Unfortunately, the cold killed her. Now I know not to put anything that isn't Camponotus in the garage over the winter. Oh well- there's always this year.
If the cold didn’t kill the camponotus than it’s unlikely it killed the claviger Queen. Those queens fly in October in Canada right before winter and then just sit somewhere until spring comes and then they look for a host colony. They could literally survive -20C just sitting under a piece of bark or a rock. Could be that your queen just didn’t make it. Or maybe it wasn’t claviger but another Lasius parasite that look almost identical because there are a few different species of parasitic Lasius that look alike.
I believe she may have drowned, then. However I thought that was strange, as although there was a puddle of water beneath her, the majority of her body was exposed to the air.