My crematogaster queen has eggs!

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timeshell
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2019 7:34 pm
Location: Port Hope

My crematogaster queen has eggs!

Post: # 66174Post timeshell
Sat Dec 21, 2019 5:33 pm

I collected a whole bunch of lasius elates and a camponatus elate and a crematogaster queen in the late fall. All but one of the lasius died, the camponatus is probably not fertile. I also had an aphenogaster, but unfortunately she died very early on (unfortunately due to my own inexperience).

On my first day of collecting, a young boy saw me and was also a follower of AntsCanada. He asked to go ant hunting with me and within the first 5 minutes he found the first crematogaster. When I looked up later what was the one I helped him catch I was so jealous because I hadn't found the one I have now yet. But a couple weeks later, I found one, in the parking lot of my building no less!

But after 2 months, my crematogaster is now laying eggs! I'm so happy. Of all of my queens, this was the one I was counting on from the beginning.

timeshell
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2019 7:34 pm
Location: Port Hope

Re: My crematogaster queen has eggs!

Post: # 66257Post timeshell
Thu Dec 26, 2019 7:44 pm

5 eggs as of this morning! I'd appreciate any comments on what to expect or experiences with a new crematogaster queen.

timeshell
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2019 7:34 pm
Location: Port Hope

Re: My crematogaster queen has eggs!

Post: # 66265Post timeshell
Fri Dec 27, 2019 11:17 am

6 eggs today! My queen seems to be a little sluggish now. Is this normal after she starts laying eggs?

She is my only surviving queen at this point, the only crematogaster that I found. Is it normal to lose a lot of collected alates? Is there something I should be doing to protect her, feed her or otherwise make sure she doesn't die on me?

I ended up getting her to move to a new tube a week ago because her first tube was going dry. Her first tube was a plastic pipette. The new one is a glass test tube. All the other Queens in the glass tubes died and I'm wondering if there's a connection. I don't want to lose my crematogaster too. Also, the water in the tube really saturated the cotton and it was very wet on her side of the cotton. But she seemed to like this at first as she was sitting and laying her first eggs in it. Since then she has moved them to the glass wall. I have also since used a thin strip of paper towel to soak up the excess water.

Thoughts?

timeshell
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2019 7:34 pm
Location: Port Hope

Re: My crematogaster queen has eggs!

Post: # 66304Post timeshell
Tue Dec 31, 2019 6:11 pm

Seems to be holding at 10 eggs for the past few days. Sometimes it seems like a couple disappear, but then show up again. Either she's eating a couple and laying new ones or she's hiding them in the cotton or something. How many eggs does a queen crematogaster lay and maintain for her first cluster before the nanoticks arrive?

AusAnts
Posts: 121
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2019 5:09 am
Location: Darwin,Australia

Re: My crematogaster queen has eggs!

Post: # 66323Post AusAnts
Thu Jan 02, 2020 1:32 am

Try not to checkup on her to much. I’m not familiar with that species so not sure how to answer the questions
2 x iridomyrmex sp Queen:15+ workers
2 x iridomyrmex pallidus: 40+ workers
1 x pheidole megacephala:2 queen 300 workers.
1 x opisthopsis Queen: 14 workers

timeshell
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2019 7:34 pm
Location: Port Hope

Re: My crematogaster queen has eggs!

Post: # 66360Post timeshell
Sat Jan 04, 2020 4:34 am

At last check she was at 14 eggs.

timeshell
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2019 7:34 pm
Location: Port Hope

Re: My crematogaster queen has eggs!

Post: # 66375Post timeshell
Sun Jan 05, 2020 6:03 pm

The queen has been clustering the eggs more closely the last few days, so an accurate count is difficult. It appears to still be in the 14 to 15 egg range at the moment.

Today for the first time I see at least one of the eggs has moved to the larvae stage. If this is the one of the first eggs from around December 21, that means it took about 15 days for them to move to this stage. That is unless the queen ate the original eggs and these are later eggs.

For the most part I am trying not to touch the test tube itself when I check on her. Her tube is inside a drawer which I slip open carefully to peek with a magnifying glass. She hasn't appeared to be much disturbed by this and usually just seems to be going about her duties.

timeshell
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2019 7:34 pm
Location: Port Hope

Re: My crematogaster queen has eggs!

Post: # 66389Post timeshell
Mon Jan 06, 2020 9:06 pm

17 eggs as of today.

I have placed 3 fruit flies in a second tube which is taped to the first since she seemed to enjoy munching on them. She has moved them into the cotton of the second tube. She did this with the first fruit fly I gave her before she completed eating it, so I suspect this is her way of storing them or perhaps softening them up before she comes to eat them later.

timeshell
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2019 7:34 pm
Location: Port Hope

Re: My crematogaster queen has eggs!

Post: # 66395Post timeshell
Tue Jan 07, 2020 7:02 am

As of this morning, it appears she has been busy with one of the fruit flies as what's left of it now looks like a garbled mess and is pasted away from the other ones on the wall of the test tube.

timeshell
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2019 7:34 pm
Location: Port Hope

Re: My crematogaster queen has eggs!

Post: # 66403Post timeshell
Tue Jan 07, 2020 5:51 pm

There now appears to be only one of the fruit flies left. I'm quite impressed that she's eating so much. Is that normal for a claustral species? Perhaps she's feeding them to the newly hatched larvae. I noticed some small bits of egg and apparently the larva will eat eggs too.

https://io9.gizmodo.com/cannibal-larvae-prove-that-even-baby-ants-are-terrifyin-1671327245

Hopefully she's feeding them and will prevent some of the eggs from getting eaten by the larvae.

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