My crematogaster queen has eggs!

[Antmanboy]

Wow good luck on having a flourishing colony of cremtogaster they're cool ants

[Gamatron332]

Any more updates on the ants?? I was really enjoying the read

[timeshell]

Great timing. I had to give the queen a break. We're up to 13 workers right now with about 10 more coming in the next couple weeks. A stack of eggs in various stages of development.

My queen took to eating eggs periodically for a while. However, I believe it was partly due to stress and partly due to hunger. Over the past month in particular I have been finding the growth very slow, with workers periodically disappearing. I presume they were being eaten. That is until I started feeding them more regularly. I suspect I should have treated this queen as semi-claustral from the beginning and may have had better success.

I started off feeding them flies that gather around the bin at my building. Now I am feeding them 2 to 3 small crickets a week.

Here is a link to my Google Photos album. I just took a couple videos yesterday. Enjoy.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vPmX6Rrg3tBtgrnT7

[Antmanboy]

Nice queen

[DimmettMatt21]

So I had a question, I cought a crematogaster queen on July 4th 2020 . She laid eggs after the first week. About 3 weeks later she had larvae. The next week they had all become larvae. Now I can't find the larvae and there is 1 or 2 piles of eggs. Mold has become a bit of a problem. She also seems to be a cotton puller. I've given her some honey. I did that last week. I tend to check on her once a week. I've put on a heating cable to keep her warm. I always keep it at about 75°F. Any tips on what I might be doing wrong?


https://photos.app.goo.gl/FtH65XuPUKB45fuJ9

[timeshell]

So I had a question, I cought a crematogaster queen on July 4th 2020 . She laid eggs after the first week. About 3 weeks later she had larvae. The next week they had all become larvae. Now I can't find the larvae and there is 1 or 2 piles of eggs. Mold has become a bit of a problem. She also seems to be a cotton puller. I've given her some honey. I did that last week. I tend to check on her once a week. I've put on a heating cable to keep her warm. I always keep it at about 75°F. Any tips on what I might be doing wrong?


https://photos.app.goo.gl/FtH65XuPUKB45fuJ9

I will start out by saying that I am by no means an expert. However, your tube in looks very humid with the water forming on the sides on the chamber. I'd say either your cotton plug is leaking too much or your heat is too much and causing the water to condense on the glass. I was probably looking in on mine too much early on and it took a long time for mine to get to the 16 works I'm at today. Mine kept eating the eggs. I'd suggest preparing a new clean test tube and taping it back to back with the current one to encourage her to move into a nicer one. It can take weeks before she decides to move however. I'm not sure if air flow would be an issue this way. I tried it a couple times but mine never moved that way. I opened it up periodically to vent it. I made a 4 way bridge to go between a small outworld and another test tube. Eventually, like months later, they moved to the new one. When I prepare a new tube, I use a piece of paper towel to soak up any excess water that comes through the cotton plug to try to prevent too much water from building up. I haven't used any heater on my setup at all. I am in a basement apartment with no air conditioning.

I'm curious where you found a crematogaster so early. I'm under the understanding that they're nuptial flights are from August to September. I found mine by pure luck in the parking lot of my building near the end of September last year.

[DimmettMatt21]

Ya I think it was condensation. I tried the taping the tubes together and the other one got mold after a week. I'll try the 4 way outworld method though that way they will get some air flow. My room is normally at 67°F so I use the cable. To speed up their progress.
I live in south Indiana. I found her wandering around on my friends side walk. There were a lot of other ants just out and about. Might have been a nuptial rave? Not sure, but I saw her and picked her up. 1 week later she had eggs

[DerkaDoesGaming]

I caught 4 yesterday on my back porch. They were just wandering around looking for a place to nest. I scooped them up, since its almost September. Is there a chance they will lay eggs now or will they hibernate first then lay eggs? its around 74 F in the house. I put them in test tube set ups and are in my closet in the dark.

[timeshell]

I caught 4 yesterday on my back porch. They were just wandering around looking for a place to nest. I scooped them up, since its almost September. Is there a chance they will lay eggs now or will they hibernate first then lay eggs? its around 74 F in the house. I put them in test tube set ups and are in my closet in the dark.

They may, they may not. Mine didn't start laying until December. Just keep them in a properly prepared test tube in the dark and leave them alone for a couple weeks.

[timeshell]

Ya I think it was condensation. I tried the taping the tubes together and the other one got mold after a week. I'll try the 4 way outworld method though that way they will get some air flow. My room is normally at 67°F so I use the cable. To speed up their progress.
I live in south Indiana. I found her wandering around on my friends side walk. There were a lot of other ants just out and about. Might have been a nuptial rave? Not sure, but I saw her and picked her up. 1 week later she had eggs

Are you sure the tubes, water and cotton are clean (sterile would be great)? When I prepare the tube I bleach it and then rinse it really well. Best to use purest water you can. Mine have been in the same tube with water for 4 months now with minimal mold growth.