Lasius neoniger not foraging…
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2017 9:45 am
Hi,
I've got 3 colonies of Lasius neoniger whose queens I caught in nuptial flights nearly a year ago. A few months ago, the first nanitics finally eclosed, and now each colony has 20-25 workers. They're each still in their founding test tubes. I've been feeding them fruit flies (1 or 2 a week) and byFormica Sunburst ant nectar, both placed directly in the test tube next to the outermost cotton ball (away from the colonies themselves, who are huddling by the water-side cotton balls). I know that this isn't optimal, but I'd been waiting for my test tube portals to arrive. Now, I've got them set up, and have begun placing feeder fruit flies and ant nectar in the "mini-outworld" the portals provide… but the ants don't seem to be going anywhere *near* the outworlds. Either they no longer smell the food, or simply think that the tunnel doesn't go farther out than where the cotton ball used to be, so they're not looking. (Do they even have memory like that, though?)
It's been a week now that I haven't seen them eat, and I'm beginning to grow concerned. I lifted the dark cloth I have covering their "nesting" test tubes, and they all seem to be alive. Plenty of brood, and I don't see any dead workers… but they seemed rather sluggish.
Should I begin feeding them directly in their test tubes again? I really don't want to lose these colonies.
(Posted in Diet and Nutrition because I'm not sure if this may be a nutrition issue… however they ate these same foods before just fine.)
I've got 3 colonies of Lasius neoniger whose queens I caught in nuptial flights nearly a year ago. A few months ago, the first nanitics finally eclosed, and now each colony has 20-25 workers. They're each still in their founding test tubes. I've been feeding them fruit flies (1 or 2 a week) and byFormica Sunburst ant nectar, both placed directly in the test tube next to the outermost cotton ball (away from the colonies themselves, who are huddling by the water-side cotton balls). I know that this isn't optimal, but I'd been waiting for my test tube portals to arrive. Now, I've got them set up, and have begun placing feeder fruit flies and ant nectar in the "mini-outworld" the portals provide… but the ants don't seem to be going anywhere *near* the outworlds. Either they no longer smell the food, or simply think that the tunnel doesn't go farther out than where the cotton ball used to be, so they're not looking. (Do they even have memory like that, though?)
It's been a week now that I haven't seen them eat, and I'm beginning to grow concerned. I lifted the dark cloth I have covering their "nesting" test tubes, and they all seem to be alive. Plenty of brood, and I don't see any dead workers… but they seemed rather sluggish.
Should I begin feeding them directly in their test tubes again? I really don't want to lose these colonies.
(Posted in Diet and Nutrition because I'm not sure if this may be a nutrition issue… however they ate these same foods before just fine.)