So, I got a queen ant from online in early march, in the normal test tube. It had 6 workers already. Over the next month, I kept feeding them mealworms, apple, and peanut butter. The colony seemed to be fine, except that it was growing very slowly - there were only 10 -11ish workers. But then, I checked on my colony today and they were all curled up and were dead. I am not sure why they died, but i have two other queen ants in test tubes, only one of which has laid eggs, but i think i will just replace my colony with that one. I would like to know what could have killed my ants, so I don't do it again by accident.
There has been a sudden heatwave for the last two days, could it be related?
Dead Lasius Niger colony - why did they die?
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Re: Dead Lasius Niger colony - why did they die?
Sounds like they were to cold, what’s the temp in Fahrenheit you keep them in?
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Re: Dead Lasius Niger colony - why did they die?
Ensure you are feeding them only organic fruits, as most other will have pesticides/herbicides on them. Always rinse thoroughly as well. Also, Did you have direct heat on the tube? If so, you could have inadvertently cooked them if they didn't have a cooler area to go to.MollysAnts wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:55 amSo, I got a queen ant from online in early march, in the normal test tube. It had 6 workers already. Over the next month, I kept feeding them mealworms, apple, and peanut butter. The colony seemed to be fine, except that it was growing very slowly - there were only 10 -11ish workers. But then, I checked on my colony today and they were all curled up and were dead. I am not sure why they died, but i have two other queen ants in test tubes, only one of which has laid eggs, but i think i will just replace my colony with that one. I would like to know what could have killed my ants, so I don't do it again by accident.
There has been a sudden heatwave for the last two days, could it be related?
For a small colony like that, I would recommend not feeding anything besides organic apples, a local honey source, and mealworms.
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