Dead Lasius Niger colony - why did they die?

Let us know of your ant colonies or queens that have passed away. We will grieve together but will also learn why your ants may not have succeeded.

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MollysAnts
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:42 am
Location: Winchester, Hampshire, England

Dead Lasius Niger colony - why did they die?

Post: # 68833Post MollysAnts
Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:55 am

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. :cry: :( 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?

Parsasitequeenforsal
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2020 8:06 pm
Location: Westhampton

Re: Dead Lasius Niger colony - why did they die?

Post: # 72305Post Parsasitequeenforsal
Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:11 pm

Sounds like they were to cold, what’s the temp in Fahrenheit you keep them in?

NKantsalberta
Posts: 182
Joined: Wed May 23, 2018 6:48 pm
Location: Sherwood Park, Alberta
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Re: Dead Lasius Niger colony - why did they die?

Post: # 72383Post NKantsalberta
Fri Jul 17, 2020 12:30 pm

MollysAnts wrote:
Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:55 am
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. :cry: :( 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?
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.
For a small colony like that, I would recommend not feeding anything besides organic apples, a local honey source, and mealworms.
GAN farmer for Edmonton and area, Alberta, Canada.

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