Unknown queen

[Gardener]

I caught a few of these. Unlike my many, many pavement ants, this one is a tiny bit bigger (about 9 mm) and is reddish.

This is the only one that laid eggs in the last 2 -3 weeks, but wow look at the size of it!

Two pics in this link: https://imgur.com/a/FYDW7Go

[SYUTEO]

Formica sp.

[Gardener]

Thanks for that identification.

I have read that several Formica species in my area are parasitic, such as they will invade an established anthill.

Should I be releasing the Formica ants I have caught? Should I wait it out and see if they lay eggs, and if so for how long?

This one is kind of mysterious with her one big egg.

I also have other Formica that haven't laid any eggs after several weeks.


Hmmm. So interesting!

[SYUTEO]

You can raise parasitic Formica by introducing pupae, callows (young workers) and mature workers of their hosts to her but you should put them in the fridge to slow them down to prevent them from killing your queen. She will eventually lay eggs and her biological workers will take over.

Wait until this queen's pupa hatches and see if it's a worker or a male and she might turn out to not be a parasitic Formica queen. But if it turns out to be a male then your queen is most likely infertile.

[Gardener]

Interesting. If the pupa is male, the queen is not inseminated... that I understand. If it is a sterile female worker, great.

But since there is no ind!cation that she is a parasitic queen from these two cases, I have two questions about this.

If she is a parasitic queen and her workers eventually take over, then I assume she should be fed now?

To minimize risk do you think it would be okay to feed all the Formica queens I have before the eggs hatch?

[SYUTEO]

Parasitic queens often have larger mandibles and smaller gasters than usual queens, most parasitic Formica ants often have orange or red markings on their head and thorax but some like Formica rufibarbis does have orange markings but they are not parasitic.

The introduced workers will feed her so you will still have to feed them. Her own workers will eventually replace the introduced workers.

It's usually best to feed them before they start laying eggs but I recommend you to not feed them unless they are starved (small gasters are usually an ind!cator of that).