My queen ant died and 50 workers are still alive what happen next?

Questions from those who are just starting or considering getting into the ant keeping hobby. If you’re intimidated or confused by the in-depth posts of the other sections of this forum, feel free to post here, and we'll start from square one!

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Estebanhug
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2019 10:27 am

My queen ant died and 50 workers are still alive what happen next?

Post: # 55802Post Estebanhug
Sat Feb 09, 2019 11:50 am

So basically I hibernated my ants (lasius niger) and took them out the fridge last week and about 2/3 weeks ago the queen was fine and she seemed dead couple days ago. Now I know for sure shes dead as for some reason i guess her workers while trying to move her around ripped her to pieces i can see that shes missing 3 legs which i found in the test tube and i also cant seem to see her head either and her body has been put far away from the main chamber.
So since my colony has no more queen i wanted to know if there is a way of adding these workers to another colony and maybe since they dont have a queen they could join a new queen? otherwise there are about 50 more eggs in the test tube and could any of these be turned into a queen egg maybe or if not can these eggs be given to another colony who will take care of them as their own eggs or they ill eat them?
Many Thanks

Dann28
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2019 10:33 pm

Re: My queen ant died and 50 workers are still alive what happen next?

Post: # 55804Post Dann28
Sat Feb 09, 2019 1:01 pm

Sorry to say this but your colony wilk probably eventually die out. As far as i know lasius niger isnt polygenous so i would release them, freeze them (will slowly fall asleep then die and isnt painful to them at all), or just keep caring for them until the last few brood turn into workers... sorry for ur loss.
Im still a beginner :D .
-Camponatus Clarithorax /w 2 queens

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shaky33
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2016 4:19 am
Location: Melbourne Victoria
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Re: My queen ant died and 50 workers are still alive what happen next?

Post: # 55822Post shaky33
Sun Feb 10, 2019 7:00 pm

Yeah, without the queen they aren't able to produce any more workers and the colony will just die out. I would suggest releasing them otherwise you can just wait until they all die out. Sorry for your loss :(
- Rhytidoponera metallica
- Camponotus consobrinus x2
- **** sp.
- Nylanderia sp.
- Melaphorus sp.
- Camponotus cairns
- Crematogaster sp.
- Colobopsis sp.
- Myrmecia nigrocinta
- Iridomyrmex purpureus
- Camponotus eastwoodi

joyjoy22
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2019 11:37 pm
Location: United States of America

Re: My queen ant died and 50 workers are still alive what happen next?

Post: # 55825Post joyjoy22
Sun Feb 10, 2019 10:11 pm

I am so sorry to hear about your lost, I guess the best way to do now is to release the remaining ants as reproduction won't happen when the queen died.

Hunter36o
Posts: 376
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:57 am
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: My queen ant died and 50 workers are still alive what happen next?

Post: # 56134Post Hunter36o
Wed Feb 27, 2019 12:05 pm

Well I really hope you did not release them as all hope is not lost. Now, if you do manage to take good care of the ants and allow them to take care of the brood, you should check if a Lasius parasite queen can be found in your area. These queen's can only start a colony with host workers by sneaking into an existing nest and killing their queen. If you are able to get one of these you will be able to raise a new colony by allowing the current to become a host. :)
Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

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