Multi-Queen Colonies and their first workers

[AntChuck]

So I have several 2 and 3 queen tetramorium set ups... 6 with 2, 2 with and 1 with 4. My colony with 4 queens has its first two nanatics... one appears to be mature already so has likely been active for a couple days. The other newly active... they are in an ant farm set up... didnt expect them to thrive but they have.

My 3 queen Lasius Flavus has its first workers... 9 in total thanks to brood boosting.

How long till fights erupt?

[antnest8]

I really don't know if there is solid info on the time before the coup starts. I would think when the worker count rises but if you want to save the Queens then I would Get them to move in the next 2 weeks.

[Ggezpro]

Tetramorium are monogamous. The queens will kill each other when the workers arrive.

[AntChuck]

Tetramorium are monogamous. The queens will kill each other when the workers arrive.

Been over a week since the first workers arrived. Each colony now has 4-7 workers. Im keeping them well fed though so perhaps thats why there has been no deaths.

[antnest8]

keep us updated Because I usually find tetremorium queens fight just by coming in contact with each other, to make it to this stage might be a good sign.

[AntChuck]

These queens were primarily caught around the same time and by caught I mean rescued from a large swimming pool. Over 30 to begin with that were housed together in a jar due to my leaving for vacation for 10 days. They were all in a state of I guess hibernation likely to conserve energy while in the pool. I had to let them dry in the sun in a seperate container till they came back from the brink of death... they were all winged at this point as well. Upon returning they had shed their wings in this very small jar and had hundreds of eggs piled together. Theres a good chance that many came from the same colony which could explain the lack of fighting to a degree. The fact that many expended eggs before being put into test tubes much of which was lost during transfers may also be a factor... perhaps they realize in order to fully survive they need each other and that still hasnt passed either. Maybe its a combination of many not natural events like being brought back from death together, stress of my daily checks, being from the same colony. Like i said over a week... almost 2 and no aggression. They have food, workers, brood... everything that would typically provide am ample enviroment for rebellion.

[antnest8]

I wonder how long they need to be together to be considered polygenous

[AntChuck]

I wonder how long they need to be together to be considered polygenous

I think in most circumstances there will alway be the potential of a fight between queens in non-polgynous species. Its going on 3 weeks now with workers. No casualties. The nanatic count is growing too. The larger of the two has 12 workers now and a fair amount in the pupae stage.