Queen Ant laying eggs and still has her wings

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tylergarr
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2019 4:14 pm
Location: Arizona

Queen Ant laying eggs and still has her wings

Post: # 65269Post tylergarr
Sat Nov 02, 2019 4:25 pm

My first question is, will an unfertilized queen still lay eggs?

I've had this Queen for 1.5 months.
She is in a proper test tube setup kept in the dark at 24 degrees Celsius.
She still has her wings and has been laying eggs, none have transitioned into larvae though.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hawkeye
Posts: 1557
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2019 4:38 pm
Location: Almelo

Re: Queen Ant laying eggs and still has her wings

Post: # 65272Post Hawkeye
Sun Nov 03, 2019 2:04 am

Hi there,

Depending on the species it can take up to a number of weeks to reach the pupae stage. Generally the larger the ant, the longer it takes. So your eggs not having developed isn't strange.

Furthermore some queens don't shed their wings immediately, some wait for nanitics to help them for example. And some might even keep them attached. So again no worries there.

Unfertilized queens can produce eggs too, but they will grow into male alates.

tylergarr
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2019 4:14 pm
Location: Arizona

Re: Queen Ant laying eggs and still has her wings

Post: # 65302Post tylergarr
Sun Nov 03, 2019 4:16 pm

Thanks Hawkeye, your response has been helpful.

If male alates are produced, is it safe to say this queen will never develop a successful colony?
If that is the case, what is the best thing I can do for this queen?

Another question, on average, how sensitive are new queens to disturbances such as:
Human noise (Talking, typing on the keyboard, music)
Computer fan noise
Test tube being moved to check her health (She's in a test tube in the drawer of my computer desk, so I have to open the drawer and move the test tube to observe her which exposes her to light briefly).

Thanks again.

Hawkeye
Posts: 1557
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2019 4:38 pm
Location: Almelo

Re: Queen Ant laying eggs and still has her wings

Post: # 65398Post Hawkeye
Thu Nov 07, 2019 1:25 am

tylergarr wrote:
Sun Nov 03, 2019 4:16 pm
Thanks Hawkeye, your response has been helpful.

If male alates are produced, is it safe to say this queen will never develop a successful colony?
If that is the case, what is the best thing I can do for this queen?

Another question, on average, how sensitive are new queens to disturbances such as:
Human noise (Talking, typing on the keyboard, music)
Computer fan noise
Test tube being moved to check her health (She's in a test tube in the drawer of my computer desk, so I have to open the drawer and move the test tube to observe her which exposes her to light briefly).

Thanks again.
No worries happy to help. If she hasn't mated, she won't be able to produce offspring, other than males (which might have a chance to spread her genes) so she won't be able to raise a colony. In that case she likely won't live long either as she is ill- equipped for the single life. Whether she will live long enough to take part in another nuptual flight next spring might be questionable.

As to the vibrations and sounds, some ants are more sensitive than others. Personally I think the typing wouldn't bother her too much, opening the drawer might be a bit of a shock.

By the way do you have any pictures of your queen?

Antmanboy
Posts: 330
Joined: Sun Feb 16, 2020 12:12 pm
Location: Converse,Texas,United States

Re: Queen Ant laying eggs and still has her wings

Post: # 67551Post Antmanboy
Mon Feb 17, 2020 8:14 am

They will but if there unfertilized they will develop into male alates and won't be of any use for a colony

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