Are Tetramorium Ants Polygynous?

[ILOVEANTS4ever]

I am looking at buying some Tetramorium sp. E ants and I just wanted to know if they were polygyne ants. Could you just add in multiple queens? In read on a website that it was debatable whether tetramorium sp. ants are polygyne.

[Turret675A]

They are technically polygynous but more times than not the Queen's end up killing each other after workers start being created, they kindove fight until there's only one left and the aftermath usually leaves the last one mauled with missing limbs and antennas so it's best not to mix them unless you want to make your colony grow faster. What I usually do since tetramorium is extremely common for me is put more than one queen into a tube and once they reach a certain stage and you see them fighting then just separate the Queen's and give the one of the queens another tube since tetras are very hardy and can survive tons of stuff. Also the name for tetramorium sp.e had been officially named tetramorium immigrans, for your information.

[Turret675A]

They are technically polygynous but more times than not the Queen's end up killing each other after workers start being created, they kindove fight until there's only one left and the aftermath usually leaves the last one mauled with missing limbs and antennas so it's best not to mix them unless you want to make your colony grow faster. What I usually do since tetramorium is extremely common for me is put more than one queen into a tube and once they reach a certain stage and you see them fighting then just separate the Queen's and give the one of the queens another tube since tetras are very hardy and can survive tons of stuff. Also the name for tetramorium sp.e had been officially named tetramorium immigrans, for your information.

Also unless you're not in NA tetramorium is extremely common and really not worth buying because they exist almost everywhere that is urban, you can find queens in june/julyish flying all the way till august usually. But to each their own, so if you don't want to wait and get them for free you can buy them. Hope this helps.

[ILOVEANTS4ever]

Thanks for the help! I am not going to buy them anymore. I will try to find them during their nuptial flight here in June. I am not willing to risk them fighting, so I will just keep them in seperate test-tubes. Thanks for the help, again.
Also, how long has Tetramorium sp. E been renamed to Tetramorium immigrans, because most of my ant-keeping friends still call them species E ?

[AntChuck]

If you have a pool or other standing water source its actually a good spot to retrieve queens. I retrieved around 60 from my pool last summer and managed to revive around 40 by letting them dry in a jar in the sun for a bit. They were tetramorium immigrans and were quite resilient despite most being in the pool for hours or even overnight. It did not effect their egg laying either as virtually all of them went into hyper egg laying once dried and stored.

[Turret675A]

Thanks for the help! I am not going to buy them anymore. I will try to find them during their nuptial flight here in June. I am not willing to risk them fighting, so I will just keep them in seperate test-tubes. Thanks for the help, again.
Also, how long has Tetramorium sp. E been renamed to Tetramorium immigrans, because most of my ant-keeping friends still call them species E ?

It's been renamed for not too long I believe. But I don't remember the date when it was changed, i believe it was changed a few years ago or a year or two.

[ILOVEANTS4ever]

If you have a pool or other standing water source its actually a good spot to retrieve queens. I retrieved around 60 from my pool last summer and managed to revive around 40 by letting them dry in a jar in the sun for a bit. They were tetramorium immigrans and were quite resilient despite most being in the pool for hours or even overnight. It did not effect their egg laying either as virtually all of them went into hyper egg laying once dried and stored.

I do have a small pool near my house. I will look there when nuptial flight time comes. Thanks for the advice!