Queen ant, won't lay eggs or dig

[jreidsma]

Hi everyone

A month or so ago I went to a auction with my family, and an ant with wings flies onto my mom and so I took it :sarcasm: I moved it over into a set up like I did with my last queen and put her in it. She took off her wings a couple days later but has not done anything else yet. She won't dig, won't lay eggs (that I see), or anything.

There was not a male with her when I found her. I am assuming it is a queen because my last one looked exactly like this one. It has been a few years sense then but my last one dug its own tunnel and I had little workers running around after a while.

I may move her over into a different soil. I started her in potting soil mixed with coconut coir, then moved it over to coconutcoir/potting soil/and sand. I am thinking that maybe the soil is too heavy or something.

Maybe I will just make a fake tunnel with chambers and everything and see if she will start a colony if she is in the dark for a while.

I put it in my closet in the dark, if someone thinks it would be a good idea to do something different I will do that, until then I leave her alone.

 

[agent A]

sometimes they just dont take

i caught a few and only 1 out of 8 laid eggs, the others eventually died

 

[jreidsma]

Hmm... maybe thats why so many of them come out at once?

How long did the ones without eggs live?

 

[agent A]

How long did the ones without eggs live?

about 3 months

i think they need to overwinter, all but 1 of the ones that did lay eggs for me were caught in spring instead of fall, i usually can catch a good 10 carpenter ant queens in a year if i really look but when i did this only a few laid eggs and a few weeks later tiny workers emerged but i then either released them or got lazy and they died <_<

 

[jreidsma]

Maybe I should just let her go then.

My last queen didn't need to voerwinter, but I found her in early spring. This one was later in the year so maybe it needs the cold of autumn and winter outside.

My last one only had a maximum of three workers at a time that I saw, and then one chewed out of the mesh top and they all dissapeared.

 

[agent A]

Maybe I should just let her go then.

My last queen didn't need to voerwinter, but I found her in early spring. This one was later in the year so maybe it needs the cold of autumn and winter outside.

My last one only had a maximum of three workers at a time that I saw, and then one chewed out of the mesh top and they all dissapeared.

i would put her in a big cage of dirt outside in a shady area

she should overwinter

u should have tubes or something extending from the cage so the ants can leave outside and carry food back home

 

[jreidsma]

Having it so the workers could leave the container would be cool.

Do you know how cold hardy they are? If I put her outside in a container over winter the soil will freeze.

What about putting her on the porch for a couple days (it is 60 degrees outside) and then put her in the fridge where it is above freezing? Leave her in there a couple months and then take her out. I know you can do that with plants for their dormancy

 

[agent A]

in the wild they would experience cold temps

 

[jreidsma]

in the wild they would experience cold temps

I know that

I meant more like in the wild they would be able to dig a bit farther and actually be in the ground. Were as if I put her outside the container may freeze.

 

[agent A]

I know that

I meant more like in the wild they would be able to dig a bit farther and actually be in the ground. Were as if I put her outside the container may freeze.

burry the container

 

[jreidsma]

lol, I could

 

[aNisip]

She probably isn't mated...females will a lot of times land with the male still attached and mating....she probably accidentally landed on your mom before she could actually fly and mate.... there really is no sure way to tell a female is mated or not w/o witnessing a connection ....and even if they do mate they sometimes just won't lay... (like Alex said)...

All the best,

Andrew

 

[jreidsma]

Thats what I am worried about, every time I see queens flying they have a male attached.

 

[aNisip]

Do you know what specie?

 

[jreidsma]

I think carpenter ant, its a bit bigger than the tiny ants but not near as big as som of the larger workers.

 

[agent A]

i find large carpenter queens in soft rotting logs

give her some rotting wood

 

[aNisip]

I don't know any ants that will refuse a drop of honey on the end of a toothpick...try that for food....and Alex, quick fact....carpenter ants dont eat wood like termites...they merely live in wood and carve smooth tunnels through it....they actually eat whatever they can get their mandibles on...they are scavengers.... (and termites don't actually digest the wood, they have a protozoa in their gut that consumes it and the termites get their nutrition from the left overs of the protozoa- another quick fact )

 

[jreidsma]

This is the best picture I could get:

 

[Crazy4mantis]

I want an ant queen but I'm too lazy to look for one. :lol: