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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 15:15:57 GMT 1
Hello there, From what I’ve been reading in a science study on the ants mating season in southern Spain, it should have started now, after the 1st rains in autumn, as the rain softens the hard ground to make the job of digging a new nest much easier, here is the link; www.myrmecologicalnews.org/cms/images/pdf/volume16/mn16_25-29_non-printable.pdfAny way 2 days ago (after the 1st rains) I noticed some new queens of the Crematogaster scutellaris genus, I’ve been looking and watching ever since the Messor Barbarus colony for queen flight activity but ive had nothing, I did see alot of winged ants come out ‘after alot of waiting’ they all came out together then waited what was around 1 minute and then went back inside and didn’t reappear again, anyways ive been visiting the nest 2 or 3 times a day, I wondering when are they going to just get on with it? I was out and about today and found a lasius niger queen, it was a wonderful find, she looked just like the ones in the photos with that beautiful honey coloured stripe on the bum, any way she still had her wings and she flew off into the sky, since then I been looking for more, I see the lasius niger ants walking about but I haven’t been able to find a single queen? Anyone have any idea what’s going on, I think it could be a conspiracy?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 18:06:40 GMT 1
Hey, I have just read on another forum that the Messor genus have started to fly in Spain. Keep you eyes pealed!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 20:32:07 GMT 1
That's good to hear, I been to the messor nest today but they still not flighing I saw some winged ones come out again and then they just went back inside, im wonderimg of they infact are the males as the don't have a very large bum also I noticed they don't have a redish head, I've captured a queen just awhile ago in a parking garage, she still has her wings On though but wasent near the nest, I'll post a pic when I get home and hopefully you and the team can help me identify it,
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 21:36:54 GMT 1
Sweet!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 22:40:38 GMT 1
this is the queen i found, she has a dint damage in the bottom, i would love to think shes a messor as she has is slightly brownish red but i want to find a messor so much that they all look like messor to me, lol i may post this pic as a queen identification thread, maybe i will get more responses? Attachments:
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 23:27:28 GMT 1
I am sure that is Messor. Probaly one of the most common, Messor Barbarus. Her gaster looks a little deflated or De-hydrated, mabye she is not mated.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2012 7:31:24 GMT 1
that would be great if she was a messor barbarus and it will also mean that the flying ants Ive seen around the messor nest must be males not queens like I 1st though, when i put her in the test tube with the water and cotton wool she went straight to it to drink so yes she must have been diying for a good drink, im going to go check on her now and if she still has her wings on then she cant have mated and ill have to let her go, or i could take one of the males from the nest i know and just get them to get on with it? what you recon?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2012 7:49:54 GMT 1
That is a Messor queen, not sure what species. Leave her a little while and see what happens, she may or may not lay eggs.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2012 9:57:32 GMT 1
That's cool, checked this morning to see and she still has her wings on so I'm a summing she hasn't been fertilized? I have another queen of a different species in a test tube for the last 2 days but she still hasn't layed any eggs, how long dose it normaly take?
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Post by Myrm on Oct 4, 2012 10:53:19 GMT 1
It can be as quick as 24 hours or sometimes a few days, weeks or even months before a fertilised queen will lay eggs. Normally they remove their wings almost immediately after being mated.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2012 11:42:12 GMT 1
Wow, this queen I've found then has defenety not mated, would it be a good idea to go and get a few males? I don't think I wil use her for my farm anyways as she has a dint in her bum and I Wang a perfect one, lol
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Post by Myrm on Oct 4, 2012 11:45:17 GMT 1
Wow, this queen I've found then has defenety not mated, would it be a good idea to go and get a few males? I don't think I wil use her for my farm anyways as she has a dint in her bum and I Wang a perfect one, lol The chances of her mating with those males would be vary slim.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2012 11:56:35 GMT 1
Why would that be then? The slim chance that is?
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Post by Myrm on Oct 4, 2012 12:00:33 GMT 1
Why would that be then? The slim chance that is? For ants to mate the conditions have to be right, hence why they have synchronised mating flights.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2012 13:04:18 GMT 1
Ah, well I took the queen back and released her back into the wild and and a walk around, but haven't seen any other queens, when i got back i saw the queen i had just released and she had doped a wing, so she only has one wing now, so i took her and put her back in the test tube? is this a sign then that she had mated, and also why has she waited so long to shed a wing?
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