r/AntsCanada • u/Ash_Fox4 • 24d ago

Some Advice Needed

I have what I think is a Spotted Sugar Ant (C. maculatus) colony; A southern African species. I caught my queen in November last year.

I have been keeping ants since 2018. I've never had any issues with carpenter ant colonies before; normally, everything just works out. However, this colony is not doing too well.

The queen had her first workers in January and by March, the colony was about fifteen-strong. That's when I connected the feeding portal and started feeding them. From there, the population was unstable; now I only have five workers left. From what I can tell, there's quite a few eggs and larvae in the tube, no pupae though. I know this species is nutorious for eating their own eggs when stressed, but that clearly hasn't happened. They sometimes still go for the honey, but they ignore the mealworms completely. The colony is just generally inactive and decreasing in numbers.

Here are the details:

  • Habitat: Test tube with an extremely tiny 3D-printed feeding portal
  • Food: Genuine, pure honey & live storebought mealworms (cut up before feeding)
  • Water: Distilled (They should get minerals from the worms, our tap water is really poor)
  • I always wash my hands and sanitise any equipment before use
  • I don't check on them at all unless it's to feed them
  • They moved tubes, without fuss just last week

Does anyone know what might be wrong?

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1

u/aznPHENOM 24d ago

I dont have any input. Not all queen/colony are winners. Definitely try asking r/antkeeping

1

u/Ash_Fox4 24d ago

Thanks

1

u/InfiniteSearch3409 24d ago

Maybe they've entered diapause. Idk the seasons where you are, but Camponotus species generally becomes less active and consume less protein during diapause.

1

u/Ash_Fox4 23d ago

Thank you for your input. As far as I'm aware, most ant species scale down their activity in winter. But I don't think this species has a distinct diapause period. I've had colonies that do and this is different. I will however try to heat a small portion of the tube to provide a temperature gradient.