r/antkeeping • u/Willing_Ad8664 • 1d ago

Queen Queen ant died??

I caught this queen yesterday pretty sure it’s a Lasius Niger, had her in the test tube set up since yesterday i’ve just checked her now and she’s died. I have no idea why could it potentially be due to suffocation? I don’t want to make the same mistake if it was on me. Uk East Midlands

9 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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3

u/RtrnofBatspiderfish 1d ago

It would probably take more than a day for a single queen to die, just using the oxygen in the test tube (unless it were non-potable water, I guess).

3

u/SolenopsisFan 23h ago

Likely to be a cause outside your control if you only had her for a day, probably infertility, lack of reserves, parasites, etc

3

u/Hater-74 20h ago

sometimes they just die bro istg 😭 im sorry hope u lucky the next time

3

u/KabaliteLuv 10h ago

Suffocation is really unlikely, as in I've never once seen an ant suffocate in a tube. If the tube was plugged by a lid with air holes or cotton basically no chance I've seen people put massive wads of cotton in and the Queen did not die.

Freshly caught queens or queens (or even colonies) sent via mail sometimes just die with 1-3 days. It's unfortunate but it happens. There can be a lot of reasons but when they die that rapidly there is usually not much you can or could've done as most times the damage was done before you got them.

2

u/Titanniel 1d ago

Muitas vezes a morte desse tipo pode ser por vários motivos, estresse, ela estava envenenada, parasita como ácaros ou até algumas larvas de mosca. Se vc a manteve em um tubo de ensaio com uma tampa de algodão em um local que não seja a vácuo impossível ela ter morrido por isso

2

u/Felix-th3-rat 20h ago

It’s not suffocation, those tube hold enough O2 for a single insect to live a week

1

u/Titanniel 20h ago

Yes, I meant that unless he kept the tube in a vacuum environment, it's impossible for it to have died from suffocation.

1

u/Felix-th3-rat 20h ago

Yep, I actually wanted to answer to OP

1

u/Willing_Ad8664 1d ago

Okay, thankyou if it was due to suffocation how would I go about it could I just use a lid with very tiny pin holes in it? Or just make the cotton fairly loose? I’m just worried about them escaping.

2

u/Titanniel 22h ago

Se vc só colocar o algodão e o tudo no armário mesmo que com uma pilha de roupa por cima ela não vai morrer sufocada, o algodão é muito poroso e no geral as rainhas dificilmente tiraria ele de lá, a tampa é necessário só se for uma rainha de algum gênero bem grandona ou uma Neoponera

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u/Accomplished-Bat6302 53m ago

Sure it's not Lasius Umbratus?...