We've had some warm, humid weather over the last few weeks here in London. As it's coming up to the end of July, I've been keeping my eyes glued to the pavement looking for winged ants - or even better, big, wingless ants (As they will be winged ants that have mated and thus shed their wings).
These big winged ants, called elates, are new female queens produced by mature ant colonies each summer. One of the most common species in the UK is Lasius Niger (appropriately known as the 'Common Black Ant'). This species of ant is one of the hardiest and easiest to keep, and as an intrepid first-time ant-keeper such as myself, they were the perfect species.
I've always been fascinated by animals and insects, especially those that display eusocial behavior. My mother and I developed a zealous interest in bees and bee societal structures after reading 'A Sting in the Tale' and 'A Buzz in the Meadow' by British Biologist Dave Goulson last summer, and so I was already familiar with some tricks of the bug-society trade. I exchanged several emails with Professor Goulson on the topic, and eventually chose 'Neonics and the Dying Bees' as my Ethics and Sustainability topic for my second year.
Since then, I've been doing some research into the field of Myrmecology (the study of ants). After studying up a lot on formicarium and ant-keeping here in the UK, I was confident I could 3D print my own ant nest. Thus, I have collected many queens and, once their first workers emerge, plan on producing a series of CAD-CAM formicariums. I want to explore the best ways to incorporate the moisture retention, humidity, darkness, and chamber system that ants require to be kept in captivity. For this, I believe a modular system is best, as further assets can be added, such as outworlds and formicarium expansions, which are especially beneficial for species that set up satellite nests, such as L. Niger.
I hope to be able to watch these colonies develop, so that I can gain a better understanding on how ant society works in practice, not just in theory. I am also fascinated by the apparent 'hive mind' of members of Apocrita, such as ants, bees, and wasps. They were considered by many early philosophers to have perfect societal systems, and believed to hold the answers to the common problems that human societies face.
Queen ants are also some of the most long-lived insects - my L. Niger queens can be expected to live up to 30 years with the correct care and conditions. This has caused queen ants to be the centre of many biological research projects investigating senescence, metabolic slowing and metabolic regulation as a potential solution to aging and longevity concerns of our own species.
Here are my queens, in their founding test-tube setups. These are made with a well of water, stoppered by a thoroughly soaked cotton ball. The queen ants can suck the water out of these cotton balls and keep themselves hydrated for the months they will spend in the tube. Another cotton ball acts as a stopper to allow ventilation. This commonly-used ant keepers setup for queens allows the ants to feel as though they've burrowed into founding chambers underground, as the size, shape and moisture gradient mimics natural conditions, while still allowing the ant keeper to see them.
L. Niger is a fully claustral species, meaning that I won't have to feed these queens at all - they will sustain themselves by breaking down their now-useless wing muscles. That being said, I think I will attempt to give a few of them a tiny dot of honey in a week or two, to help them keep their energy levels up as they care for their first load of eggs.
Exciting times! I will post updates on their progress.
Here's a queen with her group of eggs. L. Niger's eggs have small, hook-like hairs on the outside, so they clump together easily and can be easily carried around in a group by the queen or workers.