Posted by Gordon C. Snelling on July 14, 2002 at 12:14:19:
In Reply to: Re: I found a large egg could it be a queen? posted by Ben on July 14, 2002 at 11:57:46:
If you actually found an egg, you probably would be unable to really tell much difference in egg size. However if what you found was really a pupae, then there is often a very distinct difference in size depending on which caste it is. Male and Queen pupae are larger than those for workers with new queens being the largest. Unless you were collecting a species which routinely enslaves other ants it is very unlikely that any captured pupae would still be around as they would have been eaten shortly after capture. Most likely your guess was correct and you found a queen pupae. I have found the best thing for ants is other insects, I usually feed mine cut up crickets or meal worms. Also I occasionally give them a small bowl of honey water. For regular watering they have access to small half filled test tubes which are plugged with cotton pushed into the water level. I would avoid things like meats etc. as they can spoil very quickly if you do pay attention to them. No soil. Try going to the following form for further information, much more active than here.
