Question:
Sorry I could not find the question box, but me and my cousin were digging through a ant hole and we found ant eggs. What do they need to grow? Sunlight, coldness, what kind of environment can they live in?
Thanks!
Alexis
Dear Alexis,
The first question I have for you is: did you collect ant eggs or ant pupae? The second question is: did you collect worker ants too?
Ant eggs are tiny (much smaller than worker ants), white, shiny and oval.
You can see a pile of ant eggs in this photograph in the middle and a little to the left.
Ant pupae are as large or even larger than worker ants and often have a beige silken sac around them.
They also have a black dot at the end.
If you have eggs, then you will really need worker ants to take care of them. The larvae that hatch from the eggs will need workers to feed them, clean them etc. The larvae are helpless. I have a post about ant larvae, if you’d like to learn more. And just so you know, there is a chance the workers will eat the eggs.
If you have pupae, they could become worker ants. Again, they will do better if there are some worker ants to take care of them. Without a queen, they will not live as long as they would in nature.
In their nest under the ground, the ants normally grow up in dark, moist and relatively moderate temperatures.
I am glad you are interested in ants. Let me know whether you have eggs or pupae.
(Note: As I mentioned previously, I have been the “Consult-Ant” on the Leaping from the Box website. I answer questions about ants and ant farms. From now on I will post the answers here, and when Karen has time she will also post the answers on her site.)