Leaf Cutting Ant Forum

Okay I took the colony apart yesterday to try and establish if my two queen experiment was working. And.... only one queen! I think they have killed the other queen. So, and its only a single sample, a bit of a ways to go yet, I am thinking that the two queen notion needs work!

Just for interest, found this online. In my experience Acromyrmex can be combined easily and at many stages of development from queens only (they will cooperate) to large colonies. This may be a consequence of their less advanced status compared to Atta. However, now I come to think of this, in Ponerine ants, which are quite a primitive ant, queen interactions are generally down at gunpoint. They are not that tolerant. So I wonder why Acros are such wimps in the regicide department!

Acromyrmexbob wrote:Just for interest, found this online. In my experience Acromyrmex can be combined easily and at many stages of development from queens only (they will cooperate) to large colonies. This may be a consequence of their less advanced status compared to Atta. However, now I come to think of this, in Ponerine ants, which are quite a primitive ant, queen interactions are generally down at gunpoint. They are not that tolerant. So I wonder why Acros are such wimps in the regicide department!

Wimps or more civilized? lol. Capital punishment is not on.

Of course its evolution in two different lines, behaviours will not necessarily be mirrored. The obvious difference is that ponerine ants are carnivorous so more likely to settle disputes with their fists!