I am running an experiment where I must remove a brood from an ant colony and store them separately. I currently have no idea how long the brood will survive while outside the colony environment and it is vital that the brood do not die. The species I am studying are Lasius niger and Lasius flavus. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Dear Thomas,
We have Lasius colonies in the lab here, but I work with fire ants. By brood, you must mind that you refer to any immature stage, which can be an egg, 1st-, 2nd-, or 3rd-instar larva, a prepupa, or a pupa. Each one of these stages is different in terms of demands from the colony. As a general rule, outside the colony, any of those will easily dehydrate, thus you must store them in a humid container without drowning. Also note that young larvae may eat eggs, and bigger larvae may eat smaller larvae. Some instars are more active and will eat more than others, thus younger larvae will quickly die (possibly hours) without nursing workers. Some species need assistance during moults, I do not know about Lasius, so 1st and 2nd-instar larvae could die within 1 or two days. Last instar larvae should last longer, such as 4 days, and may start metamorphosis without being further fed. Prepupae are merely last-instar larvae with a developing pupa inside, thus they tend to be more whitish (no gut) and immobile, and more elongate with a small constriction in the middle of body, and will eject a black meconium. I think in Lasius these and pupae are cocoons. I would expect any mature brood inside cocoons to survive for over 10 days outside the colony, and complete metamorphosis. Some species may need assistance to exit the cocoon, thus it is possible that many pharate adults will die when leaving the cocoon. Hope this general overview helps your planing.
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