Back in May, I found this Tapinoma sessile queen in my yard. A few days after she was placed into a test tube, she started to lay her first eggs. Usually, single queens of this species fail to make it to pupae, with some failing to achieve larvae. Therefore, it was much to my surprise when these eggs developed into larvae. It was even better when the larvae transformed into pupae. Finally, for once, the first Tapinoma nanitics in two years arrived. Today, this queen has seven nanitics, two more than Onetenna’s maximum of five nanitics. What’s more, there are more worker ants on their way, given that there is a brood pile consisting of several larvae.
