Recently, several of my new Solenopsis queen ants have laid eggs, including this one. This queen has fifteen eggs, and she has also eaten some honey that I provided to see if she liked it. She certainly liked it because her gaster is massive partially due to the food she ate. She may also be going physogastric, meaning she is producing lots of eggs, causing her gaster to dramatically balloon in size. If she is physogastric, then I will know for sure that she is fertile. Last year, none of my Solenopsis queens survived, even the one that had two nanitics. typically, queen ants need at least five or more nanitics to survive, and last year’s Solenopsis at best managed two nanitics. Hopefully, at least one of these new queens manages to survive and found a massive colony of ants.
