Camponotus lianghuang, they are making a comeback

Last time I posted about this species, I had just received my second colony with 1 Queen and around 60 workers. The test tube was packed with workers and some brood as well.

Camponotus lianghuang colony

This was back in January 2022.

Immediately after receiving them, I introduced them to their new outworld for some feeding, which they took without any problems.

I could see the colony was developing well throughout the month of January. I don’t know what took me to do the next dumbest thing ever….

I decided to move them to an outworld with soil to see how they would react to it…. major mistake. Somehow the soil was contaminated with predatory mite eggs or adult mites and I didn’t see them.

Camponotus lianghuang colony - last photo before the transfer

I don’t have any photo record between end of January and the finding of the mites… But here is the first photo when I found my beautiful colony riddled with mites.

The only reason why I found them was simply because I moved them back to the original outworld, far from knowing that they had mites everywhere. Because the previous outworld had soil, my eyes couldn’t pick up the mites against the soil.

But once I took this photo I could spot them immediately.

Camponotus lianghuang workers packed with mites

After checking carefully, I also found one mite on the Queen, but that was it. I took some time to think about the issue and how to approach it. Normally, with predatory mites I don’t play around, its straight to the freezer with the whole colony… but I like this species so much, I decided to quarantine them while I thought about it.

Finally I decided to remove all the workers and leave the Queen alone with the brood. The brood was unscathed. There wasn’t a single mite attached to any pupae, larvae or egg.

During the separation I did my best to take all the brood without damaging them, in particular the pupae.

Camponotus lianghuang Queen with her brood

The Queen was placed into a new test tube with all her brood and her mite still attached to her.

I don’t know what happened… but the next day the mite was gone. I can’t find it. I hope this is the end of them.

And surprise! Only 4 days after the transfer, one worker eclosed!

Camponotus lianghuang Queen with one worker

I played close attention to the colony everyday since, to see how they are developing and to try to spot the return of any mite.

I noticed that the Queen would spend a lot of time pinching the pupae’s external casing… I honestly think she is enticing the workers to wake up early.

The single worker, after hardening immediately went into work, helping to organize the brood and move them around. I have also seen it pinching the pupae, somehow validating my theory.

And now the photo update with today’s photo, 5 days after the first worker eclosed.

Camponotus lianghuang Queen with three worker

I am so happy!!

A few hours after taking this photo, I decided to check on the quarantined workers, which were left outside the house, on the balcony.

They had to endure two cold days of 14/15C with wind and rain and few more days totally exposed to the strong spring sun. I was curious to see if there were mites still attached.

Quarantined workers

Apparently there were no more mites on some of them, so I took it slowly and added few workers back into the colony.

Camponotus lianghuang colony after the mite invasion

I didn’t add all the quarantined workers, as I ended up finding some with mites still attached. I didn’t want to push my luck! I reckon this was good enough number for a speedy recovery!

Although the colony lost most of its working force, because of the advance of the pupae development and the return of some workers, the colony should be able to pick up quickly. The next couple of weeks are going to be critical still.

I hope with as more workers come out, the larvae can be fed properly and the Queen can resume laying eggs.

It is a pity because, this year is pretty much lost. I have 6 or 7 months to try to build this colony back up to the previous number before they start to slow down again for winter.

Let’s see how it goes. Overall I am happy, I still retain my colony, and its apparently making a comeback!

Hope you have enjoyed this log.

Thank you for the time.

Cheers!