Leaf Cutting Ant Forum

Hi all, American here. Been lurking since I caught a few Acromyrmex versicolor queens a few weeks ago. Had an emergency mold situation so I moved two queens in together. It seems like they didn't know each other existed until tonight. They both have their own fungus but one has suddenly started piling substrate into the other queen's tube. Are they cooperating and she's being a helpful neighbor? Or is she trying to trap the other queen in a fungus-substrate chamber of death? Has anyone seen this before?

Nevermind, answered my own question. It was sabotageI

Went to check a few moments later and the tube was completely plugged with substrate. The other queen was out wandering and when they met, the two started tussling. I was able to break them up and quickly get the two in separate colonies. I guess not all Acromyrmex queens are cooperative. It's been an interesting time so far raising my first Acro queens!

Turder, really interesting news about the Acros you have. I suspect the behaviour of the Acro queen was, as you said, non cooperative. I think this is not necessarily a sign that this species are not cooperative, rather that in the circumstances of your setup the conditions are not right for this cooperative behaviour. I also think that cooperation between queens needs to start when they are initially excavating the burrow. At the stage you are at there is something for both queens to defend so the cooperative behaviour is likely to be replaced now with aggression and viewing their neighbour as a threat. Please keep posting updates and let us follow this story, very interesting project!

Acromyrmexbob wrote:Turder, really interesting news about the Acros you have. I suspect the behaviour of the Acro queen was, as you said, non cooperative. I think this is not necessarily a sign that this species are not cooperative, rather that in the circumstances of your setup the conditions are not right for this cooperative behaviour. I also think that cooperation between queens needs to start when they are initially excavating the burrow. At the stage you are at there is something for both queens to defend so the cooperative behaviour is likely to be replaced now with aggression and viewing their neighbour as a threat. Please keep posting updates and let us follow this story, very interesting project!

I agree, I've seen the same type of behavior with other cooperative queens such as Pogonomyrmex and Myrmecocystus. On more than one occasion I've put two Myrmecocystus queens together a few days after their flight to find one in pieces.

Awesome post - I LOVE versicolor, one of my favourite leafcutters