Solenopsis geminata - Fungal Infection!! HALP!

    Hello everyone! I am knew here so apologies if this isn't the best place to ask. Unfortunately I am in a bit of a situation where it appears my Solenopsis geminata are suffering from what appears to be a fungus infestion (at least so I have been told by people who have seen it before) it is called thelohania solenopsae. Apparently / supposedly. I have been told to give them lots of honey and a few other things to help try and fend off the infection ;( but I was hoping that maybe, just maybe you peeps would have some next level knowledge / advice / experience to help explain or tackle this situation! <3 https://gyazo.com/b573a27b4138b2fea43e0c460795df09

    Hello Antscapades,


    sorry to hear about your problem. However, I don't think I can see a fungal infection. The picture just shows a callow worker, and you can see some fat bodies shining through. I'm not an expert, but I wouldn't be so sure whether this actually is a fungal infection.
    I don't know where you are from, but I assume you're from North America?
    According to W. Tschinkel ('The Fire Ants', 2015), fungal infections are quite common among fire ants, reaching e.g. in polygynous S. invicta populations up to 23% of all colonies. The fungal infection does not seem to have negative impact on worker life span, but it probably affects queen fertility and thus, over time, leads to a decline in worker population. I found no information about succeeded treatments, however you could try different fungicides and mix them in the sugar water (in low concentration!), and just see how it developes.


    Anyway, probably the best thing to do is simply to wait and see whether the colony is actually negatively impacted (which would hint towards a fungal infection), before doing any experiments.
    Make sure no infected individuals (especially brood) escapes outside!


    Also: The mentioned fungus T. solenopsae is as far as I know not recorded for S. geminata. But there might be similar fungi species infecting them. There is however some research about the fungus Burunella dimorpha, which is quite lethal, but it only affects larvae and pupae (and is thus not the one on the picture).


    All the best,
    Phil

    Also if you're sure it's fungus I'd recommend to isolate batches of specimen and test how they respond to treatments and concentrations before applying it to the whole colony. For example the mentioned fungicide.


    Furthermore I'd say it could be wise to do a parameter check nonetheless - fungus like warm, moist, dark and sour conditions.
    Aside from making sure the external parameters are in order you could try to feed them a more balanced diet so that alkaline outweighs acidic. slightly
    Additionally you could check the general menu you provide - does it contain enough carbohydrates, protein and lipids? Is it in mostly liquid form? I believe solids are usually processed by larvae and from what I found it's only the last stage of Solenopsis geminata larvae that can process solids.

    *will try not to be too relieved!!!* ahh wonderful! Thanks Phil, although I will monitor the situation closely. That was actually what I had originally labelled it as in my video

    but someone messaged me saying that it was that fungus or something closely related and that they had lost colonies to the same thing :/ so I will try to continue being proactive and looking at this situation as a learning experience! :ABC: For Science! and all that :D:thanks:<3 and Yea dottedfish I was thinking the same. Wasn't sure how I would've done it though. Mine are just so stubborn X/

    this video kinda shows it, I'll try and find a pic when I have spare time! :D It's an antscanada omni nest and an outworld + another nest that is the one you can see clearly in the vid :) oh and a random bottle for them to run around in... long story short - had a load of escapees once, bottle was the closest thing I had to put them in + a spare port that needed something attaching to it... :P

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