Ashley had already lost her wings when I caught her two weeks ago, and seemed pretty weak, but she seems happy and healthy now. She's the only one hanging out at the dry end of the bottle. I hope she's not trying to escape. Maybe I should feed her?
I also caught Brittany two weeks ago, and she is almost as active now as she was then. She loves her wet cotton ball, and her wings are conforming around her, almost as though they're dissolving. Is that normal? So fascinating.
I caught Chelsea a week ago. She also likes her wet cotton ball, though it has a brown stain that definitely wasn't there when I gave it to her. I hope that's not mold. She has the same soft wing oddity that Brittany has. I guess it's normal. No eggs from her or the others, but she seems healthy.
Diane concerns me. She was moving around a week ago when I caught her, but she isn't now. Her wings aren't soft like Brittany and Chelsea, and she's curled up and isn't moving. Maybe she's hibernating because it's winter? I've never raised queens before so I'm not sure.
Anyway, that's my girls. I'll update this every week as they progress. I hope to move at least one of them into a formicarium next summer.
