[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":1848},["ShallowReactive",2],{"species-compare-all-en":3},{"species":4,"pairs":1794},[5,72,121,162,202,245,282,318,354,392,426,458,491,522,552,586,617,650,686,721,760,793,826,861,896,932,966,1000,1033,1066,1103,1140,1180,1213,1247,1281,1313,1347,1380,1415,1449,1483,1519,1553,1589,1624,1655,1692,1725,1761],{"id":6,"authority":7,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":9,"diet":11,"difficulty":14,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":20,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":22,"hibernationMonths":15,"hibernationTemperature":15,"humidity":23,"image":26,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":29,"maxWorkers":30,"nests":31,"nuptialFlightMonths":34,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":36,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":39,"regions":41,"scientificName":44,"stem":45,"subfamily":46,"temperature":47,"tribe":50,"workerSize":51,"__hash__":54,"slug":55,"genus":56,"nickname":57,"aliases":58,"tagline":59,"identification":60,"notes":61},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Facromyrmex-octospinosus.yml","(Reich, 1793)","monogyne",[10],"bite",[12,13],"leaves","sugar",7,null,"high","compiled","yml",false,"semiClaustral","fast","none",[24,25],80,95,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Facromyrmex-octospinosus\u002Facromyrmex-octospinosus.jpg",800,1200,12,20000,[32,33],"acrylic","naturalistic",[35,14],5,[37],"rain","polymorphic",[29,40],14,[42,43],"northAmerica","southAmerica","Acromyrmex octospinosus","species\u002Facromyrmex-octospinosus","Myrmicinae",[48,49],23,27,"Attini",[52,53],2,9,"1lr_0hkf-Ey1j4ORpgf5Xy9WB5gV8rOxNs6ky5cL5qo","acromyrmex-octospinosus","Acromyrmex","",[],"A spiny, rough-skinned leafcutter that farms fungus on roses and bramble and cuts flowers and fruit as eagerly as leaves.","Orange-brown to dark brown workers of several sizes, with a rough, dull body and spines along the back of the thorax, unlike the smoother, shinier Atta. Stock sold under the old name echinatior counts as the same species since a 2025 revision, and workers vary a lot in size, color and spines between populations.",[62,65,68,70],{"kind":63,"text":64},"tip","Keep the fungus under a small hood and let the colony set its own humidity. When the air gets too dry the workers may carry the garden to the wettest spot they can find: after one keeper's hygrometer silently failed, they moved most of the fungus under damp rose leaves in the feeding area. Check the hygrometer against a second one, and warm the air around the setup rather than the garden itself.",{"kind":66,"text":67},"watchOut","A single sprayed flower can wreck a small colony. After a rose picked on a trip, workers stood motionless or drowned in the sugar water, nearly half of the colony died and the fungus shrank. Only use plants you know are untreated.",{"kind":63,"text":69},"Rose petals and flowers, bramble and privet are the usual staples, and flowers are cut as eagerly as leaves. Winter is the weak point: a colony fed mostly almond flakes saw its fungus shrink by almost half, so plan fresh plants for the cold months, for example potted roses or leaves frozen in the fall, and treat dried petals and oat flakes as a stopgap.",{"kind":66,"text":71},"Start with a healthy colony. Shipped fungus often arrives crumbled, and one keeper bought a colony whose queen turned out to be unmated, so no brood ever appeared. Ask the seller for a recent photo showing brood, and order a spare piece of fungus as a backup.",{"id":73,"authority":74,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":75,"diet":77,"difficulty":79,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":81,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":82,"hibernationMonths":83,"hibernationTemperature":84,"humidity":86,"image":89,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":90,"nests":91,"nuptialFlightMonths":15,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":94,"regions":97,"scientificName":100,"stem":101,"subfamily":46,"temperature":102,"tribe":104,"workerSize":105,"__hash__":106,"slug":107,"genus":108,"nickname":57,"aliases":109,"tagline":110,"identification":111,"notes":112},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Faphaenogaster-senilis.yml","Mayr, 1853",[10,76],"sting",[78,13],"insects",3,"medium","fission","recommended",[29,52],[29,85],16,[87,88],50,65,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Faphaenogaster-senilis\u002Faphaenogaster-senilis.jpg",3000,[92,33,32],"ytong","monomorphic",[95,96],8,10,[98,99],"europe","northAfrica","Aphaenogaster senilis","species\u002Faphaenogaster-senilis",[103,49],21,"Stenammini",[35,14],"evpOPoZ4mmfRv3wKMAk2b0EdORWjcCBohJQT_JF_8dA","aphaenogaster-senilis","Aphaenogaster",[],"A long-legged, restless hunter that spreads by splitting its colony instead of flying, and carries liquid food home on bits of debris.","Slim, long-legged workers of a single size, matte black with fine whitish hairs and a pair of short spines on the back of the thorax. The similar Aphaenogaster gemella has almost no spines, and the queens of this species have only short stubs for wings.",[113,115,117,119],{"kind":66,"text":114},"There is no nuptial flight and the queens do not found colonies alone, so the species is sold as a fragment with a queen, workers and brood. When you move it, empty the tube into the foraging area instead of connecting it to the new nest, because the workers can attack each other during a move.",{"kind":63,"text":116},"Offer liquid food with a few grains of sand or tiny sponge pieces beside it. The workers cannot pass liquid mouth to mouth, so they soak these bits and carry them to the queen and the brood, and one keeper saw plain dishes buried under moss and substrate instead.",{"kind":63,"text":118},"This is a hunter with a big appetite for protein, so feed small insects often, and boiled egg or tuna are accepted too. The workers lay the larvae right on the prey so they feed themselves, so remove leftovers from the nest before they mold.",{"kind":63,"text":120},"Do not panic if the colony suddenly moves its brood to a new corner or tube, because wild colonies change nest all the time. Still check first for mold or a nest that has dried out, since one keeper's queen moved her eggs out of a tube that had grown mold.",{"id":122,"authority":123,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":124,"diet":125,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":127,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":82,"hibernationMonths":130,"hibernationTemperature":132,"humidity":133,"image":134,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":135,"nests":136,"nuptialFlightMonths":138,"nuptialFlightTime":139,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":140,"regions":141,"scientificName":142,"stem":143,"subfamily":46,"temperature":144,"tribe":104,"workerSize":147,"__hash__":148,"slug":149,"genus":108,"nickname":57,"aliases":150,"tagline":151,"identification":152,"notes":153},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Faphaenogaster-subterranea.yml","(Latreille, 1798)",[10,76],[78,13],4,"low","claustral","moderate",[131,52],11,[95,29],[87,88],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Faphaenogaster-subterranea\u002Faphaenogaster-subterranea.jpg",2000,[92,33,137],"sandwich",[14,53],"evening",[14,95],[98],"Aphaenogaster subterranea","species\u002Faphaenogaster-subterranea",[145,146],20,26,[79,35],"1soOlR0Kgzof-rUfLCzAXE-DhcMmPYvrQEvabKGePZ8","aphaenogaster-subterranea",[],"A slender, secretive forest ant that nests under stones, hunts quietly in the leaf litter and carries sweet liquids home on soaked grains of soil.","Slim, shiny, reddish-brown workers with long yellowish legs and antennae, a pair of spines on the thorax and a waist with a long stalk, like a slimmer Myrmica. The very similar Aphaenogaster ichnusa, found in the same southern European regions, has shorter, stubbier spines.",[154,156,158,160],{"kind":63,"text":155},"Be patient with a young colony: it starts slowly, and keepers report only a handful of workers after the first months, then faster growth once the colony has settled in.",{"kind":63,"text":157},"The workers carry everything they find straight into the nest and cannot pass liquids mouth to mouth. Cut food into small pieces so nothing big rots inside, and put a pinch of clean sand in the nest or beside the sugar water, because they carry liquids on soaked grains.",{"kind":66,"text":159},"Do not let the whole nest dry out or swing between extremes. This is a species of damp, shady forests, and the German ant database notes that the colony develops more slowly when it is kept too dry, so keep a damp zone for the brood.",{"kind":63,"text":161},"Give the shy foragers cover, such as leaf litter or bark on the floor of the outworld. They are mostly active at dusk and at night, and in the wild they hunt among dead leaves, so do not expect much activity under bright light.",{"id":163,"authority":164,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":165,"diet":166,"difficulty":14,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":167,"guide":15,"hibernation":22,"hibernationMonths":15,"hibernationTemperature":15,"humidity":168,"image":170,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":171,"maxWorkers":15,"nests":172,"nuptialFlightMonths":173,"nuptialFlightTime":174,"nuptialFlightTriggers":175,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":176,"regions":179,"scientificName":180,"stem":181,"subfamily":46,"temperature":182,"tribe":50,"workerSize":183,"__hash__":184,"slug":185,"genus":186,"nickname":187,"aliases":188,"tagline":191,"identification":192,"notes":193},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fatta-cephalotes.yml","(Linnaeus, 1758)",[10],[12,13],"veryFast",[169,25],85,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fatta-cephalotes\u002Fatta-cephalotes.jpg",18,[32,33],[126,14],"night",[37],[177,178],22,30,[42,43],"Atta cephalotes","species\u002Fatta-cephalotes",[48,49],[52,29],"35_2s4yrqZeF1tsWvwnfPiUOBh_8Q934HoISuADdTeE","atta-cephalotes","Atta","Hairy-headed leafcutter ant",[189,190],"Troublesome umbrella ant","Bachac","The classic leafcutter: shiny red-orange workers of every size carry cut leaf pieces home to feed a living fungus garden.","Red-orange workers of every size, with a smooth, shiny patch on the side of the thorax and huge-headed majors that wear a tuft of reddish woolly hair on the face; the similar Atta colombica is maroon, completely matte and has no woolly hair on its majors. Stock sold as cephalotes, including dark or two-colored forms, is not always confirmed, so a hobby colony can differ from this description.",[194,196,198,200],{"kind":66,"text":195},"Heat is a bigger danger than a cool room, and the room thermometer is misleading. One keeper saw the garden shrink week after week and the brood vanish after a heat wave in the room, and the queen of that long-kept colony was later found dead; other keepers report the garden shrinking whenever it gets too warm. Put a probe thermometer inside the fungus chamber, keep heaters from touching the garden and plan for summer cooling.",{"kind":63,"text":197},"Give the fungus air movement, not only holes in the lid. The garden gives off CO2, which sinks, and in one keeper's tank with a single vent at the top the fungus was torn down until more ventilation was added, and experienced keepers advise vents high and low. A small hood over the garden lets the ants build their own humid microclimate; keep liquid water off the fungus and go easy on watery foods such as lettuce.",{"kind":66,"text":199},"Only cut leaves from places you know are untreated. Sprayed foliage can wipe out a colony, one keeper apparently lost several young queens soon after feeding leaves cut at a forest edge next to a farm field, and sumac is toxic to the fungus. Bramble, rose-family plants, raspberry and beech are the usual staples, so plan the winter supply early and keep the daily ration steady: the queen lays in proportion to the amount of fungus, so a steady ration keeps the colony from outgrowing its space.",{"kind":66,"text":201},"The workers plug any opening you cut in a cover with grains of substrate within hours, and bigger colonies like to break out. Use a rigid frame and a wide, slippery barrier around every tank and tube run, and open covers slowly.",{"id":203,"authority":204,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":205,"diet":207,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":82,"hibernationMonths":208,"hibernationTemperature":209,"humidity":210,"image":213,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":85,"maxWorkers":214,"nests":215,"nuptialFlightMonths":216,"nuptialFlightTime":174,"nuptialFlightTriggers":218,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":221,"regions":222,"scientificName":223,"stem":224,"subfamily":225,"temperature":226,"tribe":228,"workerSize":229,"__hash__":230,"slug":231,"genus":232,"nickname":57,"aliases":233,"tagline":234,"identification":235,"notes":236},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-barbaricus.yml","Emery, 1905",[10,206],"acid",[13,78],[131,52],[29,171],[211,212],40,60,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-barbaricus\u002Fcamponotus-barbaricus.jpg",10000,[92,32,33],[217,95],6,[219,220],"heat","calm",[85,171],[98,99],"Camponotus barbaricus","species\u002Fcamponotus-barbaricus","Formicinae",[227,178],25,"Camponotini",[217,29],"k6Np1zmCJBbsGsFZvCNEp20ce3kd1EoUYT42dZWBzMo","camponotus-barbaricus","Camponotus",[],"A shy, mostly nocturnal giant of the western Mediterranean that starts slowly, then grows into a huge colony once it has real warmth.","Glossy black workers in many sizes, with a black head and gaster and a thorax that runs from black to dark red or orange between individuals and colonies, so shipments from different places can look quite different. Compared with Camponotus cruentatus the body is shinier and the gaster has no orange band, and since the name also covers regional forms such as the subspecies xanthomelas, the exact identity of shop colonies is rarely certain.",[237,239,241,243],{"kind":63,"text":238},"Heat only one side of the nest. One colony stayed tiny for years at room temperature and took off after a heat mat was added, and since eggs, young larvae and pupae choose different spots, a warm end with a cooler corner works best.",{"kind":66,"text":240},"Do not rely on smooth glass or a thin coating, because the workers climb vertical glass, walk upside down and in one journal walked straight over a PTFE spray. Keep lids tight with no gaps, and feed in an outworld rather than inside the test tube, where some workers rush out and get lost when it is opened.",{"kind":63,"text":242},"Offer thin liquids. The workers ignore thick honey or syrup when something runnier is available, so dilute honey or maple syrup well, and expect them to lick the juices of fresh insects and soft cat food and leave the solid parts for the trash pile.",{"kind":63,"text":244},"Let the colony move on its own. Keepers report that a forced move stalls development, because the workers move when they outgrow the nest or when conditions turn bad. Attach the new nest to the old one and be patient, since a move can take days.",{"id":246,"authority":247,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":248,"diet":249,"difficulty":35,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":251,"hibernationTemperature":252,"humidity":254,"image":255,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":253,"maxWorkers":90,"nests":256,"nuptialFlightMonths":257,"nuptialFlightTime":174,"nuptialFlightTriggers":258,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":259,"regions":260,"scientificName":261,"stem":262,"subfamily":225,"temperature":263,"tribe":228,"workerSize":264,"__hash__":265,"slug":266,"genus":232,"nickname":267,"aliases":268,"tagline":271,"identification":272,"notes":273},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-cruentatus.yml","(Latreille, 1802)",[10,206],[13,78],"required",[131,52],[96,253],15,[211,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-cruentatus\u002Fcamponotus-cruentatus.jpg",[92,32,33],[217,14],[219,220],[253,171],[98,99],"Camponotus cruentatus","species\u002Fcamponotus-cruentatus",[227,178],[217,96],"qc03fyQSDU8YJ3wE8gL1G9239V8mraZeHuoWYHmBe-A","camponotus-cruentatus","Blood-spotted sugar ant",[269,270],"Blood-stained carpenter ant","Blood-red carpenter ant","A matte-black Mediterranean giant with a rust-red band across its gaster, shy while small and fiercely territorial once the colony grows.","Matte, velvety black workers of many sizes with a rust-orange to brick-red band across the base of the gaster and reddish legs, and in the larger workers a red tint at the rear of the thorax. The similar Camponotus barbaricus is glossy rather than matte and has no orange band on its black gaster.",[274,276,278,280],{"kind":63,"text":275},"Offer a warm end and a cooler end, for example with a heat mat along one side of the nest. The colony moves its brood into the warmth, and several keepers saw development stall in a nest that stayed cool.",{"kind":66,"text":277},"Keep the arena dry and give the nest one damp chamber. Keepers lost workers and grew mold in nests that were watered too often, yet one keeper blamed an almost dry nest for a queen that laid very few eggs, and moistening it again helped.",{"kind":66,"text":279},"Rest them cool, not cold. A cold shed only a few degrees above freezing wiped out most of the workers of one colony, while colonies kept in a cool cellar or an unheated room came through with few or no losses.",{"kind":63,"text":281},"Young colonies can be picky about protein, and several keepers saw insects ignored for weeks. Try spiders, houseflies, small roaches and soft cat food, and feed from a foraging box instead of inside the test tube, where the defensive workers rush out.",{"id":283,"authority":284,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":285,"diet":286,"difficulty":35,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":287,"hibernationTemperature":288,"humidity":289,"image":290,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":53,"maxWorkers":291,"nests":292,"nuptialFlightMonths":294,"nuptialFlightTime":295,"nuptialFlightTriggers":296,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":297,"regions":298,"scientificName":300,"stem":301,"subfamily":225,"temperature":302,"tribe":228,"workerSize":303,"__hash__":304,"slug":305,"genus":232,"nickname":57,"aliases":306,"tagline":307,"identification":308,"notes":309},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-fallax.yml","(Nylander, 1856)",[10,206],[13,78],[131,79],[35,96],[211,87],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-fallax\u002Fcamponotus-fallax.jpg",300,[293,92,33],"wooden",[126,217],"afternoon",[219],[95,131],[98,99,299],"middleEast","Camponotus fallax","species\u002Fcamponotus-fallax",[103,49],[126,95],"rNHsiJ6xpkj8bgKJwJI8bMn2eb3k6rTfQqr8n8kAIVM","camponotus-fallax",[],"A shy, slender tree dweller that freezes when startled, nests in dead branches and keeps its colony small.","Slender dark ants with sparse hairs, paler legs and pale edges on the gaster segments, usually black but sometimes with a reddish pronotum or thorax, mostly in the south, plus a few broad-headed majors, that freeze or sprint away when disturbed. Keepers mix them up with Camponotus piceus, C. lateralis and the rare C. tergestinus, so a microscope check is needed to be sure, and the notch in the front edge of the clypeus is the quickest clue.",[310,312,314,316],{"kind":63,"text":311},"Copy the dead wood a founding queen would choose: a cardboard or wood mat in the test tube or a small wooden chamber, darkness and quiet. Offer a drop of honey in the first days, with a small soft insect if you like, since the queens take the honey far more eagerly, then take everything out after a day and leave her alone, because this queen is nervous and slow to start.",{"kind":66,"text":313},"Small workers drown easily. One Italian colony died when its workers dug into the cotton of the water tank while the keeper was away, and in the same diary thread another keeper reported that carpenter ant workers kept drowning in sugary liquid despite rescue twigs, so offer honey in small drops and keep any cotton plug of a water tank out of their reach.",{"kind":63,"text":315},"Plan for a tiny, slow colony. Well-kept colonies stayed at a handful of workers after their first summer and reached a few dozen in the second year, and the workers mostly forage at dusk and at night, so look in the evening.",{"kind":66,"text":317},"Mind the damp in winter. These tree dwellers take real cold: one colony in an insulated box on a balcony came through freezing nights and cold spells without losses. An Italian keeper lost all his workers in one winter rest to what he believed was a humidity problem, and another felt a closed box in a cellar was too warm and too damp.",{"id":319,"authority":320,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":321,"diet":322,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":82,"hibernationMonths":323,"hibernationTemperature":324,"humidity":325,"image":327,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":29,"maxWorkers":135,"nests":328,"nuptialFlightMonths":329,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":330,"regions":331,"scientificName":333,"stem":334,"subfamily":225,"temperature":335,"tribe":228,"workerSize":338,"__hash__":339,"slug":340,"genus":232,"nickname":341,"aliases":342,"tagline":343,"identification":344,"notes":345},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-fedtschenkoi.yml","Mayr, 1877",[10,206],[13,78],[29,52],[253,171],[87,326],70,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-fedtschenkoi\u002Fcamponotus-fedtschenkoi.jpg",[92,32,33],[126,35],[29,40],[332,299],"asia","Camponotus fedtschenkoi","species\u002Fcamponotus-fedtschenkoi",[336,337],24,28,[126,53],"PJecGGN4QgmboNDaOmX-DmKCQvZse5x6TQDJz7BYYNk","camponotus-fedtschenkoi","Yellow carpenter ant",[],"A pale golden carpenter ant from the dry steppes of Central Asia that digs its nest in the ground and comes out at night.","Workers are pale yellow to golden, the larger ones with a dark, often black head, and queens usually have a dark head and thorax with a yellow gaster. The similar Camponotus turkestanus is more uniformly yellow, but colors vary and shops have often mixed up the two names, so a sure identification needs an expert.",[346,348,350,352],{"kind":66,"text":347},"Never heat the whole nest. In one keeper's journal a heat mat under a young colony was followed by a large die-off that the keeper blamed on overheating or a sudden change, so warm only one side and let the ants choose their spot.",{"kind":63,"text":349},"Give the nest a damp corner and leave the rest dry. These are dry-soil ants, and after one keeper overwatered the nest the workers panicked and started hauling sand around.",{"kind":66,"text":351},"Start in a small nest and add space only as the colony fills it. A care guide warns that oversized chambers can make the workers leave the queen, and a keeper admitted giving a young colony far too much room.",{"kind":63,"text":353},"Expect the queen to stop laying around midwinter. Some keepers rest the colony cool and others just switch off the heating, but in both cases keep a little sugar water and drinking water on offer, feed less protein and keep a little moisture in the nest until the eggs return.",{"id":355,"authority":164,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":356,"diet":357,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":358,"hibernationTemperature":359,"humidity":360,"image":361,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":362,"maxWorkers":363,"nests":364,"nuptialFlightMonths":365,"nuptialFlightTime":139,"nuptialFlightTriggers":366,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":368,"regions":370,"scientificName":371,"stem":372,"subfamily":225,"temperature":373,"tribe":228,"workerSize":374,"__hash__":375,"slug":376,"genus":232,"nickname":377,"aliases":378,"tagline":381,"identification":382,"notes":383},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-herculeanus.yml",[10,206],[13,78],[96,79],[35,95],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-herculeanus\u002Fcamponotus-herculeanus.jpg",13,5000,[92,293,33],[35,217],[219,367],"humidity",[40,369],17,[98,332,42],"Camponotus herculeanus","species\u002Fcamponotus-herculeanus",[171,227],[217,131],"wsH5LeIrKAdSnVjQXLzevTzCO4DIMfkETGNdPwmfVCE","camponotus-herculeanus","Hercules ant",[379,380],"Black carpenter ant","Hercules carpenter ant","A cold-hardy black giant of northern conifer forests that carves its nest into old stumps and standing trees.","Large workers with a black head and gaster and a dull dark red to reddish-black thorax and legs. Compared with Camponotus ligniperda they look stockier and duller, with little or no red on the gaster, and they favor colder, higher and shadier woods, but the two are hard to tell apart by eye with certainty.",[384,386,388,390],{"kind":63,"text":385},"Keep the nest on the cool side and add only a small warm spot, such as a heat cable under one end. The colony moves its brood to the warmth by itself, and constant heat is not needed for this northern species.",{"kind":66,"text":387},"Wooden nests dry out easily. One keeper lost a whole season when colonies in dry wooden nests stagnated and ate their brood, so give every wooden nest a damp chamber or a water supply.",{"kind":63,"text":389},"Wrap the test tube and avoid casting shadows over it, because some founding queens react sharply to changes in light and to vibrations. Do not panic if the queen briefly walks out to drink sugar water, as keepers have seen founding queens do this and still raise their first workers.",{"kind":66,"text":391},"Plan for those jaws. Workers can slowly bore into soft nest walls, and one keeper's queen chewed through a cotton ball and half a foam plug, so use firm stoppers and sturdy nest material.",{"id":393,"authority":394,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":395,"diet":396,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":82,"hibernationMonths":397,"hibernationTemperature":398,"humidity":399,"image":400,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":40,"maxWorkers":401,"nests":402,"nuptialFlightMonths":403,"nuptialFlightTime":295,"nuptialFlightTriggers":404,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":405,"regions":406,"scientificName":407,"stem":408,"subfamily":225,"temperature":409,"tribe":228,"workerSize":410,"__hash__":411,"slug":412,"genus":232,"nickname":413,"aliases":414,"tagline":415,"identification":416,"notes":417},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-japonicus.yml","Mayr, 1866",[10,206],[13,78],[131,79],[95,29],[87,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-japonicus\u002Fcamponotus-japonicus.jpg",1000,[92,32,33],[126,217],[37,219,220],[253,171],[332],"Camponotus japonicus","species\u002Fcamponotus-japonicus",[177,337],[217,29],"GgvuSVEbzQeDFlsGR9qZDxgPCFOqcIRwjFl9tlPcW24","camponotus-japonicus","Japanese carpenter ant",[],"A sturdy, matte-black giant of East Asian fields and parks that builds up slowly, yet can follow the same queen for many years.","Dull, matte black workers of many sizes, from small minors to majors with big heads (sometimes dark red), with dense golden hairs on the gaster and no red on the thorax. That separates it from the red-thoraxed Camponotus obscuripes and from the shinier, short-haired Camponotus herculeanus, and some shops label the stock 'cf. japonicus', which means the identification is not fully certain.",[418,420,422,424],{"kind":63,"text":419},"Give the colony a cool winter rest from late fall to early spring, for example in an unheated room or a shaded, sheltered spot, as Japanese keepers do. The ants cluster together and usually need no food, but the nest must not dry out, and even colonies kept warm tend to slow down and pause their brood for a while in winter.",{"kind":63,"text":421},"Keep one part of the nest damp and another part drier, because the workers carry their cocoons to the drier spot, and never let drops or puddles sit on the floor where eggs and larvae lie. Give drinking water separately from the moisture of the nest.",{"kind":63,"text":423},"Offer diluted maple syrup or invert sugar syrup, since Japanese keepers report that cheap honey is often refused, and change the protein now and then. One German colony refused every frozen insect but took freshly killed flies, while others took cut mealworms and small crickets right away.",{"kind":66,"text":425},"Expect a slow start and do not hurry the colony into a big nest: ants dislike a nest that is far too large, and some young colonies in captivity stall for months. Move up in small steps once the brood and workers fill the current space.",{"id":427,"authority":428,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":429,"diet":430,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":431,"hibernationTemperature":432,"humidity":433,"image":434,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":401,"nests":435,"nuptialFlightMonths":436,"nuptialFlightTime":295,"nuptialFlightTriggers":437,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":438,"regions":439,"scientificName":440,"stem":441,"subfamily":225,"temperature":442,"tribe":228,"workerSize":443,"__hash__":444,"slug":445,"genus":232,"nickname":57,"aliases":446,"tagline":447,"identification":448,"notes":449},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-lateralis.yml","(Olivier, 1792)",[10,206],[13,78],[131,52],[95,29],[211,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-lateralis\u002Fcamponotus-lateralis.jpg",[293,92,32],[126,35],[219,220],[95,96],[98,99,299],"Camponotus lateralis","species\u002Fcamponotus-lateralis",[103,49],[79,14],"uyqXKaSq9iTsnvIDqcd_qhsfGIEsX4OdNuk4KfQ5kNQ","camponotus-lateralis",[],"A small, shy carpenter ant with a red head and a black gaster that passes itself off as an acrobat ant and shadows its trails to find food.","Small, slender workers with a reddish-brown head (sometimes the thorax too) and a black gaster with a pale yellow edge on each segment, in sizes that grade smoothly from minors to bigger majors. They imitate Crematogaster scutellaris but have a single waist segment instead of two, and since the group has several close look-alikes such as the glossy black Camponotus piceus, a colony sold under this name can turn out to be a close relative.",[450,452,454,456],{"kind":63,"text":451},"Give the colony a compact, dry, warm nest and a separate water source. It comes from dry, sunny Mediterranean woodland and does not like damp, and one keeper's colony kept its brood in a corner away from the moist part of the nest.",{"kind":66,"text":453},"Be patient with founding queens. This is a slow starter that can take a long time to lay, and the first batch of workers is small. Keepers advise leaving a young colony in its test tube, with its water reserve, through the first winters instead of hurrying it into a nest.",{"kind":66,"text":455},"Do not cool the colony too early. Small larvae and the winged sexuals made in summer overwinter inside the nest, so winged ants in winter are normal and the flights later come a few at a time. One keeper waited until the last big larvae had finished developing before starting the winter rest.",{"kind":63,"text":457},"Offer small, soft prey such as flies, small crickets and spiders while there are larvae, and keep honey water on offer.",{"id":459,"authority":247,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":460,"diet":461,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":462,"hibernationTemperature":463,"humidity":464,"image":465,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":40,"maxWorkers":363,"nests":466,"nuptialFlightMonths":467,"nuptialFlightTime":295,"nuptialFlightTriggers":468,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":469,"regions":470,"scientificName":471,"stem":472,"subfamily":225,"temperature":473,"tribe":228,"workerSize":474,"__hash__":475,"slug":476,"genus":232,"nickname":477,"aliases":478,"tagline":480,"identification":481,"notes":482},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-ligniperda.yml",[10,206],[13,78],[96,79],[35,95],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-ligniperda\u002Fcamponotus-ligniperda.jpg",[92,293,33],[35,217],[219,367],[85,171],[98,299],"Camponotus ligniperda","species\u002Fcamponotus-ligniperda",[145,227],[217,96],"1ihP-U-Zq3-2rfMqAsMpsaMLTnACu-jt5dkAiMesfDo","camponotus-ligniperda","Brown-black carpenter ant",[479],"European carpenter ant","One of Europe's biggest ants, a glossy red-and-black giant that lives by its own slow seasonal clock.","Large, shiny ants with a black head and gaster and a bright red-brown thorax, plus a red tint that often spreads onto the front of the gaster. Workers range from small minors to majors with a huge head, and the brighter color and shinier gaster set them apart from the duller Camponotus herculeanus, which prefers colder, higher forests, although the two can be hard to separate by eye.",[483,485,487,489],{"kind":66,"text":484},"Do not keep the colony warm all year. It follows an inner yearly clock, and constant heating can make it wrap up its season early and drift into winter rest in late summer. A small warm corner for the brood is enough.",{"kind":63,"text":486},"Offer a damp chamber next to a drier part of the nest. The ants carry eggs and larvae to the moister spots, and a nest kept completely dry slows the brood down.",{"kind":63,"text":488},"Feed flies, spiders and other soft-bodied insects, which the workers take eagerly. Mealworms get a mixed reception, and one keeper's colony ignored them even when blanched, so keep flies and spiders as the dependable staples.",{"kind":66,"text":490},"Expect a slow, quiet first year. Founding queens and small colonies are easily stressed by vibrations and light, and the workers often stay hidden, but many colonies multiply from the second or third year on.",{"id":492,"authority":493,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":494,"diet":495,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":167,"guide":15,"hibernation":22,"hibernationMonths":15,"hibernationTemperature":15,"humidity":496,"image":497,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":85,"maxWorkers":363,"nests":498,"nuptialFlightMonths":15,"nuptialFlightTime":174,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":499,"regions":500,"scientificName":502,"stem":503,"subfamily":225,"temperature":504,"tribe":228,"workerSize":505,"__hash__":506,"slug":507,"genus":232,"nickname":508,"aliases":509,"tagline":511,"identification":512,"notes":513},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-maculatus.yml","(Fabricius, 1782)",[10,206],[13,78],[87,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-maculatus\u002Fcamponotus-maculatus.jpg",[92,32,33],[253,171],[501,299],"africa","Camponotus maculatus","species\u002Fcamponotus-maculatus",[336,337],[217,96],"IBxeWpQIhmgOam1qZKFyiEjQAzQNUHZKtZAafscq7bI","camponotus-maculatus","Spotted sugar ant",[510],"African carpenter ant","A fast-growing, big-headed carpenter ant from Africa with a yellowish thorax and a spotted gaster, and no need for a winter rest.","Large, strongly polymorphic ants with a dark head, a yellowish thorax and a dark gaster marked with pale yellow spots or stripes, though the colors vary a lot between populations. Shops sell it as 'maculatus' or as 'subnudus', with origins given as Africa or Southeast Asia, and a 2026 study found two chemically different but look-alike populations among colonies identified as this species, so the exact identity of any colony is uncertain.",[514,516,518,520],{"kind":63,"text":515},"Warm only part of the nest and put the heat mat partly under it, not against the glass. In one keeper's setup the whole colony avoided a heat mat on one side until it was moved partly under the nest, after which the brood settled over the warm spot, and too much heat at the glass front seemed to drive part of the colony out of the nest.",{"kind":63,"text":517},"Keep at least one chamber damp: keepers describe colonies that clearly prefer a moist nest, and in one case most of the colony and brood moved overnight into a larger nest that had just been soaked. Do not let it turn swampy, because too much wetness invites mold.",{"kind":63,"text":519},"Offer invert sugar syrup if a new colony turns up its nose at honey, and give protein in a form the ants can carry. One shipped colony ignored honey and crickets at first but eagerly took invert sugar, mosquitoes and spiders, and another keeper found that large cockroaches were only accepted when cut open.",{"kind":66,"text":521},"Plan the next nest early and seal the outworld well. Colonies can outgrow a nest surprisingly fast, the workers climb well, and keepers expect escapes when a new nest is connected, so use a tight lid with a slippery barrier such as Fluon or an oil line.",{"id":523,"authority":524,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":525,"diet":526,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":167,"guide":15,"hibernation":22,"hibernationMonths":15,"hibernationTemperature":15,"humidity":527,"image":528,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":29,"maxWorkers":214,"nests":529,"nuptialFlightMonths":530,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":531,"regions":532,"scientificName":533,"stem":534,"subfamily":225,"temperature":535,"tribe":228,"workerSize":536,"__hash__":537,"slug":538,"genus":232,"nickname":539,"aliases":540,"tagline":541,"identification":542,"notes":543},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-nicobarensis.yml","Mayr, 1865",[10,206],[13,78],[87,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-nicobarensis\u002Fcamponotus-nicobarensis.jpg",[92,32,293],[79,217],[40,85],[332],"Camponotus nicobarensis","species\u002Fcamponotus-nicobarensis",[177,337],[35,95],"-IKpD9AFhr0NBIKEuuo6ZC3oodqS_KxfWQaPvX8VT4k","camponotus-nicobarensis","Nicobar carpenter ant",[],"An adaptable, fast-growing carpenter ant from Asia that forages mostly by night and does not need a winter rest.","Brown to reddish-brown workers of many sizes, from small minors to much larger majors, with long, dense, erect hairs all over the body. The gaster is plain brownish, not banded in black and yellow like the similar Camponotus habereri, and colors vary with the origin of the stock, which is why some shops list it as 'cf. nicobarensis'.",[544,546,548,550],{"kind":66,"text":545},"Treat them as climbers: keepers report workers walking up glass and even jumping. Use a tight lid with a barrier such as paraffin oil or Fluon, and seal every gap, because some ants died squeezing between a Ytong nest and the glass.",{"kind":63,"text":547},"Offer sugar as syrup or sugar water on a piece of cotton or in a feeder, not as open drops: the workers run through the drops, stick and drown, and one keeper lost several that way. Taste varies between colonies, and some ignored plain sugar water but loved invert syrup, so try a second sweet food if one is refused.",{"kind":63,"text":549},"Do not keep the nest constantly wet. Keepers describe the species as dry-loving, one colony preferred a nest block that had not been rewetted for weeks, and a soaked nest risks mold, so give drinking water and let part of the nest stay dry.",{"kind":66,"text":551},"Do not add a second queen. Some populations are reported to have several queens, but experienced keepers say a queen put into an established colony is usually killed. Documented exceptions are rare, such as a colony of only about two dozen workers that accepted a replacement queen soon after losing its own.",{"id":553,"authority":554,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":555,"diet":556,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":557,"hibernationTemperature":558,"humidity":559,"image":560,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":362,"maxWorkers":15,"nests":561,"nuptialFlightMonths":562,"nuptialFlightTime":139,"nuptialFlightTriggers":563,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":564,"regions":565,"scientificName":566,"stem":567,"subfamily":225,"temperature":568,"tribe":228,"workerSize":569,"__hash__":570,"slug":571,"genus":232,"nickname":572,"aliases":573,"tagline":575,"identification":576,"notes":577},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-pennsylvanicus.yml","(De Geer, 1773)",[10,206],[13,78],[96,52],[35,96],[87,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-pennsylvanicus\u002Fcamponotus-pennsylvanicus.jpg",[92,293,33],[126,14],[219,220],[253,171],[42],"Camponotus pennsylvanicus","species\u002Fcamponotus-pennsylvanicus",[177,49],[217,96],"WLz0A8Ebtof26RJifYpZjs5QkmV72hR257N9ADCom1I","camponotus-pennsylvanicus","Eastern black carpenter ant",[379,574],"Common carpenter ant","The big black carpenter ant of eastern North America, a slow-growing night forager that nests in trees and damp wood.","Large, all-black workers of many sizes, with pale yellowish to golden hairs lying flat on the gaster, long and dense on the bigger workers. Camponotus herculeanus and western C. modoc have short gaster hairs, and C. herculeanus usually has a dark reddish thorax or legs, while C. chromaiodes often shows red on the thorax, legs or gaster base and C. novaeboracensis has a red thorax and legs.",[578,580,582,584],{"kind":63,"text":579},"Keep the founding queen in a dark, quiet spot and check on her rarely. Her first clutch is small and takes at least about 60 days to become workers. One keeper who checked a queen daily and moved her between three setups lost the early brood and waited about 87 days for the first worker. Ending the first year with 5 to 30 workers is normal.",{"kind":66,"text":581},"Check cotton plugs and water barriers all year, including during the winter rest. The workers chew cotton, soft plastic and plaster, and one keeper found a hibernating colony drowned after it had chewed through the cotton in its test tube. Fluon or talc keeps them in on smooth walls, but oil or petroleum jelly on a vertical wall does not.",{"kind":63,"text":583},"Keep sugar water on hand even if you feed honey. Some colonies take honey well, but one keeper's queen never touched it and drank sugar water readily, and a founding queen given too big a drop of honey ended up with her eggs in a pool of it. Add small prey such as fruit flies, crickets or pieces of mealworm, and clear out leftovers before they mold.",{"kind":66,"text":585},"Do not rely on a heat cable to keep the colony active all year. One heated colony left its winter rest in March, and by June the queen had stopped laying and the workers had stopped taking prey, so keepers advised a cool rest of three to four months starting in September or October. After the rest, offer water first, since one keeper's colony stumbled around dehydrated until it drank.",{"id":587,"authority":428,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":588,"diet":589,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":590,"hibernationTemperature":591,"humidity":592,"image":593,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":253,"maxWorkers":363,"nests":594,"nuptialFlightMonths":595,"nuptialFlightTime":174,"nuptialFlightTriggers":596,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":597,"regions":598,"scientificName":599,"stem":600,"subfamily":225,"temperature":601,"tribe":228,"workerSize":602,"__hash__":603,"slug":604,"genus":232,"nickname":57,"aliases":605,"tagline":606,"identification":607,"notes":608},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-sylvaticus.yml",[10,206],[13,78],[131,52],[95,40],[211,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-sylvaticus\u002Fcamponotus-sylvaticus.jpg",[92,32,33],[217,95],[219,367],[40,369],[98],"Camponotus sylvaticus","species\u002Fcamponotus-sylvaticus",[177,337],[217,29],"8SdIRzi0aeT0RCzx4CjZAWgvAZkD3xY-D2FBwJrQszo","camponotus-sylvaticus",[],"A long-legged, red-and-black Mediterranean carpenter ant that sprints out of reach after dark and needs a few patient years to grow into a big colony.","Shiny, sparsely haired workers with a dark head and gaster and a thorax that runs from red to dark reddish brown, sometimes almost black, in all sizes up to majors with a large head, and the small minors can look darker than the majors. Keepers mix it up with Camponotus barbaricus, C. foreli and C. pilicornis (orange head, hairy cheeks), so a doubtful colony is worth checking under a microscope.",[609,611,613,615],{"kind":66,"text":610},"The workers are long-legged and extremely fast. One keeper watched them skim over an anti-escape coating and lost many every time the lid was opened, so feed through a small hatch or from a connected foraging box and back the barrier up with a second one.",{"kind":66,"text":612},"Expect them to remodel soft nest materials. Queens reshaped cork-based founding nests within hours, and one shop warns that Ytong needs to be encased because they chew it, so keep soft material enclosed or choose acrylic for a growing colony.",{"kind":63,"text":614},"Expect a very slow start. One long-term colony had only about fifteen nurses after its first year, around fifty workers early in the second and hundreds by its end, and from then on it needed a bigger nest and far more food every season.",{"kind":63,"text":616},"For the winter rest, Spanish keepers skip the fridge. They move the colony to the coolest, quietest spot of the home or a sheltered balcony, and the ants slow down with the season on their own, so keep water and a little food on offer.",{"id":618,"authority":619,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":620,"diet":621,"difficulty":35,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":622,"hibernationTemperature":623,"humidity":624,"image":625,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":362,"maxWorkers":135,"nests":626,"nuptialFlightMonths":627,"nuptialFlightTime":295,"nuptialFlightTriggers":628,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":629,"regions":630,"scientificName":631,"stem":632,"subfamily":225,"temperature":633,"tribe":228,"workerSize":634,"__hash__":635,"slug":636,"genus":232,"nickname":637,"aliases":638,"tagline":639,"identification":640,"notes":641},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-vagus.yml","(Scopoli, 1763)",[10,206],[13,78],[96,79],[35,96],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcamponotus-vagus\u002Fcamponotus-vagus.jpg",[293,92,33],[126,217],[219,220],[40,85],[98,99,332],"Camponotus vagus","species\u002Fcamponotus-vagus",[177,337],[217,29],"wKl1x_gkuIRJ6TUv7ydfAz_sJPra311ve9dd8HOSz7U","camponotus-vagus","Hairy carpenter ant",[],"A fast, hairy, matte-black giant that sprints over sun-baked deadwood and bullies its neighbors at the food.","Big, uniformly matte black ants covered in long hairs, with pale bristles standing out on the gaster that give it a grayish sheen. Workers grade from small minors to majors with a wide, heart-shaped head, and unlike Camponotus ligniperda and C. herculeanus, whose thorax is red to reddish black, they are black all over.",[642,644,646,648],{"kind":66,"text":643},"They are fast, strong climbers that can hop small gaps and chew through soft nest material and plastic, so use a lid that fits tightly and check connecting tubes and joints regularly. One keeper's thick plexiglass lid even warped at the edges in a humid arena and no longer sealed.",{"kind":63,"text":645},"Do not wet the wood or cork of the nest itself. Give water in the arena or in a test tube instead: the workers take it up themselves and carry it to the places they want to moisten, while a nest that stays too wet turns moldy.",{"kind":66,"text":647},"Their winter rest follows an inner clock rather than the room temperature: once the colony has stocked its reserves it seals itself in the nest and refuses food, however warm the room, and constant heating or a cool summer can make that happen far too early or too late. Winter them somewhere cool and shielded from extremes, such as a cupboard in an unheated garage.",{"kind":63,"text":649},"Offer insects and sugar together. This species hunts more than its relatives, takes crickets, locusts and mealworms eagerly, and stores liquid in its swollen gaster, so keep honey or sugar water on offer between meals.",{"id":651,"authority":652,"colonyStructure":653,"defense":654,"diet":655,"difficulty":14,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":22,"hibernationMonths":15,"hibernationTemperature":15,"humidity":656,"image":657,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":253,"maxWorkers":214,"nests":658,"nuptialFlightMonths":15,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":659,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":660,"regions":662,"scientificName":663,"stem":664,"subfamily":46,"temperature":665,"tribe":666,"workerSize":667,"__hash__":668,"slug":669,"genus":670,"nickname":671,"aliases":672,"tagline":675,"identification":676,"notes":677},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcarebara-diversa.yml","(Jerdon, 1851)","facultative",[10],[78,13],[212,24],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcarebara-diversa\u002Fcarebara-diversa.jpg",[33,92],[37],[661,227],19,[332],"Carebara diversa","species\u002Fcarebara-diversa",[146,178],"Crematogastrini",[52,53],"jTRqGtPKTVSZf7BNw77yn7RGqgyW6GWAb75q3roxXbQ","carebara-diversa","Carebara","Asian marauder ant",[673,674],"East Indian harvesting ant","Asian army ant","A raiding marauder whose columns of tiny workers and giant-headed majors look like army ants, with the smallest workers riding on the biggest.","Workers come in every size, from tiny yellowish-brown minors to big reddish-brown to blackish majors with almost square, powerful heads, and the queen dwarfs them all. Keepers often confuse it with the similar Carebara affinis, and the Asian Carebara of this type have not been thoroughly revised, so colonies sold under this name are not always confirmed to species level.",[678,680,682,684],{"kind":66,"text":679},"Do not start small. Keepers report that lone queens are very hard to raise and that colonies of only a few hundred workers often thrive for the first months and then fade after most of a year, as the short-lived minors stop being replaced, so an established colony with plenty of brood is the safer start.",{"kind":63,"text":681},"Give them a deep soil nest, or a soil and Ytong mix, that stays moist but well ventilated, and let the ants dig and shape it themselves. Keep at least one chamber always wet, because a dried-out colony can die within a day, and boil garden soil first to avoid mites and mold.",{"kind":66,"text":683},"The minors slip through gaps you cannot see, and a thick layer of grease or oil can be chewed through and can also harm the tiniest workers, so rely on gap-free construction and a thin, clean barrier. Remove leftover food within a day, because the species is prone to mites.",{"kind":63,"text":685},"Offer heat from one side only, with a small warm spot and a cooler zone so the ants can choose, and never put a heat mat right under the nest, which keepers call a big mistake. A colony kept a few degrees too cool shrank for weeks until its keeper warmed it again.",{"id":687,"authority":688,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":689,"diet":690,"difficulty":35,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":691,"hibernationTemperature":692,"humidity":693,"image":694,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":217,"maxWorkers":291,"nests":695,"nuptialFlightMonths":696,"nuptialFlightTime":174,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":697,"queenSize":698,"regions":699,"scientificName":700,"stem":701,"subfamily":225,"temperature":702,"tribe":228,"workerSize":703,"__hash__":704,"slug":705,"genus":706,"nickname":707,"aliases":708,"tagline":710,"identification":711,"notes":712},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcolobopsis-truncata.yml","(Spinola, 1808)",[10,206],[13,78],[131,79],[35,96],[211,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcolobopsis-truncata\u002Fcolobopsis-truncata.jpg",[293,92,33],[217,95],"dimorphic",[217,95],[98,299],"Colobopsis truncata","species\u002Fcolobopsis-truncata",[103,337],[79,35],"6cK2uy0UgBEwRmZLVFgt8-3jKKzKmdq4v_59ZUYWMVU","colobopsis-truncata","Colobopsis","European gate-keeper ant",[709],"Doorkeeper ant","A shy tree dweller whose soldiers, and the queen herself, seal the nest door with flat, plug-shaped heads.","Fast, slender minor workers with a reddish to dark brown head and thorax and a blackish gaster, often with pale dots at its base, live beside a few soldiers and a queen whose flat heads are cut off square at the front like a plug. Dolichoderus quadripunctatus shares its trees and colors, and small Camponotus such as C. lateralis look similar too, but the top edge of a minor's petiole is concave in front view, unlike in Camponotus, and in southern Iberia, Sicily and North Africa the near-identical sister species Colobopsis imitans takes its place.",[713,715,717,719],{"kind":66,"text":714},"Founding queens often fail in a plain test tube. The queens that laid and raised their first workers were given a tiny, dark chamber with a single narrow entrance to guard, such as a hollowed acorn cap, a hollow twig or a short piece of thin tubing, and keepers suspect that the size of the chamber matters more than the material.",{"kind":63,"text":716},"Offer a wooden nest or a set of half oak galls, with the entrance holes drilled in advance as German keepers advise. The ants pick one chamber, add satellite chambers later, and a soldier often sits in the entrance on guard.",{"kind":63,"text":718},"Copy the rhythm of a tree: German keepers describe warm days with clearly cooler nights, and a cold winter, as something the species seems to need, and they advise against a constant living-room climate. Keep a water source available all year, because a dried-out tube or nest killed founding queens and small colonies.",{"kind":66,"text":720},"Offer honey and sugar water on soaked cotton, never as a free drop, because the workers tend to drown. Keep the escape barrier fresh too, since the fast minors will use any lapse and one neglected colony simply walked out.",{"id":722,"authority":428,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":723,"diet":725,"difficulty":217,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":726,"extension":18,"finder":727,"founding":128,"growth":167,"guide":728,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":729,"hibernationTemperature":730,"humidity":731,"image":732,"imageHeight":733,"imageWidth":27,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":401,"nests":734,"nuptialFlightMonths":735,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":736,"regions":737,"scientificName":738,"stem":739,"subfamily":46,"temperature":740,"tribe":666,"workerSize":741,"__hash__":742,"slug":743,"genus":744,"nickname":745,"aliases":746,"tagline":749,"identification":750,"notes":751},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fcrematogaster-scutellaris.yml",[10,724],"venom",[13,78],"firstHand",true,"how-to-care-for-crematogaster-scutellaris",[96,79],[95,29],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fcrematogaster-scutellaris\u002FCrematogaster_scutellaris_worker_1.jpeg",533,[293,92,32],[95,96],[14,53],[98,99],"Crematogaster scutellaris","species\u002Fcrematogaster-scutellaris",[103,227],[79,35],"19aG3R1R6ni2dy0BhWpAPK5m7h3_roTd8g7s7x2MxAY","crematogaster-scutellaris","Crematogaster","Acrobat ant",[747,748],"Mediterranean acrobat ant","Cocktail ant","Raises its heart-shaped gaster when disturbed and loves nesting in wood.","Workers with a red head, a dark body and a heart-shaped gaster that they lift above their head when disturbed. In the wild you will often find them in dead trees and old wood.",[752,754,756,758],{"kind":63,"text":753},"A wooden nest is the natural choice for this species: they love nesting in wood, and a wooden nest needs no watering and very little maintenance.",{"kind":63,"text":755},"Keep honey on hand, because they love it: a small drop also gives a newly founded queen the energy she needs, without any protein.",{"kind":66,"text":757},"When they feel threatened they release a strong-smelling defensive venom, so give the outworld plenty of ventilation holes or a lid that is easy to remove. In a big colony the smell can build up and stress the whole colony.",{"kind":66,"text":759},"They grow very fast and the brood needs a lot of protein, so keep insects on offer once the first workers arrive.",{"id":761,"authority":247,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":762,"diet":763,"difficulty":14,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":22,"hibernationMonths":15,"hibernationTemperature":15,"humidity":764,"image":766,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":178,"maxWorkers":15,"nests":767,"nuptialFlightMonths":15,"nuptialFlightTime":139,"nuptialFlightTriggers":768,"polymorphism":697,"queenSize":769,"regions":771,"scientificName":772,"stem":773,"subfamily":225,"temperature":774,"tribe":228,"workerSize":775,"__hash__":776,"slug":777,"genus":778,"nickname":779,"aliases":780,"tagline":782,"identification":783,"notes":784},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fdinomyrmex-gigas.yml",[10,206],[13,78],[326,765],90,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fdinomyrmex-gigas\u002Fdinomyrmex-gigas.jpg",[33,92,293],[37],[178,770],32,[332],"Dinomyrmex gigas","species\u002Fdinomyrmex-gigas",[177,146],[171,227],"sDiRVUw71Jxmp7JnorIHQa3_Jh5mp13G4EivJP_Myjo","dinomyrmex-gigas","Dinomyrmex","Giant forest ant",[781],"Malaysian giant ant","A night-active giant of the Southeast Asian rain forests, whose sprawling colonies settle border disputes with ritual tournaments between big-headed majors.","The sheer size gives it away: slender black ants with long legs and antennae, an orange to reddish-brown gaster, and two kinds of workers, smaller minors and larger majors with a much bigger head. It is one of the largest ants in the world, and the subspecies from South Borneo has yellow legs.",[785,787,789,791],{"kind":66,"text":786},"Keep it moderately warm and very humid rather than hot. The one peer-reviewed rearing used plaster nests at a steady moderate temperature with very humid air, and keepers who reached the first workers used a dark, humid container. Some shops advise a warmer nest, but others warn that this nocturnal forest ant copes badly with heat.",{"kind":63,"text":788},"Plan for several connected nests instead of one block. In nature a colony spreads over many mostly underground nests joined by trails, with the queen in a central one, and the German species directory describes its space needs as extreme.",{"kind":63,"text":790},"Keep a sugar source on offer at all times and add small insects in the evening. Foragers in the wild bring home mostly honeydew, with only a little prey and bird droppings, and the colony leaves its nest at dusk to forage through the night.",{"kind":66,"text":792},"Expect a slow start and very few role models. In the one documented founding experiment, a queen had only a handful of workers many months after she was caught, hobby queens are wild-caught and travel badly, and keepers describe it as one of the hardest ants to get going, so ask the seller for recent, well-documented stock.",{"id":794,"authority":74,"colonyStructure":653,"defense":795,"diet":796,"difficulty":35,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":726,"extension":18,"finder":727,"founding":128,"growth":167,"guide":797,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":798,"hibernationTemperature":799,"humidity":800,"image":801,"imageHeight":733,"imageWidth":27,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":214,"nests":802,"nuptialFlightMonths":803,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":804,"regions":805,"scientificName":806,"stem":807,"subfamily":225,"temperature":808,"tribe":809,"workerSize":810,"__hash__":811,"slug":812,"genus":813,"nickname":57,"aliases":814,"tagline":815,"identification":816,"notes":817},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fformica-cinerea.yml",[10,206],[13,78],"how-to-care-for-formica-cinerea",[96,79],[35,95],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fformica-cinerea\u002Fformica_cinerea_colony_into_ytong_nest_2.jpeg",[92,137,32],[217,95],[95,131],[98,332],"Formica cinerea","species\u002Fformica-cinerea",[103,49],"Formicini",[126,95],"kNY1z2-3abKdEz1DoGr3n5RhV79xJwxchp5ntnnfTsc","formica-cinerea","Formica",[],"Big, fast and nervous: a formic acid sprayer that can reach 10,000 workers.","Almost black workers with a silvery gray sheen, large eyes and dark reddish legs. They run very fast and on irregular paths, which makes them hard to follow.",[818,820,822,824],{"kind":66,"text":819},"Escapes are most likely during outworld maintenance, because the workers move so fast and irregularly: work calmly and keep an eye on every ant until the setup is closed again.",{"kind":63,"text":821},"A white Ytong nest suits this species well, because the almost black workers stand out against it and every chamber is easy to watch.",{"kind":63,"text":823},"Offer insects often: this fast grower needs a lot of protein, and the workers spray formic acid to take down every insect they meet.",{"kind":66,"text":825},"Plan the space early: with the right nutrients and warmth the colony grows explosively within a few years, and a nest that looks roomy at the start will not stay that way.",{"id":827,"authority":828,"colonyStructure":653,"defense":829,"diet":830,"difficulty":79,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":831,"hibernationTemperature":832,"humidity":833,"image":834,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":135,"nests":835,"nuptialFlightMonths":836,"nuptialFlightTime":295,"nuptialFlightTriggers":837,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":838,"regions":839,"scientificName":840,"stem":841,"subfamily":225,"temperature":842,"tribe":809,"workerSize":843,"__hash__":844,"slug":845,"genus":813,"nickname":846,"aliases":847,"tagline":850,"identification":851,"notes":852},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fformica-fusca.yml","Linnaeus, 1758",[10,206],[13,78],[96,79],[35,95],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fformica-fusca\u002Fformica-fusca.jpg",[92,33,137],[217,95],[219],[95,96],[98,332],"Formica fusca","species\u002Fformica-fusca",[103,227],[126,14],"_DLFL-fpvaUEiX86adhOlN6sPVaSSxG08zZ6utv77Bk","formica-fusca","Silky ant",[848,849],"Dusky ant","Large black ant","A shy, quick-footed black ant that forgives beginner mistakes and is the classic host of slave-making ants.","Dull black to dark gray workers with brownish legs that run fast and forage alone, bigger and longer-legged than Lasius niger and less silvery than Formica cinerea. Formica lemani is almost identical and only a microscope (hairs on the pronotum and the legs) tells them apart, so a colony sold as Formica fusca is a best guess within the fusca group, and this sheet describes the species in the strict sense.",[853,855,857,859],{"kind":63,"text":854},"Give the nest a humid chamber and keep the outworld dry. The species comes from dry, open ground, and keepers report that a moist nest with a dry arena works well.",{"kind":66,"text":856},"Leave a founding queen alone as much as you can. Keepers report queens that ate almost all their larvae after repeated checks and vibrations, so keep the tube dark, still and closed until the first workers appear.",{"kind":66,"text":858},"Colonies are skittish: a slight vibration sends the workers running around with the brood. Put the setup on a stable surface and give it room and ventilation, because the workers spray formic acid in cramped containers.",{"kind":63,"text":860},"Do not worry when the queen stops laying in late summer: the colony normally rests through the winter without any brood. Cool it down gradually in autumn, once the last brood has hatched and the workers slow down.",{"id":862,"authority":863,"colonyStructure":653,"defense":864,"diet":865,"difficulty":217,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":866,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":867,"hibernationTemperature":868,"humidity":869,"image":870,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":363,"nests":871,"nuptialFlightMonths":872,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":873,"regions":874,"scientificName":875,"stem":876,"subfamily":225,"temperature":877,"tribe":809,"workerSize":878,"__hash__":879,"slug":880,"genus":813,"nickname":881,"aliases":882,"tagline":885,"identification":886,"notes":887},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fformica-sanguinea.yml","Latreille, 1798",[10,206],[13,78],"parasitic",[96,79],[35,95],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fformica-sanguinea\u002Fformica-sanguinea.jpg",[92,33,137],[217,95],[53,131],[98,332],"Formica sanguinea","species\u002Fformica-sanguinea",[103,146],[217,53],"K0EKdJDU7vjCsMUs7bXOjVMNr-sIEDFczXGjk4fMtH4","formica-sanguinea","Blood-red ant",[883,884],"Blood-red slave-making ant","Robber ant","A bold red-and-black raider that steals the pupae of other Formica to raise as helpers, and a project for keepers who already know the basics.","Large workers with a bright red front of the head and thorax, a dark brownish-black gaster and a distinct notch in the middle of the clypeus. The notch separates them from the red wood ants, and Polyergus rufescens, another red slave-maker, has long sickle-shaped jaws, while sanguinea has broad heads and mandibles.",[888,890,892,894],{"kind":63,"text":889},"Use Formica fusca as the host: it shares the open, dry habitat of this species and is the one shops and most keepers use. Formica cunicularia also works, but Camponotus, red wood ants and all Myrmicinae are not suitable hosts.",{"kind":63,"text":891},"When you start a queen, give her host pupae and freshly hatched, still pale workers. Keepers report that adult workers from a foreign nest and older, darker workers are often killed, while pupae are accepted.",{"kind":66,"text":893},"A raid can wipe out a small host colony in a single night, and formic acid can build up in sealed containers and kill the helpers. Connect a host colony only if you can spare it, use a roomy, ventilated arena where you can cut the link at any time, and stay nearby while it happens.",{"kind":66,"text":895},"Think about space before you start. Keepers report a slow start followed by explosive growth once the colony passes a few hundred workers, and the workers get pushier as they run out of room. Plan a much bigger arena early, and decide what you will do with a very large colony.",{"id":897,"authority":898,"colonyStructure":653,"defense":899,"diet":900,"difficulty":217,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":20,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":22,"hibernationMonths":15,"hibernationTemperature":15,"humidity":901,"image":902,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":903,"nests":904,"nuptialFlightMonths":15,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":906,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":907,"regions":908,"scientificName":909,"stem":910,"subfamily":911,"temperature":912,"tribe":913,"workerSize":914,"__hash__":915,"slug":916,"genus":917,"nickname":918,"aliases":919,"tagline":921,"identification":922,"notes":923},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fharpegnathos-venator.yml","(Smith, 1858)",[10,76],[78],[212,24],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fharpegnathos-venator\u002Fharpegnathos-venator.jpg",400,[92,33,905],"testTube",[37],[85,145],[332],"Harpegnathos venator","species\u002Fharpegnathos-venator","Ponerinae",[336,337],"Ponerini",[40,171],"1d2Jgji29jjRBXSKCAN9wCKBhRRwIcrTGG5LatR5Tpo","harpegnathos-venator","Harpegnathos","Giant jumping ant",[920],"Primitive jumping ant","A sharp-eyed, sickle-jawed hunter that freezes, wiggles its gaster and then leaps onto its live prey.","Slender black ants with large eyes, long toothed mandibles that point forward and are reddish-brown like the legs, and a reddish tip on the gaster. All workers are the same size and the queen differs only by a bulkier thorax, while the Indian jumping ant (Harpegnathos saltator) has a reddish thorax and this species has a black head and thorax.",[924,926,928,930],{"kind":66,"text":925},"Offer only live prey. In a field test the workers did not attack cockroaches killed with boiling water, and most keepers report that colonies ignore dead insects. Small live crickets or cockroach nymphs work, some keepers remove the hind jumping legs of the crickets so the ants can catch them, and if the colony ignores one species, try another: one colony refused house crickets but carried a different cricket species straight into the nest.",{"kind":63,"text":927},"Give the nest steady warmth and moist chambers, and keep the arena drier. Keepers who relied on cool room temperature report slow brood and pupae opened and eaten before hatching, while most recent reports of healthy colonies use a heated nest or a warm room.",{"kind":66,"text":929},"Mites are a recurring killer in the keeping reports, and they can arrive with a shipped colony or on feeder insects. Buy feeder insects from a clean source, check the workers under a magnifier, and avoid a soggy setup, because wet nests and arenas with leftovers are where mites thrive.",{"kind":66,"text":931},"Expect a shaky start. Shipping is hard on these ants, and some colonies lost most of their workers in transit. Colonies also often arrive with two or three queens, and the dominant one may expel or kill the others once the first larvae hatch, so leave the colony undisturbed until it settles.",{"id":933,"authority":934,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":935,"diet":936,"difficulty":52,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":937,"hibernationTemperature":938,"humidity":939,"image":940,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":363,"nests":941,"nuptialFlightMonths":942,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":943,"regions":944,"scientificName":945,"stem":946,"subfamily":225,"temperature":947,"tribe":948,"workerSize":949,"__hash__":950,"slug":951,"genus":952,"nickname":57,"aliases":953,"tagline":955,"identification":956,"notes":957},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Flasius-alienus.yml","(Foerster, 1850)",[10,206],[13,78],[96,79],[35,95],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Flasius-alienus\u002Flasius-alienus.jpg",[137,92,32],[14,53],[14,53],[98,299,332],"Lasius alienus","species\u002Flasius-alienus",[103,227],"Lasiini",[52,126],"2cV0Vd4k92re5F69VV1DnAjO-RKSdDlcT7Z0HH1qeLs","lasius-alienus","Lasius",[954],"Cornfield ant","A small, shy brown Lasius of warm, dry grassland and limestone ground, easily mistaken for the black garden ant.","Small workers with a medium to dark brown body and paler, yellowish-brown antennae and lower legs; under a strong lens, the antennal scapes and the hind tibiae show no standing hairs or only a few, while Lasius niger and Lasius platythorax have many. Lasius paralienus, Lasius psammophilus and the invasive Lasius neglectus lack these hairs too, and telling them apart takes measurements of several workers under a microscope.",[958,960,962,964],{"kind":66,"text":959},"Check the identification before you plan around it. Founding queens are easily mixed up with Lasius niger, and experienced forum members say this ant cannot be named from photos. Wait for normal-sized workers and look at several of them under a strong lens, since the tiny first workers carry fewer hairs. Until then, call the colony Lasius cf. alienus.",{"kind":63,"text":961},"Care is much like Lasius niger: the claustral queen needs no food until her first workers hatch, then offer sugar water or honey and small insects such as fruit flies. In one German keeping report the workers carried small prey into the nest readily but visited the honey only now and then after the first weeks.",{"kind":63,"text":963},"Give it a warm, rather dry nest with one damp corner instead of a nest that is wet throughout. Wild nests sit in sunny, dry grassland and on rocky ground, and shops suggest about 21 to 24 °C in the nest part, with drier air in the outworld than in the nest.",{"kind":66,"text":965},"Expect a secretive colony. Ant faunas describe it as mainly subterranean and less conspicuous than Lasius niger, and a German keeper found their young colony active only at night and very shy. Cover the nest, check it rarely and keep the escape barrier thick, since one tiny worker got surprisingly far over a thinly coated patch of talc.",{"id":967,"authority":428,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":968,"diet":969,"difficulty":79,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":726,"extension":18,"finder":727,"founding":128,"growth":21,"guide":970,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":971,"hibernationTemperature":972,"humidity":973,"image":974,"imageHeight":975,"imageWidth":27,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":15,"nests":976,"nuptialFlightMonths":977,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":978,"regions":979,"scientificName":980,"stem":981,"subfamily":225,"temperature":982,"tribe":948,"workerSize":983,"__hash__":984,"slug":985,"genus":952,"nickname":57,"aliases":986,"tagline":989,"identification":990,"notes":991},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Flasius-emarginatus.yml",[10,206],[13,78],"how-to-care-for-lasius-emarginatus",[96,79],[35,95],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Flasius-emarginatus\u002Flasius_emarginatus_inside_test_tube_6.jpeg",450,[92,137,32],[217,95],[14,53],[98],"Lasius emarginatus","species\u002Flasius-emarginatus",[103,49],[79,35],"lLj0FH4w721u4GHfaLdGRDEofTldAbzSqjuLkb-YVI4","lasius-emarginatus",[987,988],"ManhattAnt","Central European bicolored ant","A small, fast-growing Lasius with a reddish thorax that loves to dig tunnels.","Workers and queens have a clearly reddish thorax between a dark brown head and gaster, which sets them apart from the all-black Lasius niger. They are small, busy ants that dig complex tunnel systems in soil.",[992,994,996,998],{"kind":63,"text":993},"Because the colony grows fast, the brood needs a lot of protein: keep insects like crickets, worms or fruit flies coming alongside the sugar water.",{"kind":63,"text":995},"A Ytong nest suits it well: it holds moisture, and the white surface contrasts with the dark head and gaster of the workers, so they are easy to watch.",{"kind":66,"text":997},"Once the colony passes a certain number of workers, its growth turns exponential, so have a bigger nest and outworld ready before it gets crowded.",{"kind":66,"text":999},"Don't hibernate it much colder than the recommended range: very low temperatures for a long time can permanently damage the growth of the colony.",{"id":1001,"authority":493,"colonyStructure":653,"defense":1002,"diet":1003,"difficulty":52,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":127,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":1004,"hibernationTemperature":1005,"humidity":1006,"image":1007,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":15,"nests":1008,"nuptialFlightMonths":1009,"nuptialFlightTime":295,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1010,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1011,"regions":1012,"scientificName":1013,"stem":1014,"subfamily":225,"temperature":1015,"tribe":948,"workerSize":1016,"__hash__":1017,"slug":1018,"genus":952,"nickname":1019,"aliases":1020,"tagline":1022,"identification":1023,"notes":1024},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Flasius-flavus.yml",[10,206],[13,78],[96,79],[35,95],[212,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Flasius-flavus\u002Flasius-flavus.jpg",[92,137,33],[14,53],[219,220],[14,53],[98,99,299,332],"Lasius flavus","species\u002Flasius-flavus",[145,227],[52,35],"-FWuTR168fqiZDyel0X5MoI2LU6ydf-_HEow4CbGOKE","lasius-flavus","Yellow meadow ant",[1021],"Yellow hill ant","A shy, golden-yellow soil dweller that herds root aphids and raises grassy mounds in old meadows.","Small workers of a clear yellow to brownish-yellow color with tiny eyes, living almost entirely underground or under stones in grass; unlike the similar Lasius umbratus, they have no erect hairs on the antennal scapes and shins. The queen is light to dark brown with a paler underside, so she is often mistaken for a Lasius niger queen.",[1025,1027,1029,1031],{"kind":63,"text":1026},"In the wild they live mostly on honeydew from root aphids, so keep honey or sugar water on offer whenever the colony is active and add small soft insects, like fruit flies, for the brood.",{"kind":63,"text":1028},"They are soil dwellers that suffer when the nest dries out. Give them a nest that stays moist, such as a Ytong, gypsum or soil-based one, with a drier corner they can retreat to.",{"kind":63,"text":1030},"A small outworld is enough: keepers report that they rarely try to climb out, so escapes are much less of a worry than with Lasius niger.",{"kind":66,"text":1032},"Colonies grow slowly compared with other Lasius, so expect a small colony for the first years and leave a founding queen undisturbed in her test tube.",{"id":1034,"authority":123,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":1035,"diet":1036,"difficulty":14,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":866,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":1037,"hibernationTemperature":1038,"humidity":1039,"image":1040,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":15,"nests":1041,"nuptialFlightMonths":1042,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1043,"regions":1045,"scientificName":1046,"stem":1047,"subfamily":225,"temperature":1048,"tribe":948,"workerSize":1049,"__hash__":1050,"slug":1051,"genus":952,"nickname":1052,"aliases":1053,"tagline":1055,"identification":1056,"notes":1057},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Flasius-fuliginosus.yml",[10,206],[13,78],[96,79],[35,95],[87,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Flasius-fuliginosus\u002Flasius-fuliginosus.jpg",[92,293,905],[35,14],[217,1044],6.5,[98,299,332],"Lasius fuliginosus","species\u002Flasius-fuliginosus",[145,146],[126,217],"mikh8uq_x6CKiq4z1EqbaT2HCSWfsJR5f76xuSbHON8","lasius-fuliginosus","Jet black ant",[1054],"Jet ant","A glossy black, sweet-smelling carton builder that cannot start a colony without borrowing another ant's workers.","Glossy jet black workers with a big, heart-shaped head that sets them apart from other black Lasius such as Lasius niger, often seen running in dense trails up trees to tend aphids. The queen is also glossy black and barely larger than a big worker, and the nest gives off a sweetish smell.",[1058,1060,1062,1064],{"kind":63,"text":1059},"Most keepers start with an adopted queen: soon after the flight, put her with a group of young Lasius workers and plenty of cocoons. The natural host is a queenless Lasius umbratus colony. Lasius niger workers and cocoons have also worked in captivity, although niger workers are poor at opening the queen's first cocoons, which her young workers need to get out.",{"kind":63,"text":1061},"Give the colony wood. A Ytong nest with a chamber of crumbly rotten wood or sawdust lets the workers build their own carton walls, and they sort the brood by age, with eggs in the dampest rooms and cocoons in the driest.",{"kind":66,"text":1063},"They are very hungry for sugar and protein, so keep diluted honey and fresh water always available and feed the brood generously: a colony with lots of larvae empties its honey supply and takes insects every day.",{"kind":66,"text":1065},"They are strong climbers and determined diggers, so use a well-tested escape barrier and check it often: one diary colony crossed an oil-based barrier until the mixture was strengthened, and later tried to dig out through an old barrier layer.",{"id":1067,"authority":164,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":1068,"diet":1069,"difficulty":52,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":726,"extension":18,"finder":727,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":1070,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":1071,"hibernationTemperature":1072,"humidity":1073,"image":1074,"imageHeight":733,"imageWidth":27,"keptSince":1075,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":15,"nests":1076,"nuptialFlightMonths":1077,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1078,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1079,"regions":1080,"scientificName":1081,"stem":1082,"subfamily":225,"temperature":1083,"tribe":948,"workerSize":1084,"__hash__":1085,"slug":1086,"genus":952,"nickname":1087,"aliases":1088,"tagline":1092,"identification":1093,"notes":1094},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Flasius-niger.yml",[10,206],[13,78],"how-to-care-for-lasius-niger",[96,79],[95,29],[211,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Flasius-niger\u002FLasius_niger_colony_in_test_tube_2.jpeg",2020,[137,92,32],[14,95],[219,220],[95,53],[98,332],"Lasius niger","species\u002Flasius-niger",[48,227],[79,35],"y6WFthpTo6tC3eFT6SORtBodGkrSQ8x3EAMQaIM_JlA","lasius-niger","Black garden ant",[1089,1090,1091],"Common black ant","Common black garden ant","Small black ant","Adaptable, undemanding and found in almost every garden: the classic first colony.","Small workers that are uniformly dark brown to black with a slightly shiny body, among the commonest ants of gardens, lawns and pavements. Unlike Lasius emarginatus, there is no reddish color on the thorax.",[1095,1097,1099,1101],{"kind":63,"text":1096},"Use a soil-based sandwich nest to watch them dig their own tunnels, or a white Ytong nest, where the black workers stand out sharply.",{"kind":63,"text":1098},"In the wild they milk aphids for honeydew, so they go wild for sweet food: keep honey, sugar water or ant jelly on offer and add a little protein, such as Gammarus or small insects, for the brood.",{"kind":66,"text":1100},"They don't like dry air, so if the nest dries out too fast, rearrange the setup or add a piece of wood or bark that holds moisture.",{"kind":66,"text":1102},"Don't hibernate the colony much colder than the recommended range: it can hurt the long-term growth of the colony. A basement or garage is fine if you have no fridge.",{"id":1104,"authority":247,"colonyStructure":653,"defense":1105,"diet":1107,"difficulty":14,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":20,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":82,"hibernationMonths":1108,"hibernationTemperature":1109,"humidity":1110,"image":1111,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":90,"nests":1112,"nuptialFlightMonths":1113,"nuptialFlightTime":1114,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1115,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1116,"regions":1117,"scientificName":1118,"stem":1119,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1120,"tribe":1121,"workerSize":1122,"__hash__":1123,"slug":1124,"genus":1125,"nickname":57,"aliases":1126,"tagline":1129,"identification":1130,"notes":1131},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fmanica-rubida.yml",[10,1106],"strongSting",[13,78],[96,79],[35,96],[87,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fmanica-rubida\u002Fmanica-rubida.jpg",[92,33,905],[126,217],"morning",[219],[96,362],[98,299],"Manica rubida","species\u002Fmanica-rubida",[145,337],"Myrmicini",[35,53],"FsI66xTNvTG-0uDeEWaYOfIX9i50_3xfnTlFIn6VZ4o","manica-rubida","Manica",[1127,1128],"European red ant","Giant European fire ant","A big, rusty-red mountain hunter that heaps crater-like mounds around its nest entrances, stings like a wasp and punishes mistakes in the founding stage.","Large, slender workers in amber to reddish-brown with a darker head and a very shiny gaster that is darker at the rear; they look like oversized Myrmica but have no long spines on the back of the thorax. The excavated soil is piled into a crater around the nest entrance, which also gives a colony away in the field.",[1132,1134,1136,1138],{"kind":66,"text":1133},"Founding queens hunt for themselves, so make sure they can reach food from the first day: a small outworld or very regular feeding, and once the first larvae appear a small protein piece she can carry at least once a day. Keepers who raised many colonies feed once or twice a day at that stage.",{"kind":63,"text":1135},"Offer a gradient from damp to fairly dry instead of a soaked nest. A keeper who gave a colony three chambers from wet to nearly dry found it living in the driest one, but small colonies are also very sensitive to a nest that dries out.",{"kind":63,"text":1137},"Give the brood a warm spot, for example a heating cable under one chamber, and let the rest of the setup stay cooler. In one long diary pupae failed at a constant mild temperature, and some queens kept at ordinary room temperature would not lay until they were warmed.",{"kind":66,"text":1139},"Never put founding queens together. Two queens housed in one tube began killing each other and had to be separated, so start every queen in her own setup.",{"id":1141,"authority":1142,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":1143,"diet":1144,"difficulty":1146,"dryHumidity":1147,"escapeRisk":127,"experience":726,"extension":18,"finder":727,"founding":128,"growth":167,"guide":1148,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":1149,"hibernationTemperature":1150,"humidity":1151,"image":1152,"imageHeight":733,"imageWidth":27,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":40,"maxWorkers":401,"nests":1153,"nuptialFlightMonths":1154,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1155,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":1156,"regions":1157,"scientificName":1158,"stem":1159,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1160,"tribe":104,"workerSize":1161,"__hash__":1162,"slug":1163,"genus":1164,"nickname":1165,"aliases":1166,"tagline":1169,"identification":1170,"notes":1171},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fmessor-barbarus.yml","(Linnaeus, 1767)",[10],[13,78,1145],"seeds",1,[96,211],"how-to-care-for-messor-barbarus",[96,79],[29,85],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fmessor-barbarus\u002FMessor_barbarus_major_2.jpeg",[92,32,33],[53,131],[37],[40,369],[98,99],"Messor barbarus","species\u002Fmessor-barbarus",[103,146],[79,95],"NNmqBJYkSjNnKCAA8XawT2Y3XLgj6LXAmazPNU2S8Mo","messor-barbarus","Messor","Harvester ant",[1167,1168],"Mediterranean harvester ant","Barbary harvester ant","A calm, clumsy seed harvester with huge-headed majors, and my top pick for beginners.","Black workers in many sizes, from small minors to majors with an oversized red head that cracks seeds. They walk slowly and clumsily, and they are poor climbers.",[1172,1174,1176,1178],{"kind":63,"text":1173},"Give the nest a humidity gradient: dry granaries keep the seeds from sprouting or going moldy, while the brood needs the humid chambers.",{"kind":63,"text":1175},"Seeds alone can feed the whole colony, but a few insects once the colony has grown a bit speed up the growth of the brood.",{"kind":66,"text":1177},"The workers can chew through Ytong, so keep a Ytong nest inside a closed plastic or glass enclosure.",{"kind":66,"text":1179},"Husks and leftovers pile up in a corner of the outworld: clear this waste dump regularly before it grows mold.",{"id":1181,"authority":123,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":1182,"diet":1183,"difficulty":52,"dryHumidity":1184,"escapeRisk":127,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":1185,"hibernationTemperature":1186,"humidity":1187,"image":1188,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":362,"maxWorkers":363,"nests":1189,"nuptialFlightMonths":1190,"nuptialFlightTime":295,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1191,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":1192,"regions":1193,"scientificName":1194,"stem":1195,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1196,"tribe":104,"workerSize":1197,"__hash__":1198,"slug":1199,"genus":1164,"nickname":1200,"aliases":1201,"tagline":1202,"identification":1203,"notes":1204},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fmessor-capitatus.yml",[10],[1145,78,13],[178,87],[29,52],[96,253],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fmessor-capitatus\u002Fmessor-capitatus.jpg",[92,32,33],[53,131],[37],[362,253],[98,99],"Messor capitatus","species\u002Fmessor-capitatus",[177,337],[126,95],"n8Hv6Us1_6GnzmKe4_fbpP_Dvb7-zwGaghO6tmE9Rs8","messor-capitatus","European seed harvesting ant",[],"A glossy black seed harvester with big-headed majors that grind tough seeds into ant bread on dry, rocky ground.","Glossy, uniformly black workers of many sizes, with big-headed majors that walk slowly and clumsily. Unlike Messor barbarus, the majors have a black head instead of a red one and an angular rear of the thorax instead of a rounded one.",[1205,1207,1209,1211],{"kind":63,"text":1206},"Give the first workers small seeds such as dandelion or grass seeds, which even the smallest of them can crush on their own. The queen herself can help crack the harder seeds that the first workers cannot open yet.",{"kind":63,"text":1208},"They share no liquid food mouth to mouth, so keep water and food available at all times. Cover the water spot with cotton or small stones, because the clumsy workers can drown in open water.",{"kind":66,"text":1210},"They are strong diggers that tunnel through Ytong and softened plaster, mostly where it is damp. Leave a thick wall between the chambers and the glass.",{"kind":66,"text":1212},"Make the winter rest properly cool, not half-way. In a long-running Italian diary, a colony kept at in-between temperatures lost a number of workers in late winter, which a myrmecologist suspected was because the ants were too inactive to make the substances that normally keep mold and bacteria in check, and it recovered once it was warmed up.",{"id":1214,"authority":1215,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":1216,"diet":1217,"difficulty":52,"dryHumidity":1218,"escapeRisk":127,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":82,"hibernationMonths":1219,"hibernationTemperature":1220,"humidity":1221,"image":1222,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":96,"maxWorkers":363,"nests":1223,"nuptialFlightMonths":1224,"nuptialFlightTime":1114,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1225,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":1226,"regions":1227,"scientificName":1228,"stem":1229,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1230,"tribe":104,"workerSize":1231,"__hash__":1232,"slug":1233,"genus":1164,"nickname":1234,"aliases":1235,"tagline":1236,"identification":1237,"notes":1238},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fmessor-ebeninus.yml","Santschi, 1927",[10],[1145,78,13],[178,87],[1146,52],[253,171],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fmessor-ebeninus\u002Fmessor-ebeninus.jpg",[92,32,33],[131,29],[37],[131,29],[299,99],"Messor ebeninus","species\u002Fmessor-ebeninus",[177,337],[126,95],"NBoCzvYsSEeaIvBL_E06CN9vtyUaArJuywqeQDJ3rjE","messor-ebeninus","Ebony harvester ant",[],"A glossy ebony-black harvester ant of the Middle East that stores its seeds upstairs and raises its brood in damp soil far below.","Shiny, evenly black workers of several sizes, with at most a slightly reddish thorax in the smallest ones, which sets them apart from the red-headed majors of Messor barbarus. Middle Eastern Messor are hard to tell apart even for specialists and shops often write cf., so this sheet follows the black form sold as ebeninus.",[1239,1241,1243,1245],{"kind":63,"text":1240},"Copy the two floors of the wild nest: a dry upper part for the seed store and a damp lower part for the queen and brood. In a Ytong or plaster nest, water only one end and leave the other end dry.",{"kind":63,"text":1242},"Start the first workers on very small, soft seeds. In a rearing study of wild queens in Lebanon, the first workers ignored big, tough legume seeds and sugary food, and early colonies failed for lack of suitable seeds until tiny seeds of the geranium family were offered.",{"kind":66,"text":1244},"A queen caught after the autumn flight lays only in late winter, so a tube without eggs for months is normal. A young colony then grows slowly: in that study it had only a few dozen workers by the next autumn.",{"kind":66,"text":1246},"Open water is a drowning trap for Messor, so cover water spots with small stones or cotton. Feed the seeds in the outworld only and remove leftovers before they mold.",{"id":1248,"authority":1249,"colonyStructure":653,"defense":1250,"diet":1251,"difficulty":52,"dryHumidity":1252,"escapeRisk":127,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":82,"hibernationMonths":1253,"hibernationTemperature":1254,"humidity":1255,"image":1256,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":96,"maxWorkers":1257,"nests":1258,"nuptialFlightMonths":1259,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":1260,"regions":1261,"scientificName":1262,"stem":1263,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1264,"tribe":104,"workerSize":1265,"__hash__":1266,"slug":1267,"genus":1164,"nickname":1268,"aliases":1269,"tagline":1270,"identification":1271,"notes":1272},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fmessor-ibericus.yml","Santschi, 1925",[10],[1145,78,13],[178,87],[131,52],[96,253],[211,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fmessor-ibericus\u002Fmessor-ibericus.jpg",3500,[92,137,32],[126,217],[53,96],[98],"Messor ibericus","species\u002Fmessor-ibericus",[177,337],[126,95],"2NvbTb3Jrc90cLU5OCA6PRI_bLVohp5t0YlK9ZVHqas","messor-ibericus","Iberian harvester ant",[],"A hairy brown seed harvester of southern Europe whose queens raise hybrid workers by cloning the males of another species.","Reddish brown to dark brown workers of many sizes, with abundant hairs, duller than the glossy black Messor capitatus. It is a near twin of Messor structor: only a microscope shows its slightly shorter first antennal segment after the scape, and its queens are smaller, so around the Mediterranean the place it comes from is the best clue.",[1273,1275,1277,1279],{"kind":63,"text":1274},"A warm, fairly dry nest suits it. The team behind the 2025 Nature study kept 65 colonies in a room at 25 °C and 40% humidity and fed them grass seeds. Add a water tube or one damp corner, but keep the seed store dry, because seeds that get too damp sprout and the workers then carry them out.",{"kind":66,"text":1276},"A queen picked up next to a nest may never get started alone. In Italy, winged queens were seen waiting at the nest entrance instead of flying off, and keepers report that they mate on the ground, then go back into the nest or leave with a group of workers, and rarely found a colony alone. Collect a few workers with such a queen, or start from a colony that already has some.",{"kind":63,"text":1278},"Seeds are the staple, with small dandelion or grass seeds for the first workers. Add insects as the colony grows: an Italian colony of a few thousand workers took 12 to 15 crickets or mealworms a week. Sweet ripe fruit tends to be more popular than honey.",{"kind":66,"text":1280},"The workers dig into plaster and Ytong where it gets damp. One Italian colony tunneled through softened plaster into the water tank of its nest, so leave thick walls around the chambers. Another keeper painted a Ytong nest with acrylic paint, and the ants dug only where it was unpainted.",{"id":1282,"authority":123,"colonyStructure":1283,"defense":1284,"diet":1285,"difficulty":52,"dryHumidity":1286,"escapeRisk":127,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":1287,"hibernationTemperature":1288,"humidity":1289,"image":1290,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":96,"maxWorkers":15,"nests":1291,"nuptialFlightMonths":1292,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":1293,"regions":1294,"scientificName":1295,"stem":1296,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1297,"tribe":104,"workerSize":1298,"__hash__":1299,"slug":1300,"genus":1164,"nickname":57,"aliases":1301,"tagline":1302,"identification":1303,"notes":1304},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fmessor-structor.yml","polygyne",[10],[1145,78,13],[178,87],[131,52],[95,29],[87,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fmessor-structor\u002Fmessor-structor.jpg",[92,32,33],[126,217],[53,131],[98],"Messor structor","species\u002Fmessor-structor",[177,337],[126,95],"T1zSty9n1FaL2EAJVEBogXtV8uIyH-kjRofBTANMwSQ","messor-structor",[],"A rough-skinned brown harvester ant that shares its nest with many queens and spreads by splitting off new colonies.","Light to dark brown workers of many sizes, sometimes nearly black, with abundant hairs and a coarse, striated surface that looks duller than the glossy black Messor capitatus. Since 2018 the name covers only one of five species once lumped together, and ants collected around the Mediterranean and sold as structor are very likely Messor ibericus, which is hard to tell apart without measurements under a microscope but is kept the same way.",[1305,1307,1309,1311],{"kind":63,"text":1306},"Start with a queen that comes with workers, or put several queens together. French keepers report that lone queens often fail to found a colony in captivity, because the species seems to start new nests mostly by budding.",{"kind":63,"text":1308},"Offer dead insects and very ripe sweet fruit next to the seeds. French keepers say it needs them more than other harvester ants do, and honey is often ignored.",{"kind":66,"text":1310},"The workers dig into aerated concrete and plaster, mostly when they run short of space. Coat a Ytong nest with mortar, tile glue or resin plaster, or use acrylic, and never leave thin walls.",{"kind":66,"text":1312},"A damp nest full of rotting seeds is ideal for detritivorous mites. Laying stops, activity drops and the brood disappears, so keep one dry zone for storing seeds, freeze seeds and insects before feeding, and remove spoiled seeds.",{"id":1314,"authority":1315,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":1316,"diet":1317,"difficulty":52,"dryHumidity":1318,"escapeRisk":127,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":1319,"hibernationTemperature":1320,"humidity":1321,"image":1322,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":96,"maxWorkers":363,"nests":1323,"nuptialFlightMonths":1324,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1325,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":1326,"regions":1327,"scientificName":1328,"stem":1329,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1330,"tribe":104,"workerSize":1331,"__hash__":1332,"slug":1333,"genus":1164,"nickname":1334,"aliases":1335,"tagline":1336,"identification":1337,"notes":1338},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fmessor-wasmanni.yml","Krausse, 1910",[10],[1145,78,13],[178,87],[29,52],[29,253],[87,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fmessor-wasmanni\u002Fmessor-wasmanni.jpg",[92,32,33],[53,131],[37],[29,40],[98,299],"Messor wasmanni","species\u002Fmessor-wasmanni",[177,146],[126,95],"sCaXveU5vZl7BWtXf3kI7vU-sQuGmeTSM3_xT9ls_s0","messor-wasmanni","Wasmann's harvester ant",[],"A big-headed seed harvester of sunny Italian and Balkan grasslands, with tidy trails to its nest and a name still written with a cautious cf.","Workers come in many sizes, from small minors to big-headed majors, and the big ones usually have a red thorax and a darker, glossy gaster, never all black like Messor capitatus. Messor minor and reddish Messor bouvieri can be hard to tell apart from it, and cf. in the trade name means the identification is unconfirmed, so this sheet follows the form that European shops sell under it.",[1339,1341,1343,1345],{"kind":63,"text":1340},"Offer whole seed heads of grasses now and then, not only loose seeds: in the wild these ants pick seeds straight from the plant as well as from the ground.",{"kind":63,"text":1342},"Give the colony one dry chamber for the seed store and a separate moist one for the brood, and never spray water into the nest, because wet seeds sprout or mold. Cover every open water spot with small stones or cotton, since Messor workers drown easily.",{"kind":66,"text":1344},"A queen caught after the autumn flight usually starts laying only in spring, after the winter rest, so an empty-looking test tube all winter is normal. Keep it dark and quiet instead of checking on her.",{"kind":66,"text":1346},"Care sheets describe young colonies as very sensitive to light and vibration, so keep the nest dark and on a stable surface instead of a shelf that gets bumped.",{"id":1348,"authority":1349,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":1350,"diet":1351,"difficulty":217,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":22,"hibernationMonths":15,"hibernationTemperature":15,"humidity":1352,"image":1353,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":53,"maxWorkers":363,"nests":1354,"nuptialFlightMonths":1355,"nuptialFlightTime":139,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1356,"polymorphism":38,"queenSize":1357,"regions":1358,"scientificName":1359,"stem":1360,"subfamily":225,"temperature":1361,"tribe":948,"workerSize":1362,"__hash__":1363,"slug":1364,"genus":1365,"nickname":1366,"aliases":1367,"tagline":1369,"identification":1370,"notes":1371},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fmyrmecocystus-mexicanus.yml","Wesmael, 1838",[10,206],[13,78],[211,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fmyrmecocystus-mexicanus\u002Fmyrmecocystus-mexicanus.jpg",[92,33,32],[14,53],[37],[29,253],[42],"Myrmecocystus mexicanus","species\u002Fmyrmecocystus-mexicanus",[146,178],[126,95],"X89p1diZOHkAmbQL8WfUgdAVxyKHzjPxNfTuz70_ad4","myrmecocystus-mexicanus","Myrmecocystus","Mexican honeypot ant",[1368],"Golden honeypot ant","A nocturnal desert ant whose swollen workers hang from the ceiling like golden jars to store the colony's sugar.","Pale yellow to light tan, long-legged workers with large eyes and a slightly darker head, in many sizes and mostly active at night, each foraging alone. The amber repletes hanging in the nest mark the genus, but telling this species from look-alikes such as Myrmecocystus testaceus needs a microscope, and the queens in the hobby are caught after wild flights, so the name rests on the collector's identification.",[1372,1374,1376,1378],{"kind":66,"text":1373},"Give the repletes a rough, solid ceiling to hang from, such as plaster, Ytong or a coated surface, because smooth glass and plastic are a poor grip and a replete that falls may not get back up. Keep the nest in a quiet spot, since vibrations and bright light unsettle the colony.",{"kind":66,"text":1375},"Repletes cannot walk, so the colony will not simply move into a bigger nest on its own: expect to move the ants by hand, repletes included, and do it as rarely as possible, because repletes left behind are easily lost.",{"kind":63,"text":1377},"Heat only part of the nest so the ants can choose their spot, and test any new heater carefully: in one journal a queen was baked by a lamp. Then keep temperature, moisture and food steady, because an experienced keeper warns that a colony can collapse as fast as it grows.",{"kind":63,"text":1379},"Offer sugar early and often, and rotate the sources (honey water, ant nectar, maple syrup): repletes only fill when the sugar flows steadily, and sugar water that has started to ferment should be replaced. Give protein as small pre-killed insects, since these ants scavenge more than they hunt.",{"id":1381,"authority":164,"colonyStructure":1283,"defense":1382,"diet":1383,"difficulty":35,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":20,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":1384,"hibernationTemperature":1385,"humidity":1386,"image":1387,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":214,"nests":1388,"nuptialFlightMonths":1389,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1390,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1391,"regions":1392,"scientificName":1393,"stem":1394,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1395,"tribe":1121,"workerSize":1396,"__hash__":1397,"slug":1398,"genus":1399,"nickname":1400,"aliases":1401,"tagline":1404,"identification":1405,"notes":1406},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fmyrmica-rubra.yml",[10,76],[13,78],[96,79],[35,95],[87,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fmyrmica-rubra\u002Fmyrmica-rubra.jpg",[92,33,137],[95,53],[220],[35,14],[98,332],"Myrmica rubra","species\u002Fmyrmica-rubra",[171,227],[126,217],"Bwga5r06ijk4jP5veHZ0_FgpBrCuUrCs1OJQ0ezxRmE","myrmica-rubra","Myrmica","European fire ant",[1402,1403],"Common red ant","Ruby ant","A feisty red ant of damp meadows that lives in sprawling multi-queen colonies and defends its nest with a nettle-like sting.","Reddish-brown to rusty-red workers with a darker head, a shiny gaster and two sharp spines on the back of the thorax. They are easy to mix up with other Myrmica such as Myrmica ruginodis, M. scabrinodis and M. sabuleti, so a sure species ID usually needs a microscope, and the queen is only a little bigger than a worker.",[1407,1409,1411,1413],{"kind":63,"text":1408},"Keep the nest damp all the time. Keepers favor plaster nests for this species, and a Ytong block that dries out too fast does better standing in a tray of water, so the ants can choose between a wet bottom and a drier top.",{"kind":66,"text":1410},"Heat and dryness are what kill this species. A warm room or a nest that dries out can cause sudden die-offs, so keep the colony in the coolest spot of the home and never let the water reservoir run empty.",{"kind":63,"text":1412},"A colony that has lost its queen often accepts a new one, even from another nest, and keepers have merged colonies with only minor scuffles, so a queenless nest is not a lost cause.",{"kind":66,"text":1414},"Founding queens hunt outside the nest and need food from the start, and young queens are rarely found at the flights: the ones seen hunting often already belong to a nest, so catching them is not recommended. That is why keepers usually start with a small colony instead of a single queen.",{"id":1416,"authority":1417,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":1418,"diet":1419,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":22,"hibernationMonths":15,"hibernationTemperature":15,"humidity":1420,"image":1421,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":363,"nests":1422,"nuptialFlightMonths":1423,"nuptialFlightTime":139,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1424,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1425,"regions":1426,"scientificName":1427,"stem":1428,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1429,"tribe":104,"workerSize":1430,"__hash__":1431,"slug":1432,"genus":1433,"nickname":1434,"aliases":1435,"tagline":1438,"identification":1439,"notes":1440},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fnovomessor-cockerelli.yml","(André, 1893)",[10],[78,13],[87,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fnovomessor-cockerelli\u002Fnovomessor-cockerelli.jpg",[92,32,33],[14,95],[37],[131,40],[42],"Novomessor cockerelli","species\u002Fnovomessor-cockerelli",[49,770],[14,96],"WPCaIsA5hybuZEAOE6aBwYUsLTaWOawVPmnbj9xMyFA","novomessor-cockerelli","Novomessor","Desert harvester ant",[1436,1437],"Cockerell's harvester ant","Desert long-legged ant","A leggy desert scavenger whose workers team up to haul prey far too big for a single ant.","Large, slender, long-legged ants, brown to reddish-brown with a blackish gaster, a long narrow head and two spines on the back of the thorax. Novomessor albisetosus looks very similar and is told apart by the shape of the head, so check the head before assuming which of the two you have.",[1441,1443,1445,1447],{"kind":63,"text":1442},"Heat is the main lever. Keep part of the nest hot and leave a cooler, moister corner: colonies kept at room temperature stagnate, while warm ones raise new workers in about a month. Keep the heat source away from the water reservoir so no condensation forms.",{"kind":66,"text":1444},"Feed more protein than seeds. The workers take insects much more readily than seeds and do not build up food stores like their seed-hoarding relatives, so long gaps between feedings are risky. Some keepers lost freshly hatched workers in small colonies without ever finding the cause; fattier prey and more warmth were the usual suggestions. Clear leftovers within a day, because rotting protein brings mites and mold.",{"kind":66,"text":1446},"These are desert ants, so keep most of the nest on the dry side and offer only a small moist retreat for the brood. An over-watered nest made one colony abandon it, and keepers stress that these ants like it dry.",{"kind":66,"text":1448},"Fast, agile and endlessly curious, they test every edge of the outworld, so use a snug lid and a reliable barrier such as fluon, and renew it regularly.",{"id":1450,"authority":1451,"colonyStructure":653,"defense":1452,"diet":1453,"difficulty":14,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":22,"hibernationMonths":15,"hibernationTemperature":15,"humidity":1454,"image":1455,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":96,"maxWorkers":135,"nests":1456,"nuptialFlightMonths":15,"nuptialFlightTime":1114,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":697,"queenSize":1457,"regions":1458,"scientificName":1460,"stem":1461,"subfamily":225,"temperature":1462,"tribe":1463,"workerSize":1464,"__hash__":1465,"slug":1466,"genus":1467,"nickname":1468,"aliases":1469,"tagline":1472,"identification":1473,"notes":1474},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Foecophylla-smaragdina.yml","(Fabricius, 1775)",[10,206],[13,78],[88,169],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Foecophylla-smaragdina\u002Foecophylla-smaragdina.jpg",[33,905],[145,227],[332,1459],"oceania","Oecophylla smaragdina","species\u002Foecophylla-smaragdina",[336,178],"Oecophyllini",[35,95],"P-laPEs1-dTWJAnISdHa6qVLhj_MHftbvRVYsKH0u48","oecophylla-smaragdina","Oecophylla","Asian weaver ant",[1470,1471],"Green tree ant","Green ant","Long-legged tree ants that stitch living leaves into nests with silk from their own larvae, and an expert-level challenge to keep.","Slender, long-legged workers of two size classes, small minors and larger majors, orange to brown in Asian stock and with a green gaster in Australian stock, plus large green to brown queens. Shops sell both forms under the same name, and the leaf nests stitched together with larval silk give the species away; the only other Oecophylla, O. longinoda, lives in Africa, and the black, spiny Polyrhachis dives is a different kind of weaver ant.",[1475,1477,1479,1481],{"kind":63,"text":1476},"Build the setup around a living, healthy host plant with large, flexible leaves, such as weeping fig (Ficus benjamina), coffee or citrus. One keeper's nests on money tree leaves turned brown and had to be rebuilt every few weeks, which stressed a small colony, while nests on coffee and hibiscus lasted for months.",{"kind":66,"text":1478},"Wash the plant, replace its soil and let it stand for a while before the ants move in. Nursery plants are often treated with insecticide, and keepers lost workers to the residues, in one case from new plants that had been washed, repotted and left for months before they joined a running colony.",{"kind":66,"text":1480},"Treat them as escape artists with an extraordinary grip: a colony in a 2024 keeping report walked over an oil barrier without trouble. Combine a tight lid with fine mesh, or stand the pot on an island surrounded by water with a drop of dish soap to break the surface tension.",{"kind":63,"text":1482},"Leave founding queens alone. Keep the tube still, dark and damp, because dry tubes are a common reason founding fails, and avoid checking too often, since stressed workers eat their own brood.",{"id":1484,"authority":1485,"colonyStructure":653,"defense":1486,"diet":1487,"difficulty":14,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":726,"extension":18,"finder":727,"founding":128,"growth":167,"guide":1488,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":1489,"hibernationTemperature":1490,"humidity":1491,"image":1492,"imageHeight":975,"imageWidth":27,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":217,"maxWorkers":401,"nests":1493,"nuptialFlightMonths":1494,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":697,"queenSize":1495,"regions":1496,"scientificName":1497,"stem":1498,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1499,"tribe":50,"workerSize":1500,"__hash__":1501,"slug":1502,"genus":1503,"nickname":1504,"aliases":1505,"tagline":1508,"identification":1509,"notes":1510},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fpheidole-pallidula.yml","(Nylander, 1849)",[10],[13,78,1145],"how-to-care-for-pheidole-pallidula",[131,79],[29,85],[212,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fpheidole-pallidula\u002Fpheidole_pallidula_colony_inside_test_tube.jpeg",[32,33],[35,95],[14,95],[98,99],"Pheidole pallidula","species\u002Fpheidole-pallidula",[103,337],[52,126],"NeIyn6f-XEFAQ4N2wDfr4tkM07L_286qgZk8N4inmjM","pheidole-pallidula","Pheidole","Big-headed ant",[1506,1507],"Pallid big-headed ant","Pallid ant","Tiny minors, big-headed majors and a real talent for escaping.","Light yellowish to reddish-brown workers of two kinds: small, quick minors and majors whose head looks far too big for their body. The majors carry strong, sharp jaws.",[1511,1513,1515,1517],{"kind":63,"text":1512},"Offer a few small seeds next to the sugar and insects: the big-headed majors crack them open so the whole colony can eat the soft part inside.",{"kind":63,"text":1514},"They like consistently moist chambers. If the nest dries out too quickly, rearrange the setup so it holds moisture better: in a naturalistic setup, a piece of wood or a bark substrate helps.",{"kind":66,"text":1516},"They are notorious escape artists and the minors are tiny, so use a tightly layered acrylic nest, or an enclosure with no gaps between its parts for a naturalistic setup.",{"kind":66,"text":1518},"A normal refrigerator is too cold for their winter rest: a cool basement, garage or unheated room is a better place to hibernate them.",{"id":1520,"authority":123,"colonyStructure":1283,"defense":1521,"diet":1522,"difficulty":35,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":82,"hibernationMonths":1523,"hibernationTemperature":1524,"humidity":1525,"image":1526,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":363,"nests":1527,"nuptialFlightMonths":1528,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1529,"regions":1531,"scientificName":1532,"stem":1533,"subfamily":225,"temperature":1534,"tribe":1535,"workerSize":1536,"__hash__":1538,"slug":1539,"genus":1540,"nickname":57,"aliases":1541,"tagline":1542,"identification":1543,"notes":1544},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fplagiolepis-pygmaea.yml",[10,206],[13,78],[131,52],[96,253],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fplagiolepis-pygmaea\u002Fplagiolepis-pygmaea.jpg",[92,137,905],[217,95],[79,1530],4.5,[98,299],"Plagiolepis pygmaea","species\u002Fplagiolepis-pygmaea",[103,337],"Plagiolepidini",[1537,52],1.3,"GpxOpEsWdQfqmKaHnvutWgKnc69uOujbsFk-nj9Zd7I","plagiolepis-pygmaea","Plagiolepis",[],"A pinhead-sized, sun-loving ant that lives in networks of many-queened nests and slips through the smallest gap.","Minute, shiny brown to blackish workers, often with paler yellowish legs and antennae, so small they look like moving specks, and with abdomens that swell round when they are full of liquid food. Several very similar Plagiolepis species exist, so a sure identification needs a microscope: the differences are tiny details such as the proportions of the antennal segments.",[1545,1547,1549,1551],{"kind":63,"text":1546},"Offer sugar as a smear of crystallized honey or on a tiny scrap of foil, and keep any cotton only lightly moist: a single drop or a soggy plug can trap or drown several workers at once.",{"kind":66,"text":1548},"Plan the escape barrier before the first workers hatch, and watch every joint: workers crowd into the thin gap between a test tube and its plug or a connecting tube, and Italian keepers lost many there, either crushed when the plastic expanded again after the winter rest or killed by accident when the plug was opened.",{"kind":63,"text":1550},"Copy their natural habitat of sun-warmed, dry ground with stones. Give the nest a warm side and a drier zone next to the damp brood chambers, and let the colony choose where to put the brood.",{"kind":66,"text":1552},"Offer tiny dead prey such as fruit flies or pieces of mosquito, because Italian keepers advise against live insects for ants this small (springtails are the exception), and remove leftovers before they grow mold. Sugar is the staple and laboratory colonies have even lived for years on honey alone, but small protein portions at regular intervals feed a fast-growing brood.",{"id":1554,"authority":898,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":1555,"diet":1556,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":1557,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":82,"hibernationMonths":1558,"hibernationTemperature":1559,"humidity":1560,"image":1561,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":214,"nests":1562,"nuptialFlightMonths":1563,"nuptialFlightTime":295,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1564,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1565,"regions":1566,"scientificName":1567,"stem":1568,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1569,"tribe":1570,"workerSize":1571,"__hash__":1572,"slug":1573,"genus":1574,"nickname":1575,"aliases":1576,"tagline":1578,"identification":1579,"notes":1580},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fpogonomyrmex-barbatus.yml",[10,1106],[1145,78,13],[178,87],[29,52],[29,85],[87,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fpogonomyrmex-barbatus\u002Fpogonomyrmex-barbatus.jpg",[33,92,32],[217,53],[37,219,220],[131,362],[42],"Pogonomyrmex barbatus","species\u002Fpogonomyrmex-barbatus",[146,770],"Pogonomyrmecini",[217,96],"pf7Nz3XVvhdgvtuykbp4NUqWadW9vCDKABFs_zMuoSw","pogonomyrmex-barbatus","Pogonomyrmex","Red harvester ant",[1577],"Texas harvester ant","A big red seed harvester of southwestern deserts and grasslands, with a painful sting and colonies that live for 20 to 30 years.","Large workers, rusty red to deep red all over, with a beard of long hairs under the head, fine ridges on the head and a pair of spines at the back of the thorax. Pogonomyrmex rugosus is dark brown to blackish with a lighter, contrasting gaster and coarse, widely spaced head ridges, while P. occidentalis and P. californicus are smaller, and californicus has no thorax spines.",[1581,1583,1585,1587],{"kind":63,"text":1582},"Heat is what makes them grow. Keep the warm end of the nest at about 30 °C with a heat cable or mat and let the rest stay cooler. Sellers report that brood develops much more slowly below about 24 °C and that colonies barely grow at plain room temperature.",{"kind":66,"text":1584},"Honey water alone is not enough. One keeper fed eight young colonies only honey water and watched their brood shrink, and was told to leave out crushed seeds and give insects two to three times a week. Offer small seeds such as Kentucky bluegrass, dandelion or chia, and remove any that sprout or turn moldy.",{"kind":63,"text":1586},"A founding queen can raise her first workers without food, but she does need moisture: in a lab study, water was the main factor in founding success. One keeper warns that Pogonomyrmex do not last long in a test tube alone, so move the young colony to a sand or soil setup with a damp corner. Give water through a plugged tube, not an open dish, since workers drown even in small drops.",{"kind":66,"text":1588},"In the United States, moving any ant across state lines needs a USDA PPQ 526 permit. Buy only from a seller whose permit covers your state, since sellers may ship this species only to the states where it is native, or collect a local queen after the summer rains, which needs no USDA permit.",{"id":1590,"authority":1591,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":1592,"diet":1593,"difficulty":35,"dryHumidity":1594,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":82,"hibernationMonths":1595,"hibernationTemperature":1596,"humidity":1597,"image":1598,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":1599,"nests":1600,"nuptialFlightMonths":1601,"nuptialFlightTime":295,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1602,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1603,"regions":1604,"scientificName":1605,"stem":1606,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1607,"tribe":1570,"workerSize":1608,"__hash__":1609,"slug":1610,"genus":1574,"nickname":1611,"aliases":1612,"tagline":1613,"identification":1614,"notes":1615},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fpogonomyrmex-rugosus.yml","Emery, 1895",[10,1106],[1145,78,13],[178,87],[29,52],[362,85],[87,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fpogonomyrmex-rugosus\u002Fpogonomyrmex-rugosus.jpg",8000,[33,92,32],[14,53],[37,219,367],[29,40],[42],"Pogonomyrmex rugosus","species\u002Fpogonomyrmex-rugosus",[146,178],[14,53],"HEYlUSjbhnUio18nhJt1Y3A01MQSgs-6dpdjy2Oc_Fs","pogonomyrmex-rugosus","Rough harvester ant",[],"A heavy desert seed harvester with deep granaries, a bare disk around its nest and a painful sting.","Big, heavy-built workers, reddish brown to almost black (desert populations often have a lighter, redder gaster), with coarse, wrinkled ridges on the head and thorax and a beard of long hairs under the head. Color usually tells it from the red harvester ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus, which is red all over, while P. rugosus is darker with a contrasting lighter gaster. When the color is unclear, look at the head: P. rugosus has coarse, widely spaced ridges, P. barbatus fine ones.",[1616,1618,1620,1622],{"kind":63,"text":1617},"Seeds are the staple: offer a mix of small grass and weed seeds such as dandelion, chia, canary seed and millet, plus a few small insects each week. Keep the seed stores dry and clear out seeds that sprout or turn moldy. Sugar liquids are optional, and some keepers lost workers in them, so offer them sparingly.",{"kind":66,"text":1619},"A founding queen needs no food at all, but she does need patience: she does better in sand or dirt where she can dig than in a bare tube, where some queens eat their eggs, and a young colony can stay tiny for months before it takes off. Keep it warm and undisturbed instead of tinkering.",{"kind":66,"text":1621},"The sting is painful and can trigger serious allergic reactions in sensitive people, and the workers use it when the nest is opened or a lid slips. Move them with tube connectors rather than fingers, and think twice if anyone in the household is allergic to ant or wasp stings.",{"kind":63,"text":1623},"Heat one side of the nest only, keep the heater away from the water tube because the warmth can make it flood, and give the brood one damp chamber next to the dry seed store.",{"id":1625,"authority":1626,"colonyStructure":1283,"defense":1627,"diet":1628,"difficulty":35,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":20,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":22,"hibernationMonths":15,"hibernationTemperature":15,"humidity":1629,"image":1630,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":90,"nests":1631,"nuptialFlightMonths":15,"nuptialFlightTime":15,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1632,"regions":1633,"scientificName":1634,"stem":1635,"subfamily":225,"temperature":1636,"tribe":228,"workerSize":1637,"__hash__":1638,"slug":1639,"genus":1640,"nickname":1641,"aliases":1642,"tagline":1644,"identification":1645,"notes":1646},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fpolyrhachis-dives.yml","Smith, 1857",[10,206],[13,78],[212,24],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fpolyrhachis-dives\u002Fpolyrhachis-dives.jpg",[33,32,92],[53,29],[332,1459],"Polyrhachis dives","species\u002Fpolyrhachis-dives",[227,178],[35,95],"riu0tZgjReCODEZykSocHZKmsTmOIveZvz6jdDN-8Os","polyrhachis-dives","Polyrhachis","Asian spiny weaver ant",[1643],"Chinese black ant","A spiny, fast-moving climber that weaves its nests with silk from its own larvae and lives in colonies with many queens.","Black workers, all of one size, with a silvery to golden sheen from the fine hairs on the gaster and the sharp spines on the thorax and the petiole that give the genus Polyrhachis its name. When disturbed they sit back on the gaster with its tip pointed up, ready to spray acid, and unlike the long-legged, orange or green Oecophylla weaver ants they are black and spiny.",[1647,1649,1651,1653],{"kind":63,"text":1648},"Give them a tall setup with cork bark, twigs, moss and dry plant material, and let them weave their own nest. Keepers report colonies moving into a cork piece, a hollow seed pod or a cavity in wood, while a heated nest basin offered to them was ignored at first.",{"kind":66,"text":1650},"Seal the setup completely and do not rely on an oil film alone. One keeper saw a worker, startled by a twitching cricket, race far up an oiled glass wall before slipping back, and a new colony vanished through a small gap into the electronics of a thermometer housing. Keepers combine an oil or PTFE barrier with talcum, a tight lid and fine gauze.",{"kind":63,"text":1652},"Offer pre-killed prey. Frozen crickets were accepted as readily as fresh ones, and one colony ignored live prey altogether. The workers are also very thirsty and hungry, so keep a water dish in the outworld at all times and expect a lot of food to disappear.",{"kind":66,"text":1654},"Do not expect to start with a single founding queen. Colonies reach hobbyists as offshoots with a queen or a few queens and their workers, and how lone queens found a colony is poorly documented. Keep the starter colony in a small space: one keeper whose colony stagnated suspected that the offered space was far too big.",{"id":1656,"authority":123,"colonyStructure":653,"defense":1657,"diet":1658,"difficulty":14,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":82,"hibernationMonths":1659,"hibernationTemperature":1660,"humidity":1661,"image":1662,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":15,"nests":1663,"nuptialFlightMonths":1664,"nuptialFlightTime":295,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1665,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1666,"regions":1667,"scientificName":1668,"stem":1669,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1670,"tribe":1671,"workerSize":1672,"__hash__":1675,"slug":1676,"genus":1677,"nickname":1678,"aliases":1679,"tagline":1681,"identification":1682,"notes":1683},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Fsolenopsis-fugax.yml",[10,76],[78,13],[131,52],[35,96],[87,326],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Fsolenopsis-fugax\u002Fsolenopsis-fugax.jpg",[32,92,905],[95,96],[219],[126,1044],[98,99,299,332],"Solenopsis fugax","species\u002Fsolenopsis-fugax",[103,337],"Solenopsidini",[1673,1674],1.5,2.5,"6jNiq9phAhch9ewLaKqcJ1iUDvReQpWGZ6KglmlLBFY","solenopsis-fugax","Solenopsis","Thief ant",[1680],"European thief ant","A tiny underground thief that tunnels into the nests of bigger ants to steal their brood, and slips through almost any gap.","Tiny pale yellow to brownish-yellow workers with minute eyes that live underground and are rarely seen at the surface, while the queens are far bigger, usually dark brown to blackish, and are easily mistaken for Tetramorium or Plagiolepis queens. Several European thief ants look almost the same, so a sure name needs a microscope.",[1684,1686,1688,1690],{"kind":66,"text":1685},"Do not trust plaster, hot glue or even silicone to hold these workers: an experienced keeper reports that they dig through all three, that only masonry filler lasted, and that the escapes then come through tube connections and glass joints. Seal every join and keep the whole setup inside a closed box.",{"kind":66,"text":1687},"Never place the nest next to a Lasius or Formica colony. An experienced Italian keeper warns that thief ants find a way to their neighbors and carry off the brood, however much food they get.",{"kind":63,"text":1689},"Founding is the hard part and many queens die. Keepers get better results when the test tube holds a layer of moist soil or clay, or is closed with a pierced plastic cap backed by cotton, which keeps the air humid. An experienced Italian keeper also advises leaving the young colony in its tube until it is far bigger than other ants would need.",{"kind":63,"text":1691},"Feed in micro-portions: tiny prey such as fruit flies, springtails or pieces of mosquito, and only a very small drop of diluted honey on cotton, because the workers drown easily.",{"id":1693,"authority":123,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":1694,"diet":1695,"difficulty":79,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":80,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":129,"guide":15,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":1696,"hibernationTemperature":1697,"humidity":1698,"image":1699,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":1700,"nests":1701,"nuptialFlightMonths":1702,"nuptialFlightTime":1114,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1703,"regions":1705,"scientificName":1706,"stem":1707,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1708,"tribe":666,"workerSize":1709,"__hash__":1710,"slug":1711,"genus":1712,"nickname":57,"aliases":1713,"tagline":1714,"identification":1715,"notes":1716},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Ftemnothorax-unifasciatus.yml",[10,76],[13,78],[131,79],[35,96],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Ftemnothorax-unifasciatus\u002Ftemnothorax-unifasciatus.jpg",200,[92,32,33],[14,95],[1704,1530],3.5,[98,99,299],"Temnothorax unifasciatus","species\u002Ftemnothorax-unifasciatus",[145,146],[1674,1704],"P24t1h0AqBStorrLt_ZY0jvd8lkoDepU_-8luthAmHI","temnothorax-unifasciatus","Temnothorax",[],"A tiny, peaceful ant with a dark band across its gaster, small enough that a whole colony can live inside an acorn.","Tiny workers in yellowish to reddish brown, often with a darker head, and a sharply defined dark band across the gaster; the queen is only a little bigger and darker. The band separates it from look-alike Temnothorax such as T. nylanderi, T. tuberum and T. albipennis, but with so many similar small species, a colony sold under this name is worth checking under a magnifier.",[1717,1719,1721,1723],{"kind":63,"text":1718},"Give them seasons instead of a constant warm room: keepers describe a hardy species that does better with cooler nights and a real winter rest. Just keep the nest itself from getting hot and soggy, because a sunny, damp setup cost one keeper about two dozen workers and several pupae.",{"kind":66,"text":1720},"Never put out a free drop of honey or sugar water, because even a tiny drop can trap and drown a worker. Soak a piece of cotton in the liquid instead and replace it often.",{"kind":63,"text":1722},"Offer dead prey in small portions and cut hard-bodied insects open. The workers are not active hunters, but they slip into the joints of an insect, hollow it out and carry it to the brood, and keepers report fruit flies, small crickets and mealworm pieces being accepted.",{"kind":66,"text":1724},"Escape-proof the setup for an ant this small, because the workers test every seam and gap, especially in the first weeks. Keepers combined fine metal mesh over the ventilation holes with a band of paraffin oil or an oil and petroleum jelly mix around the rim, and one found the oil barrier worked better than a mesh-only design.",{"id":1726,"authority":164,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":1727,"diet":1728,"difficulty":126,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":726,"extension":18,"finder":727,"founding":128,"growth":21,"guide":1729,"hibernation":250,"hibernationMonths":1730,"hibernationTemperature":1731,"humidity":1732,"image":1733,"imageHeight":1734,"imageWidth":27,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":15,"nests":1735,"nuptialFlightMonths":1736,"nuptialFlightTime":1114,"nuptialFlightTriggers":15,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1737,"regions":1738,"scientificName":1739,"stem":1740,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1741,"tribe":666,"workerSize":1742,"__hash__":1743,"slug":1744,"genus":1745,"nickname":1746,"aliases":1747,"tagline":1750,"identification":1751,"notes":1752},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Ftetramorium-caespitum.yml",[10,76],[13,78],"how-to-care-for-tetramorium-caespitum",[96,79],[35,95],[87,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Ftetramorium-caespitum\u002Ftetramorium_caespitum_colony_on_rocks_5.jpeg",534,[32,905,33],[217,95],[217,95],[98],"Tetramorium caespitum","species\u002Ftetramorium-caespitum",[103,49],[52,126],"yEa56Ut2WX_J7zEyTdB3jbPeMH_RWZAfTlZkfvt2Rlo","tetramorium-caespitum","Tetramorium","Pavement ant",[1748,1749],"Red pavement ant","Turf ant","Tiny, tough and fast-growing, as long as your nest is escape-proof.","Tiny dark brown to blackish workers with fine ridges on the head and thorax, a smooth shiny gaster and a waist made of two small segments. A pair of short spines sticks out at the back of the thorax.",[1753,1755,1757,1759],{"kind":66,"text":1754},"These ants are masters at finding gaps, so pick an acrylic or test tube-based nest whose layers fit tightly together, and check every join of a naturalistic enclosure.",{"kind":63,"text":1756},"Give this fast grower plenty of protein: once the first workers are out, regular insects feed the queen and the brood.",{"kind":63,"text":1758},"Growth looks slow at first, then takes off once the colony reaches a certain worker count, so have a bigger nest ready before that happens.",{"kind":66,"text":1760},"Several sibling species look almost identical, so the name on a queen you caught or bought is only a good guess: telling them apart takes a microscope and detailed measurements.",{"id":1762,"authority":1215,"colonyStructure":8,"defense":1763,"diet":1764,"difficulty":79,"dryHumidity":15,"escapeRisk":16,"experience":17,"extension":18,"finder":19,"founding":128,"growth":21,"guide":15,"hibernation":82,"hibernationMonths":1765,"hibernationTemperature":1766,"humidity":1767,"image":1768,"imageHeight":27,"imageWidth":28,"keptSince":15,"majorSize":15,"maxWorkers":214,"nests":1769,"nuptialFlightMonths":1770,"nuptialFlightTime":1114,"nuptialFlightTriggers":1771,"polymorphism":93,"queenSize":1772,"regions":1773,"scientificName":1774,"stem":1775,"subfamily":46,"temperature":1776,"tribe":666,"workerSize":1777,"__hash__":1778,"slug":1779,"genus":1745,"nickname":1780,"aliases":1781,"tagline":1783,"identification":1784,"notes":1785},"species\u002Fspecies\u002Ftetramorium-immigrans.yml",[10,76],[78,13,1145],[131,52],[35,96],[211,212],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.brumaants.com\u002Fimages\u002Fspecies\u002Ftetramorium-immigrans\u002Ftetramorium-immigrans.jpg",[905,32,92],[35,14],[220,367],[14,95],[98,299],"Tetramorium immigrans","species\u002Ftetramorium-immigrans",[177,337],[1674,126],"6LaxC0DgImGdNuyiT_lkPC6LgVqLFeB86Ma0AYSVIuA","tetramorium-immigrans","Immigrant pavement ant",[1782],"Tetramorium sp. E","The common pavement ant of North American cities: tiny, tough and fast-growing, it fights mass battles on sidewalks in spring.","Small dark brown to blackish workers with fine parallel ridges on the head and thorax, two short spines at the back of the thorax and a two-segment waist, on average a little larger and more densely sculptured than Tetramorium caespitum. Telling it from T. caespitum or T. impurum takes measurements at 100x magnification or a look at the male genitalia, while the Japanese pavement ant T. tsushimae is slightly smaller with longer spines.",[1786,1788,1790,1792],{"kind":66,"text":1787},"The workers are tiny and test every gap. One keeper saw Tetramorium eat an olive oil barrier, and another had workers slip through a small gap into a neighboring colony's setup, where they were killed at once. Use a tight lid, glue fine steel mesh over the vents and add a second barrier such as Fluon.",{"kind":66,"text":1789},"Several queens kept together can found a nest as a group, but it does not last. In one keeper's five multi-queen groups the workers killed queens until one was left, and two groups ended with no queen at all, so keep one queen per tube.",{"kind":63,"text":1791},"Give the nest a moist end and a dry end, and warm one side only. Keepers report that the workers keep the eggs and larvae in the damp part and move the pupae and seeds to the drier part. In a test tube, heat only the end away from the water, because warming the water can make the tube flood.",{"kind":63,"text":1793},"Feed insects several times a week, keep sugar water available and add a few small seeds such as dandelion, poppy or grass seeds, which the workers collect and store. Remove leftovers within a day and do not give a small colony an oversized nest, because trash builds up in the unused chambers and mold follows.",[1795,1796,1797,1798,1799,1800,1801,1802,1803,1804,1805,1806,1807,1808,1809,1810,1811,1812,1813,1814,1815,1816,1817,1818,1819,1820,1821,1822,1823,1824,1825,1826,1827,1828,1829,1830,1831,1832,1833,1834,1835,1836,1837,1838,1839,1840,1841,1842,1843,1844,1845,1846,1847],"aphaenogaster-subterranea-vs-pheidole-pallidula","aphaenogaster-subterranea-vs-tetramorium-caespitum","camponotus-barbaricus-vs-camponotus-cruentatus","camponotus-barbaricus-vs-camponotus-sylvaticus","camponotus-fallax-vs-camponotus-japonicus","camponotus-fallax-vs-camponotus-lateralis","camponotus-herculeanus-vs-camponotus-japonicus","camponotus-herculeanus-vs-camponotus-ligniperda","camponotus-herculeanus-vs-camponotus-pennsylvanicus","camponotus-herculeanus-vs-camponotus-vagus","camponotus-lateralis-vs-colobopsis-truncata","camponotus-lateralis-vs-crematogaster-scutellaris","camponotus-ligniperda-vs-camponotus-vagus","crematogaster-scutellaris-vs-formica-cinerea","crematogaster-scutellaris-vs-lasius-emarginatus","crematogaster-scutellaris-vs-lasius-niger","crematogaster-scutellaris-vs-messor-barbarus","crematogaster-scutellaris-vs-pheidole-pallidula","crematogaster-scutellaris-vs-tetramorium-caespitum","formica-cinerea-vs-formica-fusca","formica-cinerea-vs-lasius-emarginatus","formica-cinerea-vs-lasius-niger","formica-cinerea-vs-messor-barbarus","formica-cinerea-vs-pheidole-pallidula","formica-cinerea-vs-tetramorium-caespitum","formica-fusca-vs-lasius-niger","lasius-alienus-vs-lasius-niger","lasius-emarginatus-vs-lasius-niger","lasius-emarginatus-vs-messor-barbarus","lasius-emarginatus-vs-pheidole-pallidula","lasius-emarginatus-vs-tetramorium-caespitum","lasius-flavus-vs-lasius-niger","lasius-fuliginosus-vs-lasius-niger","lasius-niger-vs-messor-barbarus","lasius-niger-vs-pheidole-pallidula","lasius-niger-vs-tetramorium-caespitum","manica-rubida-vs-myrmica-rubra","messor-barbarus-vs-messor-capitatus","messor-barbarus-vs-messor-structor","messor-barbarus-vs-pheidole-pallidula","messor-barbarus-vs-tetramorium-caespitum","messor-capitatus-vs-messor-ebeninus","messor-capitatus-vs-messor-ibericus","messor-capitatus-vs-messor-structor","messor-capitatus-vs-messor-wasmanni","messor-ibericus-vs-messor-structor","messor-ibericus-vs-messor-wasmanni","oecophylla-smaragdina-vs-polyrhachis-dives","pheidole-pallidula-vs-tetramorium-caespitum","plagiolepis-pygmaea-vs-solenopsis-fugax","pogonomyrmex-barbatus-vs-pogonomyrmex-rugosus","solenopsis-fugax-vs-tetramorium-caespitum","tetramorium-caespitum-vs-tetramorium-immigrans",1793205408545]