Species comparison

Camponotus herculeanus vs Camponotus japonicus

Side by side: difficulty, size, growth, climate, hibernation and nuptial flights, from the data and sources of each species sheet.

Head to head

Camponotus herculeanus and Camponotus japonicus compared fact by fact
Camponotus herculeanusCamponotus japonicus
Keeping
Difficulty
4/7

Beginner

4/7

Beginner

Escape risk
Medium
Medium
Diet
SugarInsects
SugarInsects
Best nests
Ytong nest · Wooden nest · Naturalistic setup
Ytong nest · Acrylic nest · Naturalistic setup
Colony
Growth
Moderate
Moderate
Colony size
Reaches 5,000 workers
Reaches 1,000 workers
Workers
6–11 mm

majors up to 13 mm

6–12 mm

majors up to 14 mm

Queen
14–17 mm
15–18 mm
Colony founding
Fully claustral

One queen

Fully claustral

One queen

Defense
Bites · Sprays formic acid
Bites · Sprays formic acid
Climate
Nest temperature
18–25 °C
22–28 °C
Nest humidity
50–60 %
50–70 %
Hibernation
5–8 °C

Oct – Mar

8–12 °C

Nov – Mar

Nuptial flights
May – Jun

Hot days · Humid air

Apr – Jun

After rain · Hot days · Calm weather

Native range
Europe, Asia, North America
Asia

Size to scale

  • Camponotus herculeanus

    Workers · 6–11 mm
    Majors · ≤ 13 mm
    Queen · 14–17 mm

  • Camponotus japonicus

    Workers · 6–12 mm
    Majors · ≤ 14 mm
    Queen · 15–18 mm
10 mm: both species are drawn at the same scale

Their year side by side

  • Camponotus herculeanus : Hibernation: Oct – Mar, Nuptial flights: May – Jun

  • Camponotus japonicus : Hibernation: Nov – Mar, Nuptial flights: Apr – Jun

Months in the native range of the species. The weather decides the exact days, and colonies kept indoors can follow a different rhythm.

How to tell them apart

Camponotus herculeanus

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.

  • Tip 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.
  • Watch out 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.

Camponotus japonicus

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.

  • Tip 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.
  • Tip 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.

More comparisons

Compare
with
Camponotus herculeanus sheet Camponotus japonicus sheet

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