Camponotus herculeanus
Hercules ant
DifficultyBeginner · 4/7
Species comparison
Camponotus herculeanus vs Camponotus pennsylvanicus
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 | Fact | Camponotus pennsylvanicus |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping | ||
| Difficulty | ||
4/7 Beginner | Difficulty | 4/7 Beginner |
| Escape risk | ||
Medium | Escape risk | Medium |
| Diet | ||
SugarInsects | Diet | SugarInsects |
| Best nests | ||
Ytong nest · Wooden nest · Naturalistic setup | Best nests | Ytong nest · Wooden nest · Naturalistic setup |
| Colony | ||
| Growth | ||
Moderate | Growth | Moderate |
| Colony size | ||
Reaches 5,000 workers | Colony size | No data yet |
| Workers | ||
6–11 mm majors up to 13 mm | Workers | 6–10 mm majors up to 13 mm |
| Queen | ||
14–17 mm | Queen | 15–18 mm |
| Colony founding | ||
Fully claustral One queen | Colony founding | Fully claustral One queen |
| Defense | ||
Bites · Sprays formic acid | Defense | Bites · Sprays formic acid |
| Climate | ||
| Nest temperature | ||
18–25 °C | Nest temperature | 22–27 °C |
| Nest humidity | ||
50–60 % | Nest humidity | 50–70 % |
| Hibernation | ||
5–8 °C Oct – Mar | Hibernation | 5–10 °C Oct – Feb |
| Nuptial flights | ||
May – Jun Hot days · Humid air | Nuptial flights | Apr – Jul Hot days · Calm weather |
| Native range | ||
Europe, Asia, North America | Native range | North America |
Size to scale
Camponotus herculeanus
Workers · 6–11 mmMajors · ≤ 13 mmQueen · 14–17 mmCamponotus pennsylvanicus
Workers · 6–10 mmMajors · ≤ 13 mmQueen · 15–18 mm
Their year side by side
Camponotus herculeanus : Hibernation: Oct – Mar, Nuptial flights: May – Jun
Camponotus pennsylvanicus : Hibernation: Oct – Feb, Nuptial flights: Apr – Jul
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 pennsylvanicus
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.
- Tip 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.
- Watch out 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.
More comparisons
Not sure which ant to keep?
Take the 1-minute species finder quiz and get matched with the perfect species for your experience, your space and what you'd love to watch.
