Camponotus herculeanus
Hercules ant
DifficultyBeginner · 4/7
Species comparison
Camponotus herculeanus vs Camponotus vagus
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 vagus |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping | ||
| Difficulty | ||
Easier4/7 Beginner | Difficulty | 5/7 Intermediate |
| Escape risk | ||
LowerMedium | Escape risk | High |
| Diet | ||
SugarInsects | Diet | SugarInsects |
| Best nests | ||
Ytong nest · Wooden nest · Naturalistic setup | Best nests | Wooden nest · Ytong nest · Naturalistic setup |
| Colony | ||
| Growth | ||
Moderate | Growth | Moderate |
| Colony size | ||
Reaches 5,000 workers | Colony size | Reaches 2,000 workers |
| Workers | ||
6–11 mm majors up to 13 mm | Workers | 6–12 mm majors up to 13 mm |
| Queen | ||
14–17 mm | Queen | 14–16 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 | 22–28 °C |
| Nest humidity | ||
50–60 % | Nest humidity | 50–60 % |
| Hibernation | ||
5–8 °C Oct – Mar | Hibernation | 5–10 °C Oct – Mar |
| Nuptial flights | ||
May – Jun Hot days · Humid air | Nuptial flights | Apr – Jun Hot days · Calm weather |
| Native range | ||
Europe, Asia, North America | Native range | Europe, North Africa, Asia |
Size to scale
Camponotus herculeanus
Workers · 6–11 mmMajors · ≤ 13 mmQueen · 14–17 mmCamponotus vagus
Workers · 6–12 mmMajors · ≤ 13 mmQueen · 14–16 mm
Their year side by side
Camponotus herculeanus : Hibernation: Oct – Mar, Nuptial flights: May – Jun
Camponotus vagus : Hibernation: Oct – Mar, Nuptial flights: Apr – Jun
Months for temperate Europe and the Mediterranean. The weather decides the exact days, so flights can come earlier or later where you live.
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 vagus
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.
- Watch out 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.
- Tip 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.
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