Species comparison

Camponotus ligniperda 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 ligniperda and Camponotus vagus compared fact by fact
Camponotus ligniperdaCamponotus vagus
Keeping
Difficulty
Easier4/7

Beginner

5/7

Intermediate

Escape risk
LowerMedium
High
Diet
SugarInsects
SugarInsects
Best nests
Ytong nest · Wooden nest · Naturalistic setup
Wooden nest · Ytong nest · Naturalistic setup
Colony
Growth
Moderate
Moderate
Colony size
Reaches 5,000 workers
Reaches 2,000 workers
Workers
6–10 mm

majors up to 14 mm

6–12 mm

majors up to 13 mm

Queen
16–18 mm
14–16 mm
Colony founding
Fully claustral

One queen

Fully claustral

One queen

Defense
Bites · Sprays formic acid
Bites · Sprays formic acid
Climate
Nest temperature
20–25 °C
22–28 °C
Nest humidity
50–60 %
50–60 %
Hibernation
5–8 °C

Oct – Mar

5–10 °C

Oct – Mar

Nuptial flights
May – Jun

Hot days · Humid air

Apr – Jun

Hot days · Calm weather

Native range
Europe, Middle East
Europe, North Africa, Asia

Size to scale

  • Camponotus ligniperda

    Workers · 6–10 mm
    Majors · ≤ 14 mm
    Queen · 16–18 mm

  • Camponotus vagus

    Workers · 6–12 mm
    Majors · ≤ 13 mm
    Queen · 14–16 mm
10 mm: both species are drawn at the same scale

Their year side by side

  • Camponotus ligniperda : 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 ligniperda

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.

  • Watch out 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.
  • Tip 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.

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.

More comparisons

Compare
with
Camponotus ligniperda sheet Camponotus vagus sheet

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