Messor capitatus
European seed harvesting ant
DifficultyBeginner · 2/7
Species comparison
Messor capitatus vs Messor ebeninus
Side by side: difficulty, size, growth, climate, hibernation and nuptial flights, from the data and sources of each species sheet.
Head to head
| Messor capitatus | Fact | Messor ebeninus |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping | ||
| Difficulty | ||
2/7 Beginner | Difficulty | 2/7 Beginner |
| Escape risk | ||
Low | Escape risk | Low |
| Diet | ||
SeedsInsectsSugar | Diet | SeedsInsectsSugar |
| Best nests | ||
Ytong nest · Acrylic nest · Naturalistic setup | Best nests | Ytong nest · Acrylic nest · Naturalistic setup |
| Colony | ||
| Growth | ||
FasterFast | Growth | Moderate |
| Colony size | ||
Reaches 5,000 workers | Colony size | Reaches 5,000 workers |
| Workers | ||
4–8 mm majors up to 13 mm | Workers | 4–8 mm majors up to 10 mm |
| Queen | ||
13–15 mm | Queen | 11–12 mm |
| Colony founding | ||
Fully claustral One queen | Colony founding | Fully claustral One queen |
| Defense | ||
Bites | Defense | Bites |
| Climate | ||
| Nest temperature | ||
22–28 °C | Nest temperature | 22–28 °C |
| Nest humidity | ||
50–60 % Seed granaries: 30–50 % | Nest humidity | 50–60 % Seed granaries: 30–50 % |
| Hibernation | ||
10–15 °C Dec – Feb | Hibernation | 15–18 °C Jan – Feb |
| Nuptial flights | ||
Sep – Nov After rain | Nuptial flights | Nov – Dec After rain |
| Native range | ||
Europe, North Africa | Native range | Middle East, North Africa |
Size to scale
Messor capitatus
Workers · 4–8 mmMajors · ≤ 13 mmQueen · 13–15 mmMessor ebeninus
Workers · 4–8 mmMajors · ≤ 10 mmQueen · 11–12 mm
Their year side by side
Messor capitatus : Hibernation: Dec – Feb, Nuptial flights: Sep – Nov
Messor ebeninus : Hibernation: Jan – Feb, Nuptial flights: Nov – Dec
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
Messor capitatus
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.
- Tip 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.
- Tip 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.
Messor ebeninus
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.
- Tip 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.
- Tip 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.
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