Messor capitatus
European seed harvesting ant
DifficultyBeginner · 2/7
Species comparison
Messor capitatus vs Messor structor
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 structor |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
Fast | Growth | Fast |
| Colony size | ||
Reaches 5,000 workers | Colony size | No data yet |
| Workers | ||
4–8 mm majors up to 13 mm | Workers | 4–8 mm majors up to 10 mm |
| Queen | ||
13–15 mm | Queen | 9–11 mm |
| Colony founding | ||
Fully claustral One queen | Colony founding | Fully claustral Several queens |
| 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 | 50–70 % Seed granaries: 30–50 % |
| Hibernation | ||
10–15 °C Dec – Feb | Hibernation | 8–12 °C Nov – Feb |
| Nuptial flights | ||
Sep – Nov After rain | Nuptial flights | Apr – Jun |
| Native range | ||
Europe, North Africa | Native range | Europe |
Size to scale
Messor capitatus
Workers · 4–8 mmMajors · ≤ 13 mmQueen · 13–15 mmMessor structor
Workers · 4–8 mmMajors · ≤ 10 mmQueen · 9–11 mm
Their year side by side
Messor capitatus : Hibernation: Dec – Feb, Nuptial flights: Sep – Nov
Messor structor : Hibernation: Nov – Feb, 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
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 structor
Light to dark brown workers of many sizes, sometimes nearly black, with abundant hairs and a coarse, striated surface that looks duller than the glossy black Messor capitatus. Since 2018 the name covers only one of five species once lumped together, and ants collected around the Mediterranean and sold as structor are very likely Messor ibericus, which is hard to tell apart without measurements under a microscope but is kept the same way.
- Tip Start with a queen that comes with workers, or put several queens together. French keepers report that lone queens often fail to found a colony in captivity, because the species seems to start new nests mostly by budding.
- Tip Offer dead insects and very ripe sweet fruit next to the seeds. French keepers say it needs them more than other harvester ants do, and honey is often ignored.
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