Messor capitatus
European seed harvesting ant
DifficultyBeginner · 2/7
Species comparison
Messor capitatus vs Messor wasmanni
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 wasmanni |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 12–14 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 | 22–26 °C |
| Nest humidity | ||
50–60 % Seed granaries: 30–50 % | Nest humidity | 50–70 % Seed granaries: 30–50 % |
| Hibernation | ||
10–15 °C Dec – Feb | Hibernation | 12–15 °C Dec – Feb |
| Nuptial flights | ||
Sep – Nov After rain | Nuptial flights | Sep – Nov After rain |
| Native range | ||
Europe, North Africa | Native range | Europe, Middle East |
Size to scale
Messor capitatus
Workers · 4–8 mmMajors · ≤ 13 mmQueen · 13–15 mmMessor wasmanni
Workers · 4–8 mmMajors · ≤ 10 mmQueen · 12–14 mm
Their year side by side
Messor capitatus : Hibernation: Dec – Feb, Nuptial flights: Sep – Nov
Messor wasmanni : Hibernation: Dec – Feb, Nuptial flights: Sep – Nov
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 wasmanni
Workers come in many sizes, from small minors to big-headed majors, and the big ones usually have a red thorax and a darker, glossy gaster, never all black like Messor capitatus. Messor minor and reddish Messor bouvieri can be hard to tell apart from it, and cf. in the trade name means the identification is unconfirmed, so this sheet follows the form that European shops sell under it.
- Tip Offer whole seed heads of grasses now and then, not only loose seeds: in the wild these ants pick seeds straight from the plant as well as from the ground.
- Tip Give the colony one dry chamber for the seed store and a separate moist one for the brood, and never spray water into the nest, because wet seeds sprout or mold. Cover every open water spot with small stones or cotton, since Messor workers drown easily.
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