Pogonomyrmex barbatus
Red harvester ant
DifficultyBeginner · 4/7
Species comparison
Pogonomyrmex barbatus vs Pogonomyrmex rugosus
Side by side: difficulty, size, growth, climate, hibernation and nuptial flights, from the data and sources of each species sheet.
Head to head
| Pogonomyrmex barbatus | Fact | Pogonomyrmex rugosus |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping | ||
| Difficulty | ||
Easier4/7 Beginner | Difficulty | 5/7 Intermediate |
| Escape risk | ||
Medium | Escape risk | Medium |
| Diet | ||
SeedsInsectsSugar | Diet | SeedsInsectsSugar |
| Best nests | ||
Naturalistic setup · Ytong nest · Acrylic nest | Best nests | Naturalistic setup · Ytong nest · Acrylic nest |
| Colony | ||
| Growth | ||
Moderate | Growth | Moderate |
| Colony size | ||
Reaches 10,000 workers | Colony size | Reaches 8,000 workers |
| Workers | ||
6–10 mm All the same size | Workers | 7–9 mm All the same size |
| Queen | ||
11–13 mm | Queen | 12–14 mm |
| Colony founding | ||
Fully claustral One queen | Colony founding | Fully claustral One queen |
| Defense | ||
Bites · Painful sting | Defense | Bites · Painful sting |
| Climate | ||
| Nest temperature | ||
26–32 °C | Nest temperature | 26–30 °C |
| Nest humidity | ||
50–70 % Seed granaries: 30–50 % | Nest humidity | 50–70 % Seed granaries: 30–50 % |
| Hibernation | ||
12–16 °C Dec – Feb | Hibernation | 13–16 °C Dec – Feb |
| Nuptial flights | ||
Jun – Sep After rain · Hot days · Calm weather | Nuptial flights | Jul – Sep After rain · Hot days · Humid air |
| Native range | ||
North America | Native range | North America |
Size to scale
Pogonomyrmex barbatus
Workers · 6–10 mmQueen · 11–13 mmPogonomyrmex rugosus
Workers · 7–9 mmQueen · 12–14 mm
Their year side by side
Pogonomyrmex barbatus : Hibernation: Dec – Feb, Nuptial flights: Jun – Sep
Pogonomyrmex rugosus : Hibernation: Dec – Feb, Nuptial flights: Jul – Sep
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
Pogonomyrmex barbatus
Large workers, rusty red to deep red all over, with a beard of long hairs under the head, fine ridges on the head and a pair of spines at the back of the thorax. Pogonomyrmex rugosus is dark brown to blackish with a lighter, contrasting gaster and coarse, widely spaced head ridges, while P. occidentalis and P. californicus are smaller, and californicus has no thorax spines.
- Tip Heat is what makes them grow. Keep the warm end of the nest at about 30 °C with a heat cable or mat and let the rest stay cooler. Sellers report that brood develops much more slowly below about 24 °C and that colonies barely grow at plain room temperature.
- Watch out Honey water alone is not enough. One keeper fed eight young colonies only honey water and watched their brood shrink, and was told to leave out crushed seeds and give insects two to three times a week. Offer small seeds such as Kentucky bluegrass, dandelion or chia, and remove any that sprout or turn moldy.
Pogonomyrmex rugosus
Big, heavy-built workers, reddish brown to almost black (desert populations often have a lighter, redder gaster), with coarse, wrinkled ridges on the head and thorax and a beard of long hairs under the head. Color usually tells it from the red harvester ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus, which is red all over, while P. rugosus is darker with a contrasting lighter gaster. When the color is unclear, look at the head: P. rugosus has coarse, widely spaced ridges, P. barbatus fine ones.
- Tip Seeds are the staple: offer a mix of small grass and weed seeds such as dandelion, chia, canary seed and millet, plus a few small insects each week. Keep the seed stores dry and clear out seeds that sprout or turn moldy. Sugar liquids are optional, and some keepers lost workers in them, so offer them sparingly.
- Watch out A founding queen needs no food at all, but she does need patience: she does better in sand or dirt where she can dig than in a bare tube, where some queens eat their eggs, and a young colony can stay tiny for months before it takes off. Keep it warm and undisturbed instead of tinkering.
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