Camponotus herculeanus

Description

Today, you can fall in love with the beauty of Camponotus herculeanus! It is a true giant from our homeland. It differs from Camponotus ligniperda, the largest ant in Europe, only in its slightly slimmer body. Its size will amaze every guest in your home who admires it. And since the size of the queen is not everything, if you are patient, you will see an army of soldiers that is almost the size of the queen. Such an army makes an incredible impression, not only on your guests. We guarantee that you will experience a thrill when feeding them!

Camponotus herculeanus is a great species for adults or minors (if this is not your first ant).

Description of the species Camponotus herculeanus

Camponotus herculeanus occurs mainly in forests in the wild. They nest mainly in rotten wood, although there are cases of living coniferous trees inhabited by this species. This species feeds mainly on the protein of small insects and aphid honeydew. Camponotus herculeanus sends out an army of soldiers to hunt, creating spectacular trails. Observing an adult colony hunting is an unforgettable sight!

Camponotus herculeanus forms monogynous colonies, which means that there can only be one queen in the nest. During the swarming season, young princesses take off on their mating flight, and after mating, they never return to their native nest, but establish a new nest in a monastic manner. Camponotus herculeanus queens can live up to 15 years.

This species, like all those found in Poland, requires wintering. This means that between November and February, we have to part with our colony and place it in a temperature between 5 and 10 degrees. And although many would not think of it, a refrigerator may be the best option available at home 🙂

Like most large species of the Camponotus family, herculeanus is a colony that initially develops slowly. It should come as no surprise that in the first year of breeding, a worker population of 20 to 50 is a good, or even very good, result. However, in subsequent years, the queen begins to lay eggs much more efficiently and the colony’s development accelerates significantly. These ants can reach up to 10,000 workers in a single colony!

How to breed Camponotus herculeanus

Let’s start from the very beginning. When buying a solitary queen Camponotus herculeanus, you need to be patient. Due to its considerable size, the transformation from egg to larva to pupa to worker can take up to 8 weeks. In the first batch, you can expect the first workers to hatch at a level of 2 to 10 workers. The first workers are small, around 4-5 mm in size. These are the so-called “nanitics”. However, once we have the first workers and the queen is better nourished by her workers, the next larvae are already much larger.

When the first workers appear, we immediately give the ants a drop of nectar or water with honey. Both the workers and the queen herself will gladly enjoy such a meal. From then on, we feed the ants regularly 2-3 times a week. The worker ants that are already alive will be satisfied with sweets, but the larvae and the queen need protein. We provide it in two ways: feed insects (such as mealworms, woodworms, cockroaches, crickets) or protein food available in our shop. We recommend feeding according to the following schedule: nectar – 2 days break – protein – 2 days break – nectar… and so on. This schedule will ensure the best growth and good nutrition for the ants. However, if you are afraid that you will not be able to leave your pets during your holiday, do not worry. You can safely go away for two weeks, leaving them access to water in their drinking bowl. Nothing will happen to the ants during this period, and you can feed them when you return.

Once you have your first 5–10 workers, you can connect the tube to the first nest. However, the nest should not be too large. We recommend starting with an ant portal, which will make feeding easier, or a nest no larger than 10×10 cm, such as our Combo “M” set.

From now on, you have a stable colony that will only grow stronger and bring you, the breeder, more and more joy with each passing week.