FAQ: Common Ant-Keeping Questions

If you have a question that is not answered in this FAQ, feel free to get in touch with Empire of Ants!

1. I want to try keeping ants. How do I choose?

A: First, get a basic understanding of ants, then work out which kind of ant suits you best.

Start with diet:

Omnivorous: Usually small in size and will eat anything, so they are often found living in human environments and are frequently the ants people dislike.

Omnivorous, leaning herbivorous: Come in small and large sizes. They mainly live in lush or relatively undisturbed environments, and their main foods are plant secretions, nectar and dead insects.

Omnivorous, leaning carnivorous: Come in small and large sizes. They mainly live in relatively undisturbed environments, where low human impact means high species diversity. Their main food is insects caught live or found dead; they will also drink plant secretions, and some even eat plant seeds.

Carnivorous: Usually larger in size. They mainly live in relatively undisturbed environments, where low human impact means high species diversity. They eat only live insects they catch themselves.

Once you have chosen a diet type, look at which species fall into it, then choose from the colony sizes available for that species, and only then pick a nest that suits the species.

2. I have never kept ants, but I want to keep some really cool ones, like Pheidologeton diversus, Leptogenys kitteli or Odontomachus monticola

A: Not recommended. It is like keeping fish: you would not start with marine fish, because the environment is hard to control, the price is higher, and they are not easy to keep! We suggest starting with adaptable ants such as Camponotus, Formica or Polyrhachis, and taking on a challenge once you have the basics of ant keeping down!

3. How do I choose a nest for my ants?

A: Ants are highly habitat-specific insects, so each has its own particular nesting environment and requirements. In captivity we have to provide a corresponding environment for the ants to survive. For ants that live on the forest floor, choose a material that can hold higher humidity; for ants from low-humidity environments, provide a material that does not get too damp. Each species’ nesting habits also depend on its environment; ponerine ants, for example, need chambers with a large, wide floor area. What all nests have in common is that they must retain moisture and have adequate ventilation. An ant-keeping setup is divided into the nest and the feeding area (outworld); we recommend this arrangement and do not recommend using the nest alone as the feeding area.

4. Acrylic looks beautiful. Can I use it to keep ants?

A: Yes, but it depends on the species and the colony size. Because acrylic neither breathes nor retains moisture, only a very small number of ant species can be kept in it. If you do not believe it, try it and see whether they die!

5. Can I keep workers only?

A: Yes, but you need a certain number of workers before you will see any colony behaviour, and the workers of most ant species cannot reproduce, so you can only keep them until they die of old age.

6. I want to start with more ants, or fewer ants. Can I add some or remove some?

A: No. Ants are social insects, and every colony has its own unique pheromone scent. For most species, even ants of the same species will drive off or attack each other when put together, so you cannot just catch a few more and toss them in because you want more. Conversely, taking workers out because you want fewer will cause the removed workers to die and will upset the colony’s operating balance, increasing the risk of the colony dying out.

7. What is the difference between a dug-up colony and a colony raised from a nuptial-flight queen?

A: Digging does not guarantee you will capture the whole colony. Workers that escape will die afterwards; you may accidentally kill the queen during collection; you may fail to find the queen, or there may be no queen there at all. It takes a very long time, and it removes a colony that could have produced reproductives. What is more, ants are not the only things living in that environment. Other creatures live there too, and ant nests are usually not obvious, so you will inevitably dig all over the place and destroy the habitat of everything living there. Even if you get lucky and find the colony, you cannot tell its age; you may happen to dig up a colony that is already very old. Most importantly, having to re-adapt after being dug up shortens their lifespan. And if you split a queen and a few workers off from a large colony, the chance of it ever returning to a large colony is very low, because the whole balance has been disrupted! Raising a colony from a new queen, on the other hand, requires no destructive tools to collect, you know the queen’s age, the disruption to the environment’s balance is minimal, and in terms of stability it is the most stable option.

8. Do ants need to drink water?

A: Ants are insects with an open circulatory system. Basically, they get their water from environmental humidity and from food. They exchange gases through spiracles between their body segments and obtain moisture that way, which is why they need the right humidity level in order to survive.

9. How do I maintain humidity in the ants’ environment?

A: Add water to the nest body regularly so the nest can absorb it, and that will achieve the environmental humidity they need.

10. How do I know whether the humidity is right for them?

A: Add water at a single point on the plaster so the moisture spreads from there. If the ants move in response, you will know whether they prefer it drier or wetter!

11. How much water should I add, and how often?

A: There is no fixed value; it depends on the humidity of the keeping environment at the time. During long rainy spells, environmental humidity is high, so reduce the frequency and amount of water; conversely, during long dry spells or when the air conditioning is on, increase the frequency and amount.

12. What should I feed my ants?

A: For omnivorous ants leaning herbivorous, we recommend sweet, juicy foods such as fruit, sugar water, honey water, jelly and pudding, with an occasional supplement of clean, processed insects (or animal protein). For carnivorous ants, we recommend raising your own live feeder insects such as mealworms, red runner roaches and pinhead crickets, as these are less likely to cause problems! Omnivores can take food from both groups. Every ant needs a balanced diet, and we do not recommend feeding only a single type of food over the long term.

13. Where can I put the nest?

A: We recommend a place free from frequent vibration or changes in light, away from direct sunlight and large temperature swings, and above all away from environmental toxins. Ants have no tolerance for toxins! And remember that their food must be free of toxins too!

14. Will my ants grow quickly?

A: It depends on a combination of factors: body size, the amount and frequency of feeding, space, temperature and so on. In general, though, large ant species grow more slowly than we imagine, so growing too fast is not something you need to worry much about.

15. Can I keep different ants together?

A: Whether you can depends on how you keep them! If the space is too small, food is too scarce, and there is no suitable, sufficient habitat, the ants will compete and fight. If you choose species with low aggression and provide a suitable environment, they can be kept together.

16. I do not want to keep them any more. Can I just release them?

A: Absolutely not! Releasing any species, native or not, is an irresponsible act! Once you decide to keep an animal, you must take responsibility for it! Releasing also causes many environmental problems. In the case of ants, whether or not you release them into a suitable environment, they will struggle to survive, because they have to find a new place to nest and will face many predators and environmental pressures along the way. Even casually releasing native species can cause harm or imbalance as well as genetic contamination. If you genuinely have difficulty continuing to keep your ants, Empire of Ants is willing to pay the shipping to take them back, but we will absolutely never resell them!

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