Messor aciculatus
An East Asian harvester ant from Japan, Korea and China. A modest colony with a clear split between small and large workers.
Species at a glance
- Origin: Japan, Korea and mainland China; grassy slopes and roadsides
- Size: queen 10–12 mm; workers 4–8 mm
- Colony: a single queen; up to 5,000 workers
- Difficulty: intermediate, for keepers with some experience
Care conditions
- Temperature: 20–28 °C
- Humidity: 30–60%; brood chamber around 50–60%, seed granary kept dry
- Food: mostly seeds (poppy, millet, chia, sesame); little protein is needed — a piece of an insect once a week
Hibernation
Essential: lower the temperature gradually over two weeks to 8 °C and keep the colony in the dark for 3–4 months with water but no food.
Farm and colony growth
The queen founds the colony alone and needs no food until the first workers appear. A young colony lives in a test tube until it has a few dozen workers. After that it needs a formicarium with a dry seed granary and a small moist brood area.