Messor aegyptiacus

Species at a glance

• Origin: Egypt and the neighbouring arid regions of North Africa
• Size: queen about 11 mm; workers 4–10 mm, of varying size
• Colony: a single queen; a few dozen workers in the first year and a few hundred in the second
• Difficulty: suitable for beginners

Care conditions

• Temperature: 21–28 °C
• Humidity: moderate, around 50–60% in the brood area; seeds stay dry
• Food: a mix of small untreated seeds (poppy, chia, canary seed, grass seeds); a few insects once or twice a week for the brood

Hibernation

Not needed: the species comes from a warm climate and lives at its normal keeping temperature all year round.

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.