Messor laboriosus
A harvester ant from Turkey, Greece, Iran and Central Asia whose workers have a reddish thorax. A fairly easy species.
Messor laboriosus — red-thoraxed harvester ant — 1 queen, bright morph
ANTMART SKU: SKU-M-026-02
400.00
UAH
Out of stock
View details: Messor laboriosus — red-thoraxed harvester ant — 1 queen, bright morphMessor laboriosus — red-thoraxed harvester ant — 1 queen, standard morph
ANTMART SKU: SKU-M-026-01
250.00
UAH
Out of stock
View details: Messor laboriosus — red-thoraxed harvester ant — 1 queen, standard morphSpecies at a glance
- Origin: Turkey, Greece, Iran, Central Asia and China
- Size: queen 12–14 mm; workers 6–8 mm, black-brown with a reddish thorax
- Colony: a single queen
- Difficulty: suitable for beginners
Care conditions
- Temperature: 22–28 °C
- Humidity: moderate; a moist brood area and a dry seed granary
- Food: seeds as the staple, plus insects and a little sugar
Hibernation
Essential: from late November to late February somewhere cool.
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.