Do you give your colony insects? Many people think Messor Barbarus don't need insects becouse of the seeds, but they do need both.
My colony have about 30 workers and no majors (maybe one hatching at the moment). They seem to be fine, i'm going to place them into a sand/testtube nest when they have ±50 workers.
I've had success with this species, my colony grew to 5,000 ants in 6-7 years, thier numbers stayed the same but then by the 9nth year, alates!! My colony even took place in the Messor Barbarus mating flight that took place last year, but eventually the colony died out last month, I dont know why the queen died out exactlly, but probably from old age, good luck :)
what do you feed them in the tube
m0nkeymadman 2 years ago
If there's only a Queen in the tube she don't need to be fed.
If there are workers you should put some small seeds in the outer world (grass seeds). They also need some small insects (mosquitoes) .
When there are more workers you can feed the colony also some larger seeds. The majors are able to crack larger and stronger seeds.
I always have an pile of mixed seeds in the outer world, and often insects.
Messor barbarus usually don't eat Honey, they'll probably put garbage on it.
thomie3 2 years ago
apparently i cant get an honest answer on google. are these ants extremely dangerous to humans?
jaguar11586 2 years ago
These ants aren't dangerous to humans. I guess the large workers (majors) can bite but they don't have poison.
However you should never release the ants, sometimes they kill all the native ants which could affect the nature badly.
thomie3 2 years ago
How do i get a queen...? and if u have a gel ant farm..cant i put soild in that after they eat it all up?
delin5 2 years ago
I have a messor barbarus nest about 20 workers and 1 major. She doesnt seem to be laying any further new eggs why is that?
AntWorld94 3 years ago
Do you give your colony insects? Many people think Messor Barbarus don't need insects becouse of the seeds, but they do need both.
My colony have about 30 workers and no majors (maybe one hatching at the moment). They seem to be fine, i'm going to place them into a sand/testtube nest when they have ±50 workers.
thomie3 3 years ago
I've sold both my Lasius Niger colonies.They had 30 and 20 workers.
My Messor Barbarus nest is doing good, it have 30 workers and no majors.
And I just receaved a Myrmica rubra colony with 4 queens :) .
thomie3 3 years ago
@thomie3 where did u get the queens? are you from other country? im in usa
gtariman03 10 months ago
@gtariman03
You can buy Queens at antstore.net . If They don't ship to your state you can ask on the forum for help (finding a queen on your own).
Good luck at starting your own colony!
thomie3 10 months ago
@gtariman03
You can buy Queens at antstore.net . If They don't ship to your state you can ask on the forum for help (finding a queen on your own).
Good luck at starting your own colony!
thomie3 10 months ago
@thomie3 thanks im going camping this saturday to find queens
gtariman03 10 months ago
I've sold both my Lasius Niger colonies.They had 30 and 20 workers.
My Messor Barbarus nest is doing good, it have 30 workers and no majors.
And I just receaved a Myrmica rubra colony with 4 queens :) .
thomie3 3 years ago
How is your lasius niger queen now?
nanoguy4098 3 years ago
I keep them in my house, Messor Barbarus isn't a good beginner spcie (it needs a heater and is verry sensetive to stress).
You can better start with an Lasuis Niger colony (cheap and easy to keep). It's an fast growing easy specie
thomie3 3 years ago
I'm wanting to start an ant colony myself, I have a large tank in the garage that I could use.
Do you keep your ants in the house or out in the shed/garage?
YorkshireTyker 3 years ago
thomie3: I kept them in three large plaster setups connected together, and a 10 gallon tank for a foraging arena.
nanoguy4098 3 years ago
That's a large nest :O !!
In what for a kind of farmacarium did you kept them?
thomie3 3 years ago
I've had success with this species, my colony grew to 5,000 ants in 6-7 years, thier numbers stayed the same but then by the 9nth year, alates!! My colony even took place in the Messor Barbarus mating flight that took place last year, but eventually the colony died out last month, I dont know why the queen died out exactlly, but probably from old age, good luck :)
nanoguy4098 3 years ago