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thenamesche: Messor cf. barbarus (1. Feb 2013 02:21)

Hi guys, I'm hopefully going to buy a colony of Messor cf. barbarus this spring and I just wanted some clarification on this species.

I understand that they are found in North Africa

Do they need to hibernate in captivity?

What are the differences between regular European Messor barbarus and African Messor cf. barbarus.

How fast does this ant species develop and how large does the colony grow to?

I was going to keep them in a custom basin 36inches long x 28inches wide heated all year around. Filled 6 inches high with sand loam and a bin and seed room attached.
How long would it be before they overcrowd a formicarium of this size?

baumarkthammer: Re: Messor cf. barbarus (1. Feb 2013 13:19)

Hello,

the "cf." in Messor cf. barbarus stands for confere, the latin word for compare. So it maybe (or in this case very probably) isn´t this species but a comparable species that looks alike and nothing else.

I think that they will at least need some kind of short period with lower temperatures.

Messor normally grow quite quick and have quite big colonies and I know no exception of this rule. However a basin of that size will be enough for quite some time and when they can build their own nest and use the whole basin for that it will be enough for a long time. But there is no way to tell how long.