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Hi There,
Im struggling to find much in the way of reference material for this type of ant. There is very little on the internet.
How easy are these to keep?
How big are they?
Thankyou
Gary
Hello Gary D.
They are in deed difficult ants to find information from ;).
As for as i know they are about the same size as Messor barbarus only they are harder to keep in captivity. (not impossible :) )
This is what i found out, about this specie:
strictly monogyn, pleometrosis founding, but queens are reduced to one, before first pupae.
polymorph ranging from 3,5-10,5mm
Mating flights are in Nov./Dec. But queens start laying egg end of feb./begin of mar.
Size of colonies can be up to 100.000 ants
Some temperature infos, depending on Messor ebeninus from libanon:
ants are active whole year. in the winter at day, in summer at night.
Ants are active from 8°C-32°C. Mostly 16°C-24°C with peak at 22°C. Lethal temperatures are 2°C-45°C
Some information about development (there was nothing said about size of worker or temperature/humidity.... so be careful with these values)
egg-larva: 40 days
larva-pupae: 27 days
pupae-imago: 14 days
and the most astonishing info: they eat seeds.. :D of course other stuff, too.
Thanks guys for this info so far. If anyone has first hand of looking after them , purchased them from Antstore etc please add some comments.
Thankyou
Hey guys, I just got my messor ebeninus colony with some workers and eggs. As Gary D said it is really hard to find some info on these ants but since messor ebeninus eat seeds, should I keep feeding them with seeds or some other insects so the eggs can mature faster?
Milos.
Normally they should be in hibernation by now (non-heated room, 15-18°C).
But as they feed on "ant-bread" during the winter & they still have eggs, I'd offer them both insects and seeds.
Take a close look at their activities. Are they really active or does it seem like they are preparing for hibernation? Based on that you can decide, whether to keep them warm for the first winter or not...
Hey mfg Cordovan,
At the moment the temperature is between 21c and 22c, and ants are really active they keep digging the soil and what ever food I put on the table they take it in. Until yesterday I've been seeing at least 11 ants on the surface going up and down in the nest ( I have total of 23). Today there are only 3 ants at the surface going in and out of the nest. SO are they active or not, and what temp. do I need to keep it on?
Thanks.
It seems they are not preparing for hibernation than. IT would be better if they where in hibernation, but if they are not like yous now maybe you can skip the hibernation this time and keep feeding them, temperature should be between 25-30°c. Make sure you give them a hibernation period next year.
Hey Jimmy,
So by hibernation you mean not giving them any food and lowering temperature to 18c or so? Also is there any ant species that is mating now in December. While I was typing this I just saw one ant with the wings between my windows, so I took it. It is really small I will try to take a picture but do not know if my optical zoom is going to be enough.
Milos