Brown-black carpenter ant
Camponotus ligniperda
Temperature
22–26 °C
Humidity
50–70 %
Hibernation
October – March
Where it comes from
- Range
- Central and northern Europe, in and under dead wood
- Size
- Workers 6–14 mm, majors to 18 mm, queen 16–18 mm
- Queens
- One queen
Keeping them
- Diet
- Sugar water and insects
- Founding
- Fully claustral — the queen needs no food until her first workers
- Brood development
- Egg to worker in roughly 8–10 weeks at 25 °C
- Nest
- A roomy nest with a moisture gradient; wood is welcome but not required
- Wintering
- 5–10 °C
Slow to start: the first year is mostly waiting, and the reward is one of the largest workers you can keep in Europe.
Check it yourself
General guidance from the usual beginner references — treat it as a starting point, not as a rule your colony has agreed to.