Acrobat ant

Crematogaster scutellaris

Where it comes from

Range

The Mediterranean basin, in dead wood and cork bark

Size

Workers 3–6 mm, queen 9–11 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 6–8 weeks at 26 °C

Nest

Cork or wood if you can, warm and moderately damp

Wintering

10–15 °C

Named for the heart-shaped gaster they tip over their back when alarmed. Climbers by nature, and keen on wood to nest in.

Starting a colony

Crematogaster scutellaris lives around the Mediterranean, in dead wood, hollow branches and the thick bark of cork oaks. The workers are easy to recognise: a red head on a black body, and a heart-shaped gaster.

A founding queen goes into a test tube: water at the back behind a plug of cotton wool, the queen in the dry front half, and a loose plug at the opening. She is fully claustral and lives on her own reserves until her first workers arrive. Keep the tube at 24–28 °C, warming one end rather than all of it, and leave it alone. At 26 °C, egg to worker takes roughly 6–8 weeks, and longer when it is cooler.

Feeding

In the wild this species tends aphids and scale insects in trees and lives largely on their honeydew, so sugar is its staple: sugar water or diluted honey. Protein is for the brood: fruit flies, a piece of cricket or a cut mealworm when there are larvae to feed. Give small portions and remove uneaten insects after a day.

The nest

Cork or wood suits it best. A nest carved into a block of cork, or a piece of cork bark placed against a damp area, is close to what it uses in the wild. Ytong and acrylic work too. Keep it warm, with a heat mat or heat cable under one end in a cool room, and moderately damp, with humidity in the 50–70 % range.

This is a tree ant, and workers of 3–6 mm run up any surface. The outworld needs a barrier along the top — PTFE (Fluon) or a thin film of paraffin oil — and a lid. A branch or a piece of cork in the outworld gives them something to climb on, and they use it. A colony grows to several thousand workers.

Hibernation

Crematogaster scutellaris takes a mild winter rest from November to February at 10–15 °C: a cool room or an unheated hallway, not a fridge. Lower the temperature over a couple of weeks, stop offering insects and keep the water topped up through the winter. Warm them up gradually in spring.

Common mistakes

• A setup without a barrier. This is a tree ant and climbs everything.
• Wintering it like a northern species, in a fridge or a cold cellar.
• Heating the whole nest instead of one end.
• A nest that is wet throughout. Moderately damp is enough.
• Disturbing the founding queen.

Questions keepers ask

Why do they hold the gaster over their back? It is a warning. When alarmed, workers tip the heart-shaped gaster up and forward, ready to use their venom. That pose is where the name acrobat ant comes from.

Does it sting? Not the way a wasp does. The sting is shaped to smear venom onto an attacker rather than pierce skin, and the workers can bite. To people it is harmless.

Does it need wood? No, but it is welcome. The colony does fine in an ordinary nest, and cork or wood makes the setup look and feel more like home.

How long until the first workers? About 6–8 weeks at 26 °C. For another Mediterranean species with a similar mild winter, see Camponotus barbaricus.

Check it yourself

• AntWiki: Crematogaster scutellaris

General guidance from the usual beginner references — treat it as a starting point, not as a rule your colony has agreed to.

Start a colony with this species

Similar species

• Aphaenogaster senilis Iberian funnel ant

  The Iberian Peninsula and North Africa

  22–27 °C 40–60 %

  Intermediate
• Camponotus barbaricus Mediterranean carpenter ant

  The Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, in dry open country

  24–28 °C 50–70 %

  Intermediate
• Messor barbarus Harvester ant

  The Iberian Peninsula, southern France and North Africa

  24–28 °C 40–60 %

  Beginner
• Messor structor European harvester ant

  Southern and central Europe eastwards into central Asia

  24–28 °C 40–60 %

  Beginner

All 21 species in the guide