European fire ant
Myrmica rubra
Temperature
20–25 °C
Humidity
60–80 %
Hibernation
November – February
Where it comes from
- Range
- Europe and northern Asia; introduced in North America
- Size
- Workers 4–6 mm, queen 5–7 mm
- Queens
- Usually several queens sharing one nest
Keeping them
- Diet
- Insects, some sugar water
- Founding
- Semi-claustral — the queen forages and must be fed while founding
- Brood development
- Egg to worker in roughly 7–9 weeks at 23 °C
- Nest
- Damp nest — this is one of the species that really wants it wet
- Wintering
- 5–10 °C
Stings, and means it. Usually polygynous, so several queens sharing one nest is normal rather than a problem.
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.