Red ant

Myrmica ruginodis

Where it comes from

Range

Northern Palaearctic, from western Europe to Japan, in woodland and moorland

Size

Workers 4–6 mm, queen 5–7 mm

Queens

Strongly polygynous — ten or twenty queens is ordinary

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 8–10 weeks at 22 °C; late brood overwinters as larvae

Nest

Damp and cool, under bark or moss for preference

Wintering

5–10 °C

The cooler, damper cousin of Myrmica rubra, at home high up and far north. Larvae that do not finish before winter simply stop and resume in spring, so a quiet nest in autumn is not a problem.

Starting a colony

Myrmica ruginodis lives in woodland and on moorland, from western Europe to Japan, and further north and higher up than most ants. Its queens fly in late summer. Like its relative Myrmica rubra, the queen is semi-claustral: she needs food while she raises her first workers.

Set her up in a test tube with water at the back behind a plug of cotton wool, the queen in the dry front half, and either a small outworld connected or a plug you open briefly to feed. Every few days, offer a fruit fly or a small piece of insect and a tiny drop of sugar water on foil, and remove leftovers before they go mouldy. At 22 °C, egg to worker takes roughly 8–10 weeks, and larvae that are not finished before the winter wait until spring.

This species comes in two forms. One has larger queens that tend to found new colonies on their own. The other has smaller queens that usually join an existing nest, and that is where the large numbers of queens in a wild colony come from.

Feeding

Insects are the main food: fruit flies, small crickets, cut mealworms. Sugar water or diluted honey is taken too, in smaller amounts. Feed small portions and remove what is left after a day, because in a damp, cool nest leftovers go mouldy quickly.

The nest

Think cool and damp. In the wild this ant nests under bark, in moss and in rotting wood, and it is at home where summers are short. Keep it at 20–24 °C with no heat mat, and keep most of the nest damp, with humidity in the 60–80 % range. Plaster, Ytong and soil-filled nests all work, and a piece of bark or moss in the outworld is welcome.

Workers are 4–6 mm long and climb, so the outworld needs a barrier and a lid. Colonies reach about 1,200–2,500 workers. And it stings: use forceps or a brush for anything you need to do inside the setup.

Hibernation

Myrmica ruginodis needs a long winter rest, from October to March at 5–10 °C: a cellar, an unheated room or a fridge. A nest that goes quiet in autumn with larvae still in it is doing exactly what it should. Lower the temperature over a couple of weeks, stop offering insects, and keep the nest damp through the winter.

Common mistakes

• Keeping it warm. This is a species for a cool room.
• A nest that dries out.
• Leaving a founding queen without food.
• Worrying about a quiet nest in autumn.
• Handling the ants with your fingers.

Questions keepers ask

How do I tell it from Myrmica rubra? Look at the two spines at the back of the thorax. In Myrmica ruginodis they are long; in Myrmica rubra they are short. You will need a magnifier.

Does it sting? Yes, about as painfully as Myrmica rubra: a burning sting that fades after a while. It is not dangerous unless you are allergic to insect stings.

Can I keep several queens together? Yes. Colonies with many queens are normal for this species, and queens are often accepted into an existing nest.

How long until the first workers? About 8–10 weeks at 22 °C. A queen caught in late summer usually has her first workers in spring.

Check it yourself

• AntWiki: Myrmica ruginodis

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

• Myrmica rubra European fire ant

  Europe and northern Asia; introduced in North America

  20–25 °C 60–80 %

  Intermediate
• Camponotus herculeanus Hercules carpenter ant

  Northern Europe, Asia and North America, in conifer forest

  20–25 °C 50–70 %

  Intermediate
• Camponotus ligniperda Brown-black carpenter ant

  Central and northern Europe, in and under dead wood

  22–26 °C 50–70 %

  Intermediate
• Formica rufibarbis Red-barbed ant

  Europe from Portugal to western Siberia, on sandy grassland and heath

  22–26 °C 50–70 %

  Intermediate

All 21 species in the guide