Camponotus herculeanus (Hercules Carpenter Ants)

Camponotus herculeanus is a well known species among ant keepers. This species is large and easy to view, while also having engaging behaviors. They are not picky eaters and do not require special care, making them fairly versatile ants for beginners and intermediates alike. These ants range have a large range, capturing a large part of North America and Eurasia. They are common up north, where they have large flights releasing hundreds of thousands of alates. Due to how common they are, we do have them listed as our cheapest Camponotus species. We get our stock from Central Alberta, and sometimes from British Columbia. 

Diet: These ants will do well on insect protein, some options include crickets, fruit flies and mealworms. Essentially they'll eat ant insect that isn't mostly exoskeleton (Adult Beetles). It's also important to provide them with sugars like sugar water or honey water. 

Colony Size: Colonies have been observed to get to 3000-5000 workers in the wild, possibly more.

Worker Size: Workers of this species grow from 7 to 16mm. Ants on the larger end of the spectrum will be the majors, while smaller ants will be regular workers. It is important to note that the nanitics (Queens first workers) will be small, and the first majors/medias will appear after the second or third generations of workers. 

Queen Size: Queens are 13-17mm long. Smaller than Camponotus pennsylvanicus and similar to the size of Camponotus noaveborenisis.

Colour: These ants are mostly black, but they do have red legs and some parts of their thorax and petiole are also red. While nantics are usually fully black, the red develops more as more generations of workers are born.