American Yellow Meadow Ants (Lasius brevicornis)

General: Lasius brevicornis is a small orange species from the prairies and fields of parts of the US. In the wild, they farm root aphids underground for the honeydew they excrete.

Diet: This love of sweet liquids also carries over into captivity, as these ants absolutely LOVE sugars (honey, sugarwater). Although they love sugars, they do need protein (fruit flies, crickets, mealworms) in their diet too.  Feed SMALL drops of sugars as these ants are prone to drowning in liquid. As these ants are used to having sugars constantly in the wild, it is important that you offer sugars multiple times a week. The queen should always have a somewhat plump gaster.

Feed until they won’t take anymore food for the best results. A liquid feeder helps with this species a lot! Fruit flies are their favorite protein.

Polygny: Lasius brevicornis is polygynous, which means multiple queens can cooperate in a single colony. Colonies with multiple queens tend to grow faster since there’s more eggs being laid! This makes these ants super interesting!

Temperature: This species may heat their brood, (79-82) but heating isn’t always required and if given, a heating gradient would be ideal. A large part of the nest should be in the low 70s.

Diapause: Lasius brevicornis must diapause for at least 2 months each year. Place the colony in a mini fridge, wine cooler, or fridge with safe temperatures. If you cannot use any of these, use a non-heated room which stays above freezing. Ideal diapause temperature is ~40 degrees fahrenheit. Keep in mind that if they’re too warm in hibernation, they’ll need food periodically!

Growth: Brood development can take anywhere from 5-8 weeks, usually around 6-7 weeks. Depending on the number of queens in a colony, worker numbers could hit 100+ in the first or second year, and more than 500-1000 by the 2nd year.

Queen size: 6-7.5mm

Worker size: 2-3.5mm

If ants arrive in bad condition, contact us for help. Live arrival is guaranteed.