Eastern Leafcutter Ant (Trachymyrmex septentrionalis)

Trachymyrmex septentrionalis, the Eastern Leafcutter Ant, is the only fungus-growing species found in much of the United States.

Diet: Trachymyrmex septentrionalis lives and grows off their fungus. When you “feed” the ants, you are giving them food for their fungus. Although the ants can and will cut leaves to feed the fungus, they prefer to gather “food” already on the ground that is small enough in size it doesn’t need to be cut.

We suggest you provide the ants access to these 24/7 in the foraging area:

● Steel-cut oats

● Dried rose petals

● Corn grits

We offer a fungus-farmer diet with these. It’s important that anything you provide the ants is NOT treated chemically or contain other harmful adulterants.

Temperature: We typically suggest these ants are not heated directly and are left at room temperature. However, if possible, a warmer room (around 80F) would greatly help the ants develop. When too cold, the ants don’t seem to do quite as much. External heating sources, such as a heat cable, induce condensation and imbalances in the humidity of the nest. This can lead to the death of the fungus or the ants. If you do choose to heat these ants through raising the ambient temperature, it is best to keep them at just under 85F. Do not allow the temperature to exceed 90F for extended periods of time. Make sure you avoid large condensation to ensure that doesn’t become a hazard.

Diapause: This species will need to diapause for 8 weeks. The ants will tell you when they are ready to diapause by no longer feeding the fungus for extended periods of time. The fungus will then shrink down into tiny pellets in preparation for diapause. At this point you will want to lower the temperature to approximately 50F and keep the ants at that for 8 weeks.

Setup/Shipping: The ants will be shipped in a setup suitable long-term. Connect the nest to the outworld with the included tubing.

When the ants arrive, their fungus will likely be strewn about. If shaken hard enough, the fungus garden they create breaks apart into smaller pieces. The ants will gather and re-build their fungus into a garden. It is important the ants are able to feed their fungus during this process. The nest should be watered every 1-2 weeks. Water the nest by filling the L-shaped watering port on the side of the nest 1 time. You want the nest to be as moist as it can be without there being a thin layer of water on the surface of the nest material. Adjust watering as necessary.

Growth: This species can grow rather quickly! Usually, if they’re healthy, the colony will have a few hundred workers within a year of age. After that, the colony will grow into the thousands!

Queen size: 5-6mm

Worker size: 3-4.5mm

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