Carpenter ants Camponotus sanctus

Camponotus sanctus. Known for its high activity levels both outside the nest and during food hunts, the Camponotus sanctus is one of the largest ant species in Africa and is often considered a cousin to the  Camponotus fellah. They can be extremely aggressive when you interfere with their nest! Northern Africa and the Middle East are home to this enormous, super-active, and hostile ant species. Very thermophilous (a warmth-loving ) species. Prefers open environments like sunny roadsides in oak woodlands, river wadis, dry hills with little vegetation, and urban parks. burrows beneath massive stones.  Large majors with strong jaws develop as the colony increases, similar to other species of Camponotus. 

The Camponotus sanctus colony has one queen and grows quickly. It can have up to 10,000 members. The ants are very polymorphic and come in different sizes: queens are 16-18mm, and workers are 7-16mm. These unique ants are very active all day.

Ant farm requirements: Humidity: outworld: 50%; nest: 50 - 60%. Temperature: outworld: 22 - 30°C; nest: 25- 28°C. You must use a heating mat here in the UK.

Recommended food: They don't really care what they eat; they are true omnivores. Aphid excretion, known as honeydew, is what carpenter ants would forage for. In addition, they will consume fruits, plant fluids, small insects, invertebrates, grease, fat, and sweet materials like jelly or honey.

Claustral founding (without feeding) but we recommend feeding the queen honey once every two weeks.

From egg to adult worker, the process takes about 6-8 weeks (temperature dependent, the higher the temperature the faster)
The main activity period is from April to September.

Identified for the first time as "Camponotus maculatus r. sanctus" by the Swiss myrmecologist Auguste Forel in 1904.

Amazinglymazingly, the Camponotus sanctus queen's lifespan is up to 25 years! Isn't ant-keeping fascinating?