How to care for and look after Lasius Niger (Black Garden Ant Farm at home)?
Black ants are generally docile and won't sting or bite.
Lasius Niger-Black Garden Ant is known for their resilience and ability to easily adapt to different environments, making these ant species perfect for beginners. We offer healthy ant colonies raised by ourselves from a queen ant. You can buy different sizes from smallest (young queen with no brood yet) to largest (healthy queen with 30-40 workers). Black Ants are ideal for educational purposes and make great pets for homes and classrooms.
Development - egg to an adult worker. 6 - 8 weeks
The eggs hatch into larvae in about 21 to 28 days, within a further 30-35 days these larvae turn into adult ants.
More precisely:
egg to larvae: approx. 10 -12 days,
larvae to pupae: approx. 10 -14 days,
pupae to a worker: approx. 10 - 24 days (depending on the temperature inside the nest 20-26 degrees C, the warmer the faster development).
The first workers are called nanitics and their development is way faster (around 40 days) though as they are tiny.
Caring for Black Ants
Queen ants don’t usually need feeding until their first workers (aka nanitics) arrive.
• First of all, keep in mind that we'll feed the ants (if you purchase a colony) before dispatch also once you receive your ant farm and ant colony, leave the parcel unopened for 4-5 hours at room temperature so your ants can get used to their new environment. Avoiding toxins built up in your ants due to abrupt temperature changes is essential.Then check if your queen ant is safe and sound and leave your ants for 4-5 days to relax after their journey to you. Do not feed or disturb the ants during this period! Please keep them in a dark place with no vibrations, at a room temperature of 18-25 C (away from daily household activities).
• Checking them once 24 hours after arrival is enough.
Feeding your ants
• What ant food do your ants need? You can feed them Protein Jelly or small insects which you can crush like fruit flies, crickets, and locusts for example. A protein-rich food is needed for brood development (can feed them live food when the colony has more workers (100+)).
• The Protein Jelly is a good convenient way to feed your queens and workers all they need. We have recently upgraded our Protein Jelly's formula so that's everything the ants need. No more live food, no more mess and waste!
• Also, you must give your colony organic honey (included in our Ant Farm Kits).
• Feed the ants once a week into their outworld ONLY. Discard any remaining food after 2-3 days or fungus/mould may appear.How to feed your ants honey or jelly? Watch the video tutorial.
Hibernation
• The hibernation process is not a must!
• Ants hibernate in winter as food is scarce in the wild. They need to hibernate from November till April so keep them in a cool area around 10-15 Degrees Celsius.
What ant farm?
Ant Farm requirements:
Air humidity: outworld: 30 - 50% and in the nest: 50 - 70%;
Temperature: outworld: overnight 18 and maximum daily temperature 28°C. In the nest area: 20 - 24°C.
Suitable ant farms are the A7 Ant Farm and the A6 Complete Ant Setup. If you'd like to monitor the temperature and humidity levels inside the ant farm, then we'll recommend the A7 Plus and A6 Ant Farm Kit with Meter.
These unique ants for beginner ant keepers are native to the UK.
Good to know:
These tiny creatures play an important role in the ecosystem and are essential for maintaining a balanced environment. Lasus Niger queen ant lifespan is up to 28 years and 9 months in a lab condition but in captivity around 10-12 years. The Black Ant worker ants live 1-2 years and aid in the growth and success of your colony. The nanitic ants' life is shorter, around 3-6 months.