"Will it chew through my house?" is the first question I hear from a first-time ant-keeper or any ant-keeper's parents when they look at carpenter ants.
A quick disclaimer: your house will be safe as long as it's not made from a crumbly and rotting foundation. There will only be ants if there's water leaking through.
Camponotus vicinus are a very variable species. Though it will certainly prove to be a species complex, that is multiple closely related species, when a scientist gets around to revising it, for now they're all lumped into a single species. They however do have shared traits that separate them from other Camponotus species. They all have large big-headed soldiers, and small minor ants. They're all large and nocturnal, with the typical diet of insects and sugary liquids. Their workers will hunt aggressively, with majors being capable of shredding small insects. Some are monogynous dirt nesters, others polygynous inbreeding wood nesters. None can sting, all of them are fun to keep.
Check Out Our Care Sheet on Variable Carpenter Ants Here
Camponotus vicinus, all of its varieties, belong to the Tanaemyrmex subgenus. With workers ranging from 8 to 17mm, and queens ranging from 14-18mm, they can be tricky for beginners to separate from other Camponotus, but with a trained eye it can be done based largely on the shape of their antennae.
This species is an amazing pick for beginners. Though brood grow slowly due to their large size, their care is very simple, consisting of the usual sugar water and insects combination. They can be housed in basically any nest, though wood nests are not recommended. Hibernation is required.
| Scientific Name: | Camponotus vicinus |
| Common Name: | Sunrise Carpenter Ant |
| Taxonomy: | Kingdom: Animalia | Phylum: Arthropoda | Class: Insecta | Order: Hymenoptera | Family: Formicidae | Subfamily: Formicinae | Genus: Camponotus | Species: C. vicinus |
| Care Difficulty: | Camponotus semitestaceus is a beginner level species. |
| Distribution: | This species can only be found in western North America. |
| Habitat: | Basically in any habitat, whether it be pinewood, mixed chaparral, desert, or more. |
| Colony form: | Largely monogynous, meaning only one queen in a single colony. There are however some polygynous (more than one queen in a colony) variants, even to the point that alates will inbreed. |
| Queen: | Queens of this species reach a size of around 14-18mm. |
| Worker: | Majors will approach 17 mm, minors will stay around 8-9 mm, with medias being anywhere in between. |
| Nutrition: | The typical insect and sugar water combination is more than adequate for this species. |
| Air humidity: | Humidity should be greater than 35%. |
| Temperature: | Heating will drastically decrease the time from egg to worker, and this species can be heated safely up to 32 Celsius. |
| Hibernation: | Though diapause is not necessary for every variant of this species, due to how many do require it the safest course of option is to hibernate every colony, as it can't hurt them. |
| Nesting Habits: | In the wild they have been observed to nest in basically anything from the direct dirt, to under stones, to rotting wood. |
| Kind of Formicaria: | Nearly any setup will work for them, including Tarheel Ants formicarium, other plaster nests, and acrylic nests. As not all variants nest in wood, we cannot recommend wood nests. |
| Formicaria size: | Colonies can get larger than 10,000 workers, but will both take a while to get there and not get to that size unless you feed them enough. |
| Description: | Camponotus vicinus is a very large and aggressive ant. Though they may be very variable, all of them are fun to keep. |
| Development: | Colonies will mostly have their nuptial flights during late Spring to early Summer. Some will fly later however. |
| Offering quantity: | Queen, Queen + 5-10 workers, Queen + 10-25 workers, Queen + 25-50 workers, Queen + 50-100 workers. |
| Weblinks: |
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Shipping Conditions
Hey! This is a live product. If you are purchasing ants during the winter months, please remember to purchase the "Winter Shipping (Live Guarantee) (72 hour heat pack + 1 inch foam cushion)" in order to guarantee the order.
Live Guarantee Policy
If live insects arrive cold or flooded please handle with care. Many of these colonies typically pop back up within a few hours. All DOA claims must be made within 24 hours after receiving your insects. Any order with a unacceptable mortality rate, but with a viable colony (e.g. less workers than in the range advertised, less queens or workers than advertised) can be compensated with store credit equal to the loss of value in the shipment, including shipping and extra packaging. Any order with DOAs, but which do not fall out of the initially advertised/promised range of workers will NOT be compensated.
DOA claims which are a total loss will be re-shipped 1 more time FREE of charge with photographic evidence. Orders where shipping is more than 30% of the total value of the order will be refunded proportionally to the loss of value in the shipment, INCLUDING test tube inserts which are purchased with the colony.
We guarantee live arrival on Xpresspost and priority shipments, as well as pickup and local delivery. Only orders that are accepted on the first delivery attempt will be eligible for DOA credit, no exceptions.
Live guarantee is VOID if you choose expedited shipping. In the winter, it is VOID if no extra packing is purchased. Fertility guarantee claims or live guarantee claims made within the month after arrival must be made with a timestamped photo of BOTH the queen alive upon arrival AND a timestamped photo of the dead specimens.
Expedited shipping can be a budget friendly method but does not always have the best results. If your order is going to be in transit more than 3 business days please do not choose this method or choose at your own risk.
DURING THE WINTER MONTHS WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO HOLD BACK SHIPMENTS IF WE DECIDE ITS TOO COLD TO SHIP.
Please note that orders to outdoor community mail boxes, or other outdoor locations void our live guarantee. If your address consists of an outdoor mail box or location, please make arrangements to have the order delivered to a friends house, or to your place of employment.
Just a warning, we will NOT ship live ants into the US unless the receiver has a permit. If such an order is made, it will be refunded, minus a 10% processing fee and restocking fee
This product is from Canada Ant Colony. The full catalogue, including all variants, can be found at https://canada-ant-colony.com