Camponotus essigi (Essig's Carpenter Ant)

"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 essigi, Essig's Carpenter ant, is a small arboreal carpenter ant from the Southwestern United States. These carpenter ants are on the smaller side, with queens ranging from 9 to 12 mm and workers ranging from 5 to 11 mm. It can be found in branches of manzanita, oak, yucca, and sagebrush.

The ones we sell are from the Southern US, where populations don't require hibernation

Like other carpenter ants, it prefers low humidity from 30-50%, and slightly higher temperatures at 25-28 degrees Celsius, though it surprisingly is one of the slowest growers.

Photos Courtesy of @nurbsants

Test tube inserts are upgrades to the test tube setups provided. If purchased, they come with a dark hood to lower light levels for the colony, an insert which provides a living space, and a feeding insert to provide food for the colony.

Ungrouted inserts are a blank plastic insert which helps provide a more suitable space for the ants to grip (as opposed to glass tubes), while grouted inserts are bedded with a substrate which helps distribute humidity more evenly throughout the test tube, and helps certain ants create their cocoons more easily. Overall, grouted inserts are more comfortable for the ants.

You will NOT need an insert for colonies in test tubes, but it does help for certain species. IF you are moving the ants into a nest immediately, do NOT get a test tube insert.

This species comes from more tropical areas than Canada, and are not cold-tolerant. Thus, we will not ship them in the winter

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