Camponotus vicinus (Neigbouring 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.

A virgin carpenter ant queen crawls out from under a flat rock in the desert night in spring as the sun sets. For her, and a hundred brothers and sisters, it will be the last time they see the nest. As a warm air floats about, she is suddenly compelled to spread her wings, and for a few hours, the air is filled with queens and drones looking for a suitable mate. Back to our queen, she's digging a small burrow into a wet patch of sand along with a group of 2 friends she's found on the way. Camponotus vicinus is one of the only ground nesting, as well as one of the only polygynous (Can have multiple queens) species to Camponotus in Canada. With a more narrow head, she's unable to dig through wood.

This species prefers low humidity from 30-50%, and slightly higher temperatures at 25-27 degrees Celsius. It's the fastest growing Carpenter ant species with workers ranging from 7-16 mm and queens reaching 18mm.

Image Courtesy of Jacob Liao. Check his website out here!

Images Courtesy of Por Amor Art

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.

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.

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