Messor minor hesperius "Red" (Canary Islands Harvester Ants)

Messor minor, or the Canary Islands Harvester Ant is an old world harvester ant from around the Mediterranean sea, from southern Italy to northern Africa. Unlike New world Harvester ants, like Pogonomyrmex, Messor creates a sort of "ant bread". Larger workers in the colony will deshell seeds and chew them up to create a type of food which is fed directly to the larvae. These ants are relatively docile, and are particularly fast growing. Mature colonies will grow up to 50,000 workers of 3 sizes; minors, media, and majors, ranging overall from 4 to 11mm, with queens of up to 12mm.

As these ants are found in areas where temperatures are high year-round, hibernation is not needed, and the colony should be kept close to 25 degrees Celsius, with humidity levels of 50-70%.

Photos Courtesy of Sarah Gregg

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