How to feed your ants

Every species has its own needs: a harvester ant does not eat like a Lasius. Pick your species to see what to give, how much and how often.

Getting started: Getting started with ants · My ants are not eating · Mold in the nest

For beginners

The three species I suggest first: hardy and easy to find.

• Lasius niger — the black garden ant
• Messor barbarus — the harvester ant
• Tetramorium — the pavement ant

Other species, mostly European

• Camponotus — the carpenter ant
• Pheidole pallidula — the big-headed ant
• Lasius flavus — the yellow meadow ant
• Myrmica rubra — the European fire ant
• Formica fusca — the silky ant
• Crematogaster scutellaris — the cork ant
• Aphaenogaster senilis — a Mediterranean black ant
• Tapinoma nigerrimum — a Mediterranean odorous ant
• Messor structor — the central European harvester ant
• Temnothorax — the acorn ant
• Manica rubida — the mountain red ant

North American species

Less common in Europe: check they are allowed where you live.

• Pogonomyrmex occidentalis — the western harvester ant
• Veromessor pergandei — the black desert harvester ant
• Myrmecocystus mexicanus — the honeypot ant
• Camponotus vicinus — the western red carpenter ant

Tip

• Feeding ants without buying anything

Ant feeding calculator (87 species + yours) →Exact amounts for your colony, free. Ant hibernation calculator →Dates, temperature and duration for your species, free.

Rules that apply to every species

• Protein (insects) mostly feeds the larvae: the more brood, the more protein.
• Sugar is the workers' fuel: keep some available at all times (except for seed harvesters).
• Remove leftovers after 24 h to avoid mould.
• Never feed a queen during claustral founding.
• Wild insects only from an untreated garden. Freeze all insects for 48 h before feeding (mites, parasites).