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.

• Lasius niger — the black garden ant
• Messor barbarus — the harvester ant
• Camponotus — the carpenter ant
• Pheidole pallidula — the big-headed ant
• Tetramorium — the pavement 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
• Feeding ants without buying anything

Ant feeding calculator (87 species + yours) →Exact amounts for your colony, 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).