Desert Harvester Ant Founding Queens

Product Description

For CA and AZ residents only. The Desert Harvester Ant, known scientifically as Veromessor pergandei, is a one of many types of harvester ants. These ants will collect and store seeds in underground chambers, creating a “seed cache” that can be used to sustain the colony during times of scarcity. There are major and minor workers. This species of harvester ant does not sting.

Queen Only

This includes the queen only. She is housed in a test tube. These are freshly caught queens from a mating flight in Arizona.

Care

Keep the queen in the test tube in a quiet and dark place. She should be left undisturbed until her workers emerge and this can take up to 3 months. Do not remove the cotton or put anything into the test tube. The queen should NOT be fed until her first workers emerge.  After workers arrive, their diet should consist mostly of seeds with the occasional (weekly) cricket or mealworm.

Important

Ant keepers who are not experienced or are unable to be patient shouldn’t buy queens without workers. The first months before workers emerge are key for the queen to survive. If she is stressed, she may not be able to found successfully.

Housing

Test Tube

Live Arrival Guarantee

See our policy here. Please note that if your queen did not survive, we will replace it but we will not cover shipping costs. You will be responsible for paying for shipping.

Disclaimer

There is no guarantee that the queens are fertile. Sometimes, if you do everything right, the queen will still fail to found.

Shipping

We are permitted to ship to AZ and CA only. Your order will not get processed if your shipping address is outside of CA or AZ. Info about our permits can be found here.