Product Description
The Western Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis) is a medium-sized ant that is a great beginner species. Feeding is easy because they eat mostly seeds. They do sting but escapes are unlikely due to their lack of climbing abilities.
What’s in the Box
A Pogonomyrmex occidentalis colony in a test tube. The colony includes a queen, 6+ workers, eggs, larvae and pupae.
Growth
Maintaining a suitable temperature is crucial for development. Ideally, their nest should be kept between 85-92 degrees Fahrenheit, with a heating gradient if possible. Heating gradients can be obtained with a heating cable.
Diet
Their diet consists of small seeds (bluegrass or dandelion are preferred), and an optional weekly protein source like crickets, fruit flies, and mealworms. Sweets are optional but they do love fruit and apple pieces.
Housing
We generally sell our ants in test tubes. If local pickup is an option for you and the colony is large enough to move into a formicarium, we may be able to move the colony for you provided that you buy the setup from our store.
Upkeep
Since their diet consists mostly of seeds, a pile of seed husks will develop quickly. We highly recommend buying The Ant Vacuum from our store to aid in cleaning up the husks from the outworld. If the ants accidently get sucked into the vial, you can remove with your fingers provided that you are wearing surgical gloves.
Live Arrival Guarantee
See our policy here.
Shipping or Local Pickup
As this is not a federally regulated species, we are able to ship to every continental state except for CA or FL, which have state permit requirements. Your order will not get processed if your shipping address is in CA or FL. If you are in CA or FL and have a proper state permit, fill out our Contact Form and we will handle your case separately. Local pickup is available in Ahwatukee which is within the Phoenix Metro area.
koganeka (verified owner) –
Lovely queen arrived safe and sound and even already has her first adorable nanitic! Delivered safe and sound. Always my first choice for ants and ant-supplies. Buy from here, you won’t regret it!
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Scribbletoby (verified owner) –
Everyone arrived safe and sound with lots of brood and have been very active! They were shipped very securely with packing peanuts to ensure the tube didn’t roll around during shipment. Very pleased with my purchase!
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Miranda Jefferson (verified owner) –
Ants arrived in great condition, packaged with care. Very happy with my purchase!
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Cody (verified owner) –
Picked up locally, which I love because there are really now ant keeping retailers in the east valley of Arizona. The queen had many workers already, and they are thriving. This is my 4th purchase from AntGear.com, and am very pleased with the products. Definitely my go to! Plus the owner gave me excellent identification of a species I caught last summer, which helped a lot.
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