Pognomyrmex subdentatus Care Sheet 1/03/2019

     In the last few days of October as well as the first weeks of  November, a friend and I caught multiple queens of the species Pogonomyrmex subdentatus. I managed to get 3 successful colonies going out of the four queens I got, as well as one queen that is alive but worker-less. I will make a post about my colonies in the near future. Since a 75% is a relatively good rate of success for this species, I decided to make a detailed care sheet about how I did it. Enjoy!

Scientific Name:  Pognomyrmex subdentatus

Common Name: Red Havester Ant, California Harvester Ant

Distribution:  Found in areas Northern California

Queen size:  6-9mm (queen size can vary greatly)

Worker size:  4-7mm (nanitics can be much smaller than a mature colony's workers). Only one worker caste but workers can vary in size due to factors such as colony age and it's nutrition in the larval stages.

Natural Habitat: Chaparral environments, oftentimes with sandy and/or clay-rich soil. Sometimes found in foothills as well.

Circadian Activity: Active exclusively during the day

Mating Flight: Two main mating seasons, one in spring and the other in fall. The spring season often starts with the first 70F+ degree day of the year, usually coinciding with the first Prenolepis imparis flight of the year (typically in February or March). Spring mating season can last up till June in some cases. Fall mating season usually starts in mid-late october when the average temperature decreases(averaging in the low seventies). When this happens, a jump to 80F+ degrees often triggers a flight. Rain in early spring and late fall may also trigger flights, provided it is warm enough shortly afterward.

Queen Founding Method:  Semi-Claustral, will forage before first workers arrive

Monogyne or Polygyne:  Monogyne (only one queen tolerated)

Average time from egg to worker (approximated):  Egg to Larva: 7-20 days, Larva to Pupa: 6-18 days, Pupa to Worker: 10-20 days. Warmer temperatures greatly enhance brood development speed.

Recommended Temperature: 90-95F in active months, high temperatures such as these will speed up development from egg-worker to 3-4 weeks in total. Hibernate colonies at room temperature.

Recommended Humidity: Provide a gradient with some areas measuring high humidity (around 80 percent), and others completely dry. This allows them to store more sensitive brood in wetter parts of the nest and seeds in the drier parts

Preferred Foods:  Queens need to be fed in the founding stages can be started with just kentucky bluegrass and poppy seeds, with insects given every 2 weeks being beneficial but not necessary. Once the queen gets workers, add weekly insect protein in and continue the feeding of the seeds used in founding. Seeds are a staple part of this species' diet. Larger colonies will eat almost anything, including (but not limited to) meat, seeds, decaying insects, and more. I recommend staying away from sugar with this species and sticking to an insect, meat and seed diet as multiple people have reported deaths because of them. Multiple people have raised colonies to maturity without feeding them any sugar, just as colonies grow in the wild.

Hibernation Details: These ants will benefit from a 3 month long hibernation, from mid-November to mid-February (at room temperature, 65-72F works best). Colonies from queens that were caught in fall flights should skip their first hibernation to ensure proper development into their first year, but should be hibernated annually for the rest of their lifetime.

Escape Barrier Methods:  Baby powder/rubbing alcohol, or fluon. These ants are horrible climbers but can use substrate to create escape ladders and are capable of climbing smooth plastic to a minor degree. 

Difficulty rating:  Intermediate-Hard, queens can be hard to start off and require a high temperature. If the temperature dips down too much, colonies may consume brood. They also have very painful stings and can cause severe reactions in those that are allergic to their venom.

Bite and/or Sting rating: Very painful sting, rated similar to that of a paper wasp. Workers and queens have powerful mandibles that can cause a painful pinch when they bite. This species is surprisingly docile despite it's potent defenses and will not sting or bite unless aggressively provoked. They prefer to hide when they are feeling threatened and sting and bite as a last resort.

Special Care or Interesting Notes: In my experience, these ants do MUCH better in dirt setups with dirt from their place of capture. I recommend using dirt setups similar to those created by the owner of the ant forum Formiculture (more on these setups here). They decrease stress from feeding and in my experience queens culture a larger first brood in them. If using test tubes refrain from checking on them as much as possible, and preferably use an outworld to minimize stress during feeding.

This care sheet uses a format found on Formiculture.com