Harvester ant of coastal California and foothills, milder than the desert. Mostly seeds, moderate hibernation. The queen forages for seeds during founding: give her a few seeds.
Work out the amounts for your colony →Calculator opened with Veromessor andrei already selected: number of workers, brood, temperature. Free, no account.Calculator figures for moderate brood at 24 °C:
| WORKERS | PROTEIN | SUGAR | SEEDS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1 fruit fly · Every 5 days | little or none | 0.02 g / week |
| 50 | 3 fruit flies · Every 4 days | little or none | 0.08 g / week |
| 150 | 2 juvenile crickets · Every 7 days | little or none | 0.2 g / week |
| 400 | ½ medium cricket · Every 7 days | little or none | 0.6 g / week |
1 fruit fly ≈ a 2–3 mm insect; a medium cricket (1 cm) is about 50 fruit flies. 1 drop ≈ 0.05 mL.
Adjust to what you see: if food is left after 24 h, give less; if it all goes fast and the brood grows, give more.
Semi-claustral founding: the queen forages. Give her a few small seeds and one small prey a week.
From October to February, 8–12 °C.
All species · Hibernation calculator
Work out the amounts for your colony →Calculator opened with Veromessor andrei already selected: number of workers, brood, temperature. Free, no account.