Pseudoponera rufipes

This is a hunter’s ant, and the pleasure is in watching it work. A ponerine from the rainforests of Borneo, it takes live prey and moves with the slow, deliberate purpose the group is known for. Colonies stay modest, so the focus stays on individual behaviour rather than managing a crowd, and the semi-claustral queen forages while raising her first workers, giving you something to feed and follow from the start. It needs warm, reliably humid conditions and never pauses for winter. Between the high humidity demand and the stinging defence, it is rated Pro and best suited to experienced keepers.

A dedicated hunter: live or freshly killed insects make up the core diet and feed the brood, taken by foragers working the substrate. The adults sip a little sugar for energy, so keep a light nectar source alongside the prey.

★★★ readily · ★★ moderately · ★ occasionally · ✗ not eaten

Found the queen in a test tube and move her on as the small colony grows. This Bornean hunter needs jungle-grade moisture, so pick a nest that holds plenty of water, Ytong, aerated concrete or a 3D-printed hybrid, and keep it reliably damp rather than letting it dry between top-ups. The colony stays modest, so a compact moisture-holding nest serves it well, with a humid outworld alongside. Keep escapes in check with fluon (PTFE), oil, or talc and water. ANTonTOP formicaria and starter kits combine a damp nest, arena and barrier in one set.

This Bornean hunter wants jungle-grade moisture. Keep the nest at 24 to 27 C and the arena at 25 to 29 C. Humidity sits high, 70 to 85% in the nest and 60 to 75% in the arena, so the setup must stay reliably damp rather than drying out between top-ups. Heat one side only for a gentle gradient. There is no hibernation, this is a tropical ant, so warmth and feeding carry on without any seasonal cooling period.

Growth is steady but stays small, with the colony topping out around 50 to 200 workers, so the draw is the hunting behaviour rather than the headcount. Progress is gradual throughout, which suits a keeper who wants to watch a compact colony closely. You receive a queen with workers and brood, packed for transit and ready for a humid founding nest.

• Pseudoponera was split off from the old catch-all genus Pachycondyla, part of a wider reshuffling of the ponerine ants.
• Ponerines like this are solitary hunters, subduing prey one worker at a time rather than swarming it in numbers.
• Many ponerine ants raise only small colonies yet are long-lived, investing in quality of brood over a large population.
• These are damp forest-floor ants of the Southeast Asian tropics, tied to the high humidity of the leaf litter they hunt in.

Is Pseudoponera rufipes good for beginners?

No, it is rated Pro, mainly because of its high humidity demands and stinging defence.

Does this Bornean ponerine need a winter rest?

No, it is tropical and active year-round, so keep feeding every season.

Does Pseudoponera rufipes sting or bite?

Yes, it has a sting and a mild bite, in line with hunting ponerine ants.

How big do colonies get?

They stay modest at 50-200 workers.

How big is the queen?

The queen is about 8 mm, with workers at 4-6 mm.

How quickly does this hunting colony grow?

Steadily but modestly; this is a small, behaviour-focused colony.

What does this predatory ponerine eat?

Live insects such as crickets and flies, plus sugar water or nectar for energy.

How is it shipped?

As a queen with workers and brood, with a heat or cool pack, sent within 24 h with tracking for safe live arrival.

Escape prevention. Coat the inner rim of every open arena with fluon (PTFE), or use talc-and-water or an oil barrier as a backup, and keep a tight, fine-mesh lid on top. Check the barrier regularly, since dust, condensation and feeding debris break a fluon line over time. Keep tubing connectors tight and seal any gaps in the nest.

Keeping reminders. Always offer fresh water and never let the nest dry out completely. Give carbohydrates continuously and protein a few times a week, and remove uneaten insect prey within 24 hours before it moulds. Keep the formicarium out of direct sunlight and away from constant vibration, which stresses a young colony. A water-filled test tube plugged with cotton makes an ideal spare incubator whenever you need one.

Before you buy – do not rehouse too early. Have a test-tube setup or a small formicarium with an outworld and a working barrier ready before your colony arrives. A founding colony grows slowly at first, which is normal. Moving a small colony into a large nest too soon invites mould, mites and stress, and the workers die off one by one. Keep the colony in its open test tube on the arena, plug the nest entrance with cotton, and open up the next chambers only once the colony fills roughly 10-15% of the space.

What we ship. Every colony ships with a live-arrival guarantee, backed by our 24h unboxing-video guarantee: if the queen does not arrive alive, we reship free. Parcels travel with DHL, InPost (PL) or EMS, with a heat or cold pack to suit the season, packed discreetly and securely. We ship across the EU and worldwide, with free shipping over the Europe threshold.