Camponotus lasiselene

This southern Chinese carpenter ant carries a tidy two-tone look and a relaxed temperament, so it forgives the small mistakes new keepers tend to make. The growth is slow and steady rather than explosive, which makes it easy to follow and easy to house, while still giving a beginner a colony with real scale to aim for. It needs no dormancy, so care stays the same all year with nothing seasonal to time. Patient, even-tempered and undemanding, it makes an ideal teaching colony for someone who wants a small species without the demands of a tropical specialist.

A carpenter ant that fuels its workers on sugars and honeydew and feeds the brood on insect protein. Keep a sweet source available at all times and offer protein two to three times a week while the queen is laying.

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

This is a tiny carpenter ant, so keep the founding queen in a test tube and then a small nest, never a large empty one that would swamp the colony. It nests in wood and likes a moderate-to-damp chamber, so a compact Ytong, acrylic or 3D-printed nest with one hydrated area around 50-70% beside a drier arena works well. Upgrade to a larger ANTonTOP formicarium only once workers fill the first nest. Keep a fluon (PTFE), thin oil line, or talc-and-water barrier on the arena rim.

No hibernation is required, so the colony stays active all year. Keep the nest at 22-26 °C and the arena at 22-28 °C, with nest humidity at 50-70% and the arena drier at 30-50%. Warm one end only with a small cable or mat so the colony can settle in a warm or cool spot along the gradient, and keep feeding and watering as normal through winter.

Camponotus are slow, methodical growers, so expect patient, steady expansion toward an eventual ceiling of up to 5,000 workers. Quiet warmth during founding brings the first generation of workers along within weeks. You receive a mated queen with workers and brood, ready to keep building once housed.

• It is a carpenter ant from southern China, part of Camponotus, the largest genus in the ant family.
• Carpenter ants take their name from gnawing nest galleries into wood, which they hollow out without eating.
• Workers defend the colony by spraying formic acid rather than stinging.
• East Asian Camponotus colonies tend sap-feeding bugs for honeydew, a steady source of the sugars that keep the workforce going.

Is Camponotus lasiselene good for beginners?

Yes. It is rated Beginner, needs no hibernation, and tolerates minor care slips.

Does Camponotus lasiselene need a winter rest?

No, hibernation is not required; keep it warm and feeding all year.

Does this two-tone carpenter ant sting or bite?

No, it has no sting and only a mild bite.

How big can a Camponotus lasiselene colony grow?

Up to about 5,000 workers in a single-queen colony.

How large is the queen?

The queen measures 7.5-10 mm; workers are 3.5-5 mm and majors 4-6 mm.

How fast does it grow?

Slowly and steadily, like most Camponotus. Count on months, not weeks, to reach full size.

What do I feed it?

Sugar water or nectar for energy plus crickets or flies for protein; it does not eat seeds.

How is it shipped and will it arrive alive?

It ships as a queen with workers and brood plus a heat or cool pack, sent within 24 h with tracking for safe, fast 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.