Messor barbarus

Messor barbarus is a very common species in Italy, Spain and other countries in South Europe. It lives in dry and dark places. You can find them underground and in some buildings, too! You can find it in Poland, but it is very hard to see even a worker in that country. It is good for the beginners. The queen lays eggs very often. You should water it only in 30%! The temperature is 22 – 28 0C.  They eat grains and protein. The queen lays more eggs because of worms! Sometimes they eat they eggs and that is normal for this species. They don’t like honey so much, but my ants eat it. The hibernation is in 10 – 12 0C. You can also put it away from the heating. More about hibernation you can read in the article about it.