Ants For Sale In
Iowa
Welcome to the list of ants for sale in Iowa! Every species here can be legally sent to Iowa. Each ant colony will come healthy, with fertile, mated queen ants!
About Ants in Iowa
Iowa is prairie country that mostly became cropland, but the remnants that survive, like the hills of the west and the riverbed preserves, still preserve prairie ant communities.
Best beginner species for Iowa keepers
Tetramorium immigrans: the standard easy starter, common in every Iowa town. Hardy, generalist, forgiving.
Pogonomyrmex occidentalis (Harvester Ants): larger, bolder, orange Harvester that never disappoints. These ants NEED heat to grow. Not native to IA, but deregulated across the US.
Lasius neoniger: a true prairie and lawn species, abundant and easy-going.
Camponotus pennsylvanicus: large black carpenter ants, common in Iowa's remaining woodlots.
Why some species can't be sent to Iowa
Live ant shipments across state lines are regulated by USDA APHIS, and permits are issued species-by-species and state-by-state. Every species listed above is one that the USDA permits to ship to Iowa.
Ants you'll notice around Iowa
The small dark ants in town sidewalks are pavement ants. Out in lawns and what's left of the prairie, the tiny golden ones are Lasius neoniger — you'll know them when they swarm in late summer around Labor Day. Big black carpenter ants (C. pennsylvanicus) turn up in old farmhouse siding and woodlot logs, and Formica mounds dot ungrazed field corners. If you're lucky, sometimes you'll come across some rarer Formica species, relicts of the large prairie which once spanned the state.