About the Queen

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Your typical Camponotus castaneus queen is somewhere around 16-18mm long (though sometimes longer) and is a pretty chunky ant. Typically sporting a deep orange hue, the queens of this species are truly beautiful. Queens are monogynous (meaning there's one queen per colony) and fully claustral (meaning they raise their first batch of workers on their own, and should not be fed prior to workers). Feeding the queen prior to workers arriving can cause unnecessary stress, eventually leading to the brood being eaten! It's recommended not to feed them until their first workers hatch. If the queen looks very skinny when she has pupae (cocoons), it may be alright to give her a small drop of liquid sugar. This, however, isn't recommended.

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About Growth

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Camponotus castaneus are, technically, slow-growing ants. However, they're pretty good for Camponotus. In some cases, the colonies can reach 100 workers within the first year! The added advantage of the Florida population not hibernating means that any colonies from Stateside Ants have a short or negligible hibernation period, leading to more growth. Compared with northern Camponotus (which hibernate for 3-4 months of the year), this is a luxury. 

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The egg-worker time for this species is a bit longer, which is largely made up for by the fact that they lay in egg batches. From the time eggs are laid, it's usually about 55-70 days until a worker hatches (depending on feeding and heating, of course). 

 

Temperature and Setup

 

Although many keepers tend to keep Camponotus castaneus at pretty high temperatures, we've learned this actually isn't ideal. C. castaneus colonies kept in the mid-high 80s grew significantly slower than colonies kept in the 70s, and it wasn't even close. While we can't be entirely sure about the cause, it definitely seems like some stage of the brood can't grow in those high temperatures. When the colony is young, it's a good idea to keep them pretty cool (upper 70s or lower 80s at the warmest point). The most efficient temperature seems to be about 76-77°F, but this can vary a good bit by colony. It's important to note that this applies to the Florida population more than anything else!

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When you receive a young colony, it's probably a good idea to keep them in a test tube setup with an outworld attached. Don't move this species into a nest that they can't fill up at least 2/3 of, as they'll turn parts of it into a trash dump! 

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Whatever nest you eventually move the colony into, as it grows, should be a nest with a solid humidity gradient. A good section of the nest should be very high humidity, with another part of it being a bit drier. It's a good idea, no matter the nest, to have a test tube setup attached or in the outworld in case of dehydration (and to offer a very high humidity environment, in case their current one isn't cutting it). 

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Heat one section of the nest using a heat cable or heat mat, but keep it small. This species doesn't seem to like heat in most of the nest. Allow them to choose which temperature they prefer. You could also create an incubator for them, but it's recommended to be careful with that, as if it's too hot, it will stunt the colony's growth!

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Feeding

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Chestnut Carpenter Ants can be a bit picky when it comes to feeding. While they absolutely love liquid sugars (like sugarwater, honeywater, or Sunburst), protein can be more difficult. Their favorite protein, which they tend to accept almost every time, is fruit flies. Fruit flies are easy to carry back to the nest and soft-bodied, meaning they're easy for the ants to chew up and process. It's a good idea to offer larger chunks of more nutrient-rich protein every once in a while (like Dubia roaches), but young colonies seem to rarely bring them back to the nest to eat. When fed in the test tube, they're typically more likely to eat the roach pieces. 

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Since these ants are larger, their workers take a lot more resources to develop. Feed them lots of fruit flies, often! In my experience, a colony of around 20 workers should be fed fruit flies almost every day. Feeding also depends on the larvae. There's no perfect way to say how much you should feed based on how many larvae there are, but if I had to guess, 1-2 fruit flies per larvae every day is a good place to start. Just remember that (if you want the colony to grow), overfeeding is way better than underfeeding. Feed them as much as they will take, and then offer a bit more. 

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Make sure to remove uneaten food pieces as much as you can, especially when it's been more than 16-24 hours. If you don't, mites or mold could occur, which could harm the colony.

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It's also important (especially if your nest doesn't have much sand/absorbent material) that the ants have an outworld. Camponotus castaneus has formic acid, which is mostly harmless to humans, but can be very bad for the ants if smeared about often. When attacking fruit flies, the ants can spray acid, and this can have bad effects on them if left in the setup. Don't let that build up! Have an absorbent material on the bottom (like plaster or Ultracal) and/or a sand coating.

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You can tell how full this species is by its gaster! If their gaster is plump and inflated, they're probably well-fed on sugars. If they're skinny, they need some food! I usually try to make sure at least 60-70% of the colony has plump gasters, so they never go hungry. 

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Hibernation

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Camponotus castaneus from most of the US requires a decent hibernation (2-4 months). We sell queens sourced from Florida, which don't need such an extreme hibernation (referred to as diapause in insects). If your colony seems to slow down, despite warmth and feeding, in the winter, you should slowly lower them to around 45-50F for a few weeks. After maybe 4-6 weeks, raise the temperature again and resume regular protein feedings and warmth. The ants should kick right back into growth mode, usually beginning with the queen laying more eggs within a few days/weeks. Ensure that the workers are well fed (plump gasters) and that there's moisture in hibernation, just as there should be outside of it. ​

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To summarize: Keep your Chestnut Carpenter Ant colony in a high-humidity, medium-warmth (75-80F) setup while providing them with fruit flies, liquid sugars, and occasionally nutrient-rich proteins like roaches.

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If you're interested in getting specific help from antkeepers, see our Stateside Ants Discord server!

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If you want to purchase this species from us, check this page!

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