Camponotus chromaiodes (Bicolored Carpenter Ant)
Care Sheet
I'm Anthony Prothero, the founder of Stateside Ants. I've been an antkeeper for over a decade, and I've kept Camponotus chromaiodes for many years. In this guide, I'll detail all of my experience with them for you to use!
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Camponotus chromaiodes is found throughout much of the eastern United States. It hails from the forests and woodlands, often living in logs or dead standing wood. With the queens reaching over 19mm in length, their large major (soldier) workers, their bicoloration, and their long-lived colonies, this species is a must-have for easterners!
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The only downside some antkeepers see to this species is their growth. Compared to smaller ants, Camponotus chromaiodes is a slow-growing species. On the high end, colonies can typically reach 100 workers in their first year, and in the years following that, many more. However, the colonies can grow rather large overall and are still extremely entertaining to keep! You can find Bicolored Carpenter Ant colonies for sale here.
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Short Sheet
Queen size: 16-20mm.
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Worker size: ~8-12mm.
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Major size: 9-16mm
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Founding method: Fully-claustral.
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Egg-worker times: Between 60 and 70 days, if fed and heated sufficiently.
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Polygynous?: No, monogyne.
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Ideal temperature: A gradient ranging from low 70s to low 80s, with most of the nest in the mid 70s.
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Humidity: 80-90%+ in part of the nest. This species enjoys at least partial high humidity in some part of the nest, but much of it can be rather dry.
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Hibernation temperature: ~37°F, don't allow them to fall below 34.
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Protein preference: Largely generalist, but with a strong preference for small foods that can be carried. Fruit flies seem to be the best protein for this species. Roaches are an amazing feeder, but young colonies might not harvest them from outworld.
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Carbohydrate preference: Liquid sugars, such as sugarwater, honeywater, or Sunburst.
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About the Queen
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Your typical Camponotus chromaiodes queen is somewhere around 16-18mm long (though sometimes longer) and is a pretty chunky ant. Queens typically sport a rough black with orange on their legs, often creeping up the bottom of the thorax and sometimes gaster.. 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 chromaiodes are slow-growing ants. However, in some cases, the colonies can reach 50-100 workers within the first year!
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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 60-70 days until a worker hatches (depending on feeding and heating, of course).
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Queens of this species can live for multiple decades, forming colonies with many thousands of workers.
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If you're getting a first year colony (as is usually the case), they may be ready to diapause by sometime around September or October. Once you see those tiny larvae bunched up and no other brood, they'll be ready for their first diapause. Don't worry! Just a few months in the fridge, take them out, and growth can really begin!
Temperature & Setup
Camponotus chromaiodes enjoy temperatures in the mid 70s for most of the nest, with a warmer point for pupal development in the low 80s.
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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 for as long as possible. 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 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). Remember that these are forest ants who live in wood. Some parts of the wood would be dry and warmer, while inner parts would be humid and cooler.
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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 be careful not to stunt their growth with excessive heat.
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Feeding
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Bicolored Carpenter Ants tend to have a generalist Carpenter Ant diet. They really enjoy proteins such as fruit flies and roaches for the queen and larval growth, while the queen and workers will benefit from sugary liquids (like sugarwater, honeywater, or Sunburst Ant Nectar). Fruit flies are their favorite, since fruit flies can be carried and chewed easily. Roaches, for example however, are much higher in nutrients than fruit flies, and so a good bit of variation can be very valuable for the ants!
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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. Clean the excess.
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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. This can be circumvented by consistently removing old food.
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It's good to have a nest and outworld with absorbent material, since these ants spray formic acid (which cannot harm humans meaningfully) that can harm the ants if smeared on smooth surfaces.
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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. For growth, it's a good idea to make sure that they're not entirely plump from sugars, so that some workers can still eat protein to feed to the larvae.
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Hibernation
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Camponotus chromaiodes requires a decent hibernation (diapause) of at least 3 months. If you want your colony to develop best, it's a good idea to do closer to 4 months. For diapause, slowly remove heat and cool the ants down until after a few weeks, put them at around 37F. Be careful taking them out of diapause after 3-4 months if they're in a test tube, as tubes can flood in the time following removal.
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You'll know your colony is ready for diapause when the brood stops growing, the colony mostly denies food, and oftentimes, there will be a batch of tiny larvae that refuse to grow over the weeks. This is brood that's ready to diapause, and is a signal that the colony as a whole is too.
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To summarize: Keep your Bicolored Carpenter Ant colony in a varied-humidity, medium-warmth (75-80F) setup while providing them with fruit flies, liquid sugars, and occasionally nutrient-rich proteins like roaches. If you want them to grow very quickly, feed them as much as they will take very often.
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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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