Paratrechina longicornis Species Introduction

Budding. Colonies have many queens and spread by splitting, with a group of queens and workers walking off to a new nest site together. Queens shed their wings while they're still callow, before they ever leave the nest, and males have rarely, if ever, been seen flying. So there's no mating flight to catch, and you'll be starting with a fragment that already has queens and workers.

A pantropical tramp ant, and the most widespread invasive ant in the world. In the US they live outdoors across Florida and the Gulf Coast, and indoors in heated buildings well north of that. Where they originally came from has been argued over for a long time. The latest genetic work points to the Indian subcontinent. Workers are 2.3–3 mm, dark brown to almost black with a faint blue sheen, long white bristles, and antennae and legs that are absurdly long for their size. They nest just about anywhere: trash, mulch, rotten wood, tree cavities, soil. Their genetics are strange. Daughter queens are clones of their mother, sons are clones of their father, and only the workers are a mix of the two. So queens can mate with their own brothers in the nest and never inbreed. When Biosphere 2 in Arizona was surveyed in 1996, more than 99.9% of the ants coming to baits were this species. They were living mostly on honeydew from scale insects and mealybugs. TrapJaw Labs does not provide invasive ant species to customers, and strongly encourages keepers to consider keeping native ants. It is important to understand that all ants have native ranges where ant keepers may be located, and so we provide this information as a service to them. Invasive ants should NEVER be transported outside their established range, even within state lines.

Expect tons of activity. Colonies grow fast and they'll forage at almost any hour, running everywhere at once. The thing that'll bite you is containment. These are tiny ants with long legs built for running, and they'll find any gap you leave. They're also an invasive species. If they get out, that's more than a lost colony. Treat a sealed setup and a fresh fluon barrier as part of keeping them, not an extra.