Ant Colonies We Ship to Alabama

31 of our 46 ant species can ship to Alabama. USDA-APHIS makes live-ant shipping a state-by-state matter — each species needs a PPQ 526 permit for each destination state — so here is exactly how Alabama shakes out.

What we ship to Alabama (31)

What we can't ship — and why

15 of our species can't cross the Alabama line. USDA-APHIS requires a PPQ 526 permit per species, per destination state; these aren't currently approved for Alabama: Myrmecocystus mimicus, Pogonomyrmex barbatus, Veromessor pergandei, Camponotus modoc, Myrmecocystus mexicanus, Pogonomyrmex maricopa, Dorymyrmex insanus, Lasius pallitarsis, Pheidole littoralis, Solenopsis geminata, Novomessor cockerelli, Acromyrmex versicolor, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Pogonomyrmex californicus, Myrmecocystus navajo. You can still read their care guides — and rules change as permits are granted.

Native to Alabama

Pheidole adrianoi — “Native to central and northern Florida, west to the panhandle, with records extending into Georgia and Alabama.”

The imported fire ants entered the United States through the Port of Mobile, and Alabama still sits entirely inside the federal Imported Fire Ant quarantine — a program that restricts moving queens, soil, and nursery stock out of the quarantined zone, and says nothing about what may enter the state. Inbound live ants answer to a different rulebook: USDA-APHIS permits (PPQ 526), cleared species by species, and western stock like Pogonomyrmex barbatus and Myrmecocystus mexicanus is not cleared for hobbyist shipment into Alabama; neither is Solenopsis geminata, the tropical fire ant. What is approved fits the state well. Odontomachus brunneus, a trap-jaw ant of the Southeast, is built for the long, humid Alabama summer; Camponotus castaneus, a nocturnal orange-red carpenter ant of eastern hardwoods, does fine at room temperature with a real winter cooldown; and Pogonomyrmex badius, the East's lone harvester ant, digs deep, many-chambered nests in sandy coastal-plain soil and asks more of a keeper — a seed diet and a sting that deserves respect. All three ship to Alabama today.

When queens fly in Alabama

Our analysis of 7,620 alate observations across the Southeast (including Alabama) found that June, May and July hold 64% of recorded nuptial flights, and about half of every record belongs to a dusk or after-dark flier. Full breakdown in our southeastern nuptial flight study.

Prefer to catch your own queen? Our free Ant Flight Predictor is coming soon — it will forecast nuptial flights near you. Meanwhile, browse every state and the full TrapJaw Labs shop.