Ant Colonies We Ship to Texas

38 of our 46 ant species can ship to Texas. 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 Texas shakes out.

What we ship to Texas (38)

What we can't ship — and why

8 of our species can't cross the Texas line. USDA-APHIS requires a PPQ 526 permit per species, per destination state; these aren't currently approved for Texas: Veromessor pergandei, Camponotus floridanus, Pogonomyrmex badius, Lasius pallitarsis, Pheidole littoralis, Solenopsis geminata, Camponotus chromaiodes, Lasius brevicornis. You can still read their care guides — and rules change as permits are granted.

Native to Texas

Camponotus ocreatus — “A southwestern ant, running from California and Nevada through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas and far down into Mexico, from about 40.3°N to 18.5°N, with Nevada records between 4,200 and 7,000 feet.”

Camponotus sansabeanus — “Named for San Saba County, Texas, where the species was first collected, and ranging west and north from there across the arid interior: Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and northern Mexico.”

Camponotus vicinus — “A western ant, running from southern British Columbia and Alberta into northwestern Mexico and east to the Dakotas and western Texas, up to 2,960 meters in New Mexico.”

Crematogaster missouriensis — “A central and southeastern ant, recorded from Indiana and Kansas south through Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas to Florida, west into Arizona and New Mexico, and on into Mexico, spanning roughly 41.8°N down to…”

Lasius sitiens — “A southwestern mountain ant, described by Wilson in 1955 from juniper scrub north of Flagstaff and known from Arizona and New Mexico through Utah, Nevada and Texas into northern Mexico.”

Odontomachus brunneus — “Native range extends from Texas and across the southern gulf states and the Florida Keys.”

Pheidole tysoni — “Widely but patchily distributed, from New York south to northern Georgia and west through Tennessee and Kentucky, with separate montane populations in the mountains of southern Arizona and the Davis Mountains of west…”

Pogonomyrmex occidentalis — “Native range extends from North Dakota to Texas and across all western U.S. states.”

When queens fly in Texas

Our analysis of 7,620 alate observations across the Southeast (including Texas) 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.