Messor laboriosus are a species of Messor rarely if ever sold in Europe. Considering they have a wide distribution ranging from Greece, Iran, Turkey, and China among a few other countries.
What makes them quite different from other species is their red thorax which is not very common among Messor species giving them a bi colouration that is quite evident.
A very nice species to add to any collection and they are a relatively easy species to keep!
Like all harvester species they will open a seeds hard casing and grind the pulp of the seed to form an ant bread in which they would feed on.
Keeping difficulty: Easy (kept at least one species)
Colony form: Monogyne (Slight Polymorph workers)
Queen size: 12-14mm black/brown
Worker’s size: 6-8mm black/brown with red thorax
Food: honey water, insects, and seeds
Temp: 24-28°C
Humidity: 50-70%
Founding: clasutral without feeding
Colony size: 100-10000 workers
Hibernation: No
Live arrival guarantee:
We guarantee the live arrival of your Queen they come well packed in our jiffy bags which have two-sided padding as well as an additional layer of bubble wrap around our test tubes. We are the only company in the United Kingdom to offer our live arrival guarantee of your queen as well as an additional 14 days guarantee if the colony if kept in the original test tube for all our European species. Why do we do this? We are confident with our colony’s health and our packaging process as well as our care guides, we also believe in our customers and making sure they have a good ant keeping experience.
Live arrival guarantee we ensure the live arrival of the queen only upon delivery contact us within 24 hours of receiving the Queen dead on arrival with a picture of the dead queen and the original workers. DO NOT TRANSFER THE DEAD QUEEN OR WORKERS TO A NEST AS THIS VOIDS YOUR WARRANTY. For our additional 14-day guarantee for European species the Queen and workers must be kept in the original test tube sealed with the cotton and care sheet instructions followed if you want to keep this additional guarantee do not transfer to a nest or your warranty is VOIDED (we recommend you keep the 14-day warranty).
We have no control over the environment outside the test tube and have no influence in the conditions the responsibility once placed outside the test tube within the 14-day period the responsibility is with the buyer. 9 times out of 10 colonies die in the nest due to lack of water access, food, temperature, oxygen or stress due to vibrations or exposure to excess light. If your colony does fail inside a nest contact us, we can advise what went wrong but it is up to you to buy another ant colony, you will succeed but sometimes it does not work the first time. Research is key to success with ant keeping and follow.
