Acorn Ants
Tiny peaceful ants- Beginner
 
Select your species from the drop-down list, the care sheet for them will be our generic Acorn ants care sheet but the species you receive will differ based on your selection.
 
Acorn ants are probably the cutest species of ant you will come across. These tiny colonies grow to 200-300 workers and quite literally fit into an acorn sitting peacefully in the ground litter of forest floors.
 
With this being said, they have been found nesting under wood and stones too which could mean that the acorns are a temporary shelter for founding and the colonies grow much larger once they move out. Join us in the name of science and help find out with us.
 
Being so small their colonies go unnoticed to anyone walker overhead. Acorn Ants are found across Europe in very different temperatures. They are durable and resilient to heat and cold making them great for beginners. 
 
With this in mind we feel the day and night routine is quite essential for acorn ants, they are not protected by stable climates deep in the earth and their behaviour and cycles can be dependent on the warm/cool cycles.
 
Acorn ants are extremely peaceful, the avoid conflict with other ants and are not usually pestered by most other species too. For that reason they can be compatible with other species in bigger setups and live in the same enclosure on the surface with their neighbours of another species.
 
With the exception of sugars which they collect from aphids and plants the do not really compete with other ants for food. Silently foraging on the forest floor they will prey on small protein sources like spring tails and dipterans.
 
Although they are considered monogyne many species have been known to tolerate another queen, especially where their nest is divided over 2 acorns for example.  Species such as Temnothorax Angustulus are far more arboreal in forraging and are polygyne making larger colonies overall.
 
This species is best suited to a small acorn (ideally hollowed) and placed in an outworld to mimic their natural environment (you could use a walnut too) Ideally a room which heats and cools in an area with indirect light (like the shadow light under an oak tree is)
 
Colony Size
200 to 300 workers
Queen
Age - 5 to 15 years (workers up to 3 months)
Monogyne - but can be tolerant of others within reason
Fully Claustral -no food until first workers
Temperature & Humidity
Nest - Ambient | Outworld -Ambient
Nest 50%-60% | Outworld 30% to 50%
Winter Rest
Yes - October to March at 5-8 degrees
Polymorphic (Different size casts)
No
Sting | Bite | Spray
No
Diet
Insects, Sugars, Carbs
Nest Type
SMALL_ Acrylic, Sand, Earth, Ytong, Plaster, Glass
Size
Queen - 3.5mm-4.5mm
Worker - 2.5mm-3.5mm