Solenopsis Geminata (Fire ants) are the rarer cousins of the Solenopsis Invicta. The pictures speak for themselves, in terms of their visuals they are more of an orange coloration of both queen and workers. Like Invicta they have caste Polymorphism and can even have super majours.
They are a fast-growing species once the colony gets through its first set of 5 workers, and will grow steadily in the following months. To control population, it is important to restrict food if needed which really helps and temperature can also play a role.
Good escape prevention is needed once the colony is out of a test tube set up, also bear in mind the workers carry a sting! You need to be at least 18 years of age to purchase this species, or can be purchased through a parent but colony would need supervision by an adult 18 or over.
This species was made very popular by various Youtube channels and like Invicta are very popular due to polymorphism and fast growth rate.
This species must not be released into the wild, as its illegal.
Keeping difficulty: Medium (kept at least 1 or 2 exotic ant species)
Colony form: Polygyne
Queen size: 6-9mm orange/red
Worker’s size: 3-7mm orange/red
Food: honey water and insects and small seeds like millet
Temp: 24-28°C
Humidity: 30-50%
Founding: clasutral without feeding
Colony size: 1-40000 workers
Hibernation: No (They would benefit from 6-week diapause from October to March)
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 WARRNTY. 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 our guides.
