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Tapinoma nigerrimum

3,000 Ft

: 5 mm (polygyn)
🐜: 3 – 4 mm
🍽️: honey +insects
💧: 50 – 60%
🌡️: 21 – 28°C
❄️: December – February (5 – 8 °C)

Tapinoma nigerrimum

Description

This is a small sized, polygyn (multiple queens), claustral, quick, aggressive and territorial species. They keep other insects away from their place with characteristic pheromone, which smells like lemon.  They consume dead insects to provide protein for themselves. Both the queen and the workers are glossy black. They reproduce rapidly, but they need large amount of food for that. They make their nest into the soil, and prefer warm and dry environment. Workers look for food on the ground, maybe on plants or rocks. They walk around quite large areas to find enough food resources. The expected lifespan of the queen is 3-5 years. It is important to make their formicarium escape proof!

Food: Honey and insects.

Reproduction: They reproduce rapidly in warmer conditions. Their mature colony consists of a few hundred workers.

Hibernation: At 5-8°C, from the end of November to the beginning of March.
For more information, check out this video.

Additional information

Difficulty

easy

Habitat

European species

Colony structure

monogyne, polygyne

Colony size

hundreds / few thousand

Workers

1 size

Worker size

1-4mm

Feeding

honey+insects

Humidity

middle

Wintering

yes

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