How to care for Myrmecia Gratiosa

 

 Myrmecia Gratiosa

Basic Info:

Myrmecia Gratiosa is a large-sized ant species with an average size of 2.1cm they are endemic to Australia and their colors range from red to reddish brown. They are most commonly found south western Australia in sandy slightly forested areas with flat ground. The queens of this species are semi-claustral needing to be fed once every few days and they are a more primitive species relying on mainly sight to hunt. Their stings are extremely painful and have been known to cause anaphylaxis in humans.

Husbandry:

For temperature and humidity, wise Myrmecia Gratiosa prefers a humidity range of 50% to 80% 

while the temperatures they can be kept in is 26 to 29 degrees Celsius. Their nest in the wild has both a wet and a dry spot where they will store their brood according to the humidity requirements. It is recommended that larger colonies be provided with two different formicaria, one that has been moisturized and the other left dry. 

For founding colonies they can be kept in a test tube outworld setup with sand loam inside till around 5 to 12 workers depending on the test tube size.

I would then shift them into a ytong or clay formicarium with a water dish covered with mesh inside the formicarium this provides adequate humidity and protects their brood. This is because when their brood is exposed to water it would end up dying/not hatching so it is best to just fill the water dish about 3/4 of the way without letting any water spill out.  

For their diet, they are quite picky however for protein I have noticed that they quite like crickets and cockroaches with a distaste for mealworms and super worms. Meanwhile, they don't really have a preference for carbohydrates but it is recommended to feed them honey that is slightly diluted with water do note that if your colony is provided with lots of sand they will cover the honey with sand and slowly lick it off the sand. They need to be fed roughly every 3-4 days for honey and for proteins it depends without any larvae they only need to be fed about once a week but if they have larvae then feeding needs to be increased to roughly 2-3 times a week. They would also need to be provided with a constant source of water to drink from. 

Disclaimer  

These ants were kept in Singapore so the conditions may differ depending on the country as the humidity and temperature may vary.

                                                 Myrmecia Gratiosa worker drinking water 

                                     Myrmecia Gratiosa workers feeding on a pre-killed cricket

Myrmecia Gratiosa nest with their broods separated into different stages