Carebara diversa Care Guide: Keeping the Asian Marauder Ant

Carebara diversa, often called the Asian marauder ant, is one of the most spectacular species in the hobby. A single colony holds tiny minors, medium workers, majors and huge supermajors whose heads are many times larger than those of the smallest workers. Minors often ride along on the big workers, and the colony goes out hunting in busy columns. It is also a demanding species: young colonies are fragile and need warm, stable conditions to get going.

You will notice that we rarely give exact numbers in this guide. Every colony develops differently, so we explain what to aim for and what to look out for instead.

At a glance

• Origin: South and Southeast Asia, from India to Taiwan and the Philippines

• Colony type: usually one queen

• Difficulty: advanced

• Growth: slow and fragile at the start, fast once established

• Colony size: very large

• Climate: tropical, heating strongly recommended

• Humidity: humid nest, dry and well-ventilated outworld

• Winter rest: optional

• Diet: mainly insects, sugar as a supplement

Appearance and castes

The size differences in Carebara diversa are extreme. The minors are among the smallest ants you can keep, only a couple of millimetres long, while the queen is enormous next to them. In between you find medium workers, majors and supermajors with massive heads. The minors do most of the daily work, and you will often see them hitching a ride on the back or head of a big worker. Few species show the division of labour inside a colony this clearly.

In the wild the species lives in South and Southeast Asia, from India to Taiwan and the Philippines, where it nests in the soil and under rocks. Its foraging columns look a lot like those of army ants, but Carebara diversa is not a nomad. It has a permanent nest, and new colonies start the normal way, with a queen founding after a nuptial flight. When a column finds prey, the workers overpower it together and carry it home in pieces. Watching that happen in your outworld is the main reason many keepers want this species.

Colony structure

In the wild, Carebara diversa colonies are usually headed by a single queen. The huge columns and giant supermajors this species is known for all come from the brood of that one queen, which is another reason the early phase deserves so much care.

Founding a colony

This is the hardest part of keeping Carebara diversa. During founding the queen needs small prey, so offer tiny insects such as small fruit flies or springtails from the start. Keep the setup warm and stable so the brood keeps developing. If brood development falls behind, a young colony can decline very quickly, so do not let it cool down and keep disturbance to a minimum. Check on the colony briefly and calmly, not every day.

Do not move a young colony into a nest too early. It does very well in a simple setup of test tubes connected to a small outworld, such as the All-In-One Test Tube Outworld, as long as it is warm enough. A small space is easier to keep at the right temperature and humidity, and the workers find their food faster. Our guide on the perfect test tube setup explains how to prepare the tubes.

Growth

At first growth is slow and every bit of brood counts. Once the colony has a solid worker force, things change and growth speeds up clearly. The appearance of majors and supermajors is a good sign that the colony is strong enough to invest in its expensive large workers. How fast all of this goes depends on warmth, food and the colony itself, so do not compare your colony too strictly with someone else's.

Temperature and heating

Carebara diversa is a tropical species and needs warmth all year. Heating is strongly recommended. Heat one side of the setup so the colony can choose where to sit, and watch where the workers put their brood. Keep in mind that the setting of a heat mat is not the temperature inside the nest, so look at the behaviour of the ants rather than at the number on the mat.

Winter rest

A winter rest is optional. Because the workers are so small, colonies stay very active all year round. Many colonies probably still benefit from a short, slightly cooler period around winter. Let the ants show you: if they move away from the heat source, place the colony a little cooler for a while.

Humidity and water

Keep the nest humid and the outworld dry and well ventilated. The minors dry out quickly, so there should always be a moist area in the nest. At the same time, standing water, condensation or mold mean it is too wet. Always provide a water source in the outworld, for example a test tube with a cotton plug.

Feeding

Insects are the basis of the diet. Feed plenty of them: small fruit flies for young colonies (you can breed them yourself with our Fruit Fly Culture Set), and crickets and mealworms once the majors appear. Sugar, such as sugar water or sugar jelly, is a supplement and not the main food. Adjust the amount to the size of your colony and remove leftovers before they start to mold. For more on ant nutrition, read what do ants eat.

Mites and hygiene

This species is sensitive to mites. Remove leftover food quickly, keep the setup clean and never use soil or materials from outside, because that is an easy way to bring mites in. A clean, simple setup is much easier to keep in order than a large naturalistic one, especially in the first phase.

Escape prevention

The minors are tiny and fit through very small gaps, so a tight setup is essential. Use an outworld with tight-fitting connections and apply Fluon to the walls of the outworld. Check every connection before you add the colony and keep checking regularly. Our guide on preventing ant escapes covers the methods in more detail.

Housing larger colonies

Once the colony has clearly outgrown its tubes, move it to a tight-fitting nest such as a Ytong nest. Because the minors are so small, a nest without gaps matters more than the size of the chambers. Connect the new nest to the outworld, warm it a little and let the colony move in at its own pace. Read more in our post about our Ytong nests.

Is Carebara diversa right for you?

Carebara diversa is a species for keepers with some experience. You need to keep the colony warm and stable, work cleanly to avoid mites and use a setup the minors cannot escape from. In return you get one of the most impressive colonies in the hobby: tiny minors, giant supermajors and hunting columns that make the outworld worth watching every day. If you have kept a species or two and are ready for a challenge, this is a very rewarding choice.

Ready for the challenge? Have a look at our Carebara diversa page.

Second photo: © Jonghyun Park, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist