Dinomyrmex gigas

Dinomyrmex gigas a dream ant for many experienced antkeepers. Being one of the largest ants you are able to keep at home this species is loved and highly soughtafter. With their incredible size 30-35mm they are a extraordinary species. This species comes from south-asian regions like Thailand, Singapore and indonesia. They live in rotten and dead wood inside tropical forests. This species not does not hibernate and has a nuptial flight twice a year.

General
Caring for Dinomyrmex gigas is not for the faint of hard. This is an incredible hard species to get going and not that many colonies have made it succesfully inside Europe. However a real expert should be able to make it through the founding stage. 

Food
Dinomyrmex gigas will eat like all other ants. Their portians might be a bit larger tho! They love sugars that come from fruit, sugarwater or ant jellys. For protein the best food for them is fruitflies, mealworms, crickets and other smaller insects.

If you feed insects from the wild freeze or boil these insects to sterilize them. Skipping this step can introduce mites to your colony.

Humidity
Dinomyrmex gigas needs a very high level of humidity. 70% or higher which means condensation should be present or put the ants inside a very humid box. The condensation will also works as a drinking source. The humidity should be very high but the soil should be dry. We will explain more in the housing section. 

Temperature
Dinomyrmex gigas does not need to be heated despite popular believe. Our suppliers told us they are best kept at 22-24 degrees. The forest they usually live in are pretty cold due to the sun not being able to penetrate the vast jungle rooftop. This however makes the high humidity harder to control. 

Hibernation
Dinomyrmex gigas does not hibernate. 

Sting/bite
Obviously you don't want to get bitten by one of these girls!

It is best to house Dinomyrmex gigas in a simple container with substrate. They like high humidity but dry soil. This can be achieved by putting some dry wood in the middle and surround it with moist soil. The water in the soil will evaporate creating the humidity you need. 

This species is very hard to keep and not recommend to anyone but expert ant keepers with loads of experience. This species comes NO live arrival and NO fertility guaranthee.