Pergande’s Thief Ant (Solenopsis pergandei)

General: Solenopsis pergandei is a tiny, orange, relatively calm Thief Ant from the southern US. They grow quickly with heat and food!

Diet: These ants are pretty generalist with their diet, but definitely prefer a lot of protein to a lot of sugars. Provide them with an extremely small amount of sugars and a good amount of protein every 2-3 days! Crickets, fruit flies, mealworms, roaches, etc, are all good sources of protein for these ants. Fruit flies seem to be a favorite, but a variety should be provided.

When feeding sugars, make sure you put drops small enough so that the workers don’t drown. Workers are TINY, so any large drop is enough to take lives. If you have a liquid feeder, this would be a better alternative than giving them drops of sugars! Make sure to remove any old food each feeding, given the ants aren’t still working on it.

Temperature: This species should be kept in the 80s for at least the majority of the nest. Probably about 82-83 is the sweet spot, but provide an area that’s both warmer and cooler! It’s important to maintain high humidity at ALL TIMES with this ant. Being so small and from the southeast, this species is not used to living in dry environments and won’t do well without very high humidity. They may perish quickly if left in a dry environment.

Growth: This species grows pretty quickly! When kept warm, it can take only around 3-5 weeks from egg to worker. Colonies grow quickly when heated and fed, especially when there are multiple queens to lay eggs.

Solenopsis pergandei is (believe it or not) one of the largest Thief Ants in the US!

Queen size: 4-5.5mm

Worker size: 1.5-2.5mm

If ants arrive in bad condition, contact us for help. Live arrival is guaranteed.