Camponotus arnoldinus

Camponotus arnoldinus 
 
What a name, right? "arnoldinus, damn!"
 
One of the largest and most stunning species of Sugar ant that is widespread throughout South East Africa. In this species, queens can often reach 18mm in size! As other species of the Camponotus genera, this ant has both minor and major worker ants, some of which are almost the size of the queen! Their slender, dark orange bodies make them perfectly camouflaged for their natural environment which is one of the reasons as to why they are so predominate in some regions. 
 
In the wild, colonies are often found underground in areas of grassland and therefore, these soil-dwelling ants have adapted to nest within a rather large range of soil types. However, these can often be observed nesting below rocks and similar structures within man-made habitats such as banana plantations. 
 
As these ants cover a large range due to their aggressive and active nature, they can often tolerate and thrive in different temperature and humidity conditions as they can be found in subtropical regions as well as semi-desert habitats. Therefore, it's recommended to keep these ants at a temperature of 23-27C and 30-50% humidity. 
 
In terms of feeding, they will avidly take a range of insects, from crickets to fruit flies, with a supplement of sugar water or similar, being well received. 
 
Colony growth development is rather fast unlike other Camponotus spp. species, after a number of years, mature colonies can reach thousands of individuals rather quickly. 
 
It is illegal and strictly frowned upon to release any non-native ants into the wild.