Tetraponera Rufonigra 1q 5-10w

Genus: Tetraponera
Species: rufonigra

Size: 15-16mm Queen, 12-13mm Workers

Bite: Yes

Sting: Yes

Acid: No

Difficulty: Intermediate

Care requirements

Temperature: 25-28℃

Humidity: 20-50%

Formicarium: Plaster/Gypsum/Cork/Ytong Nest or Test Tubes

Diet: Protein in the form of live or pre-killed fresh insects, Sugars in the form of WaKooshi FormiPure Ant Nectar or similar. Proteins to be fed daily, and sugars offered every 2-3 days.

Hibernation: No

Substrate: Not needed, however you can add dry coco fibre in the foraging area. Avoid placing substrate in the nest, as they are a wood nesting species, and it is not natural for them to dig through substrate.

Advice & Tips

• Don’t hydrate the nest often, a test tube ⅓ full of water with two cotton wool balls pushed in is an ideal setup for them if kept in test tubes. Make sure to provide dry test tubes too, as they are a dry loving species.

• Always use a lid and an ant escape prevention barrier with this species, due to their amazing climbing ability.

• Use long tweezers as this species is very quick and aggressive, and will sting you rapidly if you are not careful.

• Ensure the setup has no gaps or soft plastics, because they can and will chew through them to escape.

• Recommended setups include the WaKooshi Saturn nest, the Esthetic Ants Type A ytong series, the Esthetic Ants mesh nest series, and the WaKooshi gen4 range.

• This species benefits from having some height in their outworld, due to them being arboreal, they often forage on trees in the wild, and will use any vertical space they are given.

• Use dry coco fibre as a substrate for the outworld, avoid making it damp because that increases the risk of mites, and it is not necessary for them.

Facts and Observations

Tetraponera rufonigra, often called the arboreal bicoloured slender ant, is an extremely agile, fast, and aggressive species found throughout much of Asia. They have the capability to bite and sting repeatedly, much like a wasp, and it is known to be very painful, and especially dangerous to those who are allergic. This species is polygynous, meaning that they can have multiple queens, which allows them to grow large colonies, often nesting arboreally (off the floor) within bamboo and trees. Due to their arboreal nature, this species can climb extremely well on almost any surface, and they will climb up the walls of their enclosure, and will utilise any vertical space given. This species can and will attack anything that moves within their enclosure, and will easily take down crickets and other feeder insects with a quick succession of stings, if fed live.