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Atlas / Library / Formicidae / Black garden ant
BeginnerDiurnal · active now
Formicidae

Black garden ant

Lasius niger

The page we cite does not state this figure. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and it gives no temperature for this species at all. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. en.wikipedia.org

Photograph: Jonghyun Park · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. Black garden ant is diurnal, so what it is doing changes with the light.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 123 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/lasius-niger

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature20–25 °C
Humidity40–60 %

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
20–25°Ambient

One ambient band, 20–25°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states20-25C active; needs ~5-15C winter diapause

Humidity

40–60%Target RH

The sheet states40-60%

Enclosure
Test-tube founding; plaster nest + outworld

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m0.3–0.5 cm
1520100400 cm
0.3–0.5 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Order / Family
Hymenoptera
Origin
IUCN / CITES
Not evaluated; CITES not yet in our data
Difficulty
Beginner
Commonality
The classic beginner ant globally
Adult size
Worker 3-5mm; queen ~9mm, dark
Lifespan
Queen up to ~20-28 yrs (record); colony perennial
Growth rate
Moderate-fast (needs winter diapause)
Activity & niche
Ground forager, diurnal; honeydew tender
Temperament
Docile, hardy
Venom / defense
Bite + formic acid; no sting; harmless

Enclosure and conditions

Temperature
20-25C active; needs ~5-15C winter diapause
Humidity
40-60%
Min. enclosure
Test-tube founding; plaster nest + outworld
Substrate
Plaster/ytong nest; sand-soil outworld
Hides / decor / water
Water reservoir; hides

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

Food stays available

The sheet states food is always present rather than given on a cycle, so there is no interval to draw.

The sheet statesSugar water + insect protein · Sugar always; protein 2x/week

Staple food
Sugar water + insect protein
Feeding frequency
Sugar always; protein 2x/week

Behaviour and handling

HandlingNot handled
CommunalSingle colony; do not mix
Defense / stress signsScattering, brood-carrying

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
20–28 yrLifespan in care
20 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own. The sheet also reports a record of about 20 years; that is a reported maximum, not the range to plan for.

Reproduction
Fully-claustral founding after summer nuptial flights; REQUIRES cool winter diapause to thrive - awkward in tropical TH

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsNo diapause = decline; mold; dehydration
Red flags / quarantine
SignsNon-native + needs cold - hard in TH heat; never release; barrier

Good to know

  • A famous captive queen (Lasius) lived ~28 years - the longevity record among insects

What it needs

A thermometerbecause temp — 20-25C active; needs ~5-15C winter diapause
A hygrometerbecause humidity — 40-60%
Not stated: The size of the enclosurethis sheet describes the enclosure without a figure: « Test-tube founding; plaster nest + outworld »

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation. What the sheet does not state is listed too, rather than left out: a kit that looks complete is worse than one that names its gap.

Sources

en.wikipedia.organtwiki.org

Others in this group

Asian weaver ant (green tree ant)Oecophylla smaragdinaNicobar carpenter antCamponotus nicobarensisAsian spiny/golden weaver antPolyrhachis divesAsian marauder/power antCarebara diversaAsian jumping antHarpegnathos venatorMediterranean harvester antMessor barbarusFellah carpenter antCamponotus fellahTiger carpenter antCamponotus maculatus

What this sheet states

100%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

Every field this product runs on is stated here. That is not a claim that the values are right: it says what the sheet states, not whether it is true. Whether a human has read it is the badge at the top of this page.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.