Diacamma rugosum

These ants are truly remarkable. They are very, very active throughout the day and their interesting behaviour makes it easy for people to watch them for hours on end. They may be tricky to keep, but with some research, proper preperation and a little experience even a fairly new antkeeper could keep these wonderful creatures. These ants are often called queenless ants, but that’s not exactly correct. All workers of this species are born ergatoid queens and only become ‘regular’ workers by them biting off their gemmae, which are tiny inverted appendages (or reproductive organ if you don’t quite undertand). There is one argatoid queen in each colony that’s often called the gamergate and she’s usually the one that bites off the gemmae of newborn ants.

People often claim that you have to have ants from different colonies mate with an ant of your own colony in order to get a new gamergate, but this is untrue. All workers are born with a gemmae and the gamergate is the one that bites off their gemmae, thereby making them infertile. However, if the gamergate were to die then it’s usually only a matter of time before another one gets born. It’s an entirely different matter if there are only workers present from the start, in which case you are likely to end up with alates. All species of the Diacamma genus are like this.

Size & colony type
Queen: aprox. 10mm – 12mm
Workers: aprox. 10mm – 12mm
Soldiers: n/a
Colony type: monogyne
Colony size: about 50 – 150 workers per colony
Keeping difficulty: Moderate. Requires higher temperatures

Habitat
Distribution: Asia
Habitat: often found in tropical rainforests
Natural nest: they often build their nests underground and under rocks
Suitable formicaria: Ytong-, plaster-, 3D- nests are all suitable for this species
Recommended humidity: 50% – 80%
Recommended temperature: 24°C – 28°C
Nutrition: a sugar source such as honey or sugarwater and a protein source such as prey insects like crickets or fruitflies. Insect jelly is also a suitable feeder since it contains both sugar and protein and varius other beneficial components

Misc
Hibernation: no
Claustral: no, you will need to feed regularly
Matingflight period: january – april
Egg to worker: 7 to 9 weeks depending on how they are being kept