Camponotus aethiops is a rare shiny black camponotus species. In many places in Europe, it is considered a protected species due to it not being very common. We only ever stock as small handful of this species. 
 
Camponotus aethiops is smaller than its relatives such as camponotus ligniperda and is more adapted to hotter and drier climates within Europe with areas of lower to moderate rainfall it can also be found in countries such as Iran, Israel and Turkey.
 
Camponotus aethiops is a species of carpenter ant. Like other camponotus species they have good variation of polymorphism (different sized workers)
Although they do not have a true soldier castes different sized worker will have different roles, more polymorphism develops as the colony gets bigger. 
 
Their nickname carpenter ant is derived from their ability to carve out nests from wood with their mandibles which they can easily transport due to the fact ants can lift around 10 times their body weight.
 
They are a fast-moving species and can be quite aggressive if disturbed. Initially they are a slow growing species due to them being big ants and will reach exponential growth after the first 20 workers.
 
Keeping difficulty: Easy (beginner friendly)
Colonyform: Monogyne (Polymorph workers)
Queen size: 13-14mm Shiny Black
Workers size: 5-10mm Shiny black (extremely polymorph)
Food: honey water and insects
Temp: 18-28°C
Humidity: 50-60%
Founding: clasutral without feeding
Colonysize: 1-300 workers
Hibernation: 4-5 months at 5-9°C
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You will receive: 
1x queen with eggs/brood or workers depending on selection 
1x protein shake
1x pipette
Why me?
 
Live arrival guarantee:
We guarantee the live arrival of your Queen they come well packed in our jiffy bags which have two-sided padding as well as an additional layer of bubble wrap around our test tubes. We are the only company in the United Kingdom to offer our live arrival guarantee of your queen as well as an additional 14 days guarantee if the colony if kept in the original test tube for all our European species. Why do we do this? We are confident with our colony’s health and our packaging process as well as our care guides, we also believe in our customers and making sure they have a good ant keeping experience.
 
Be aware of sellers only using the Live arrival guarantee and not the 14-day additional warranty on European ant species it might be slightly cheaper but could end up paying more in the long run, also all our products are sold as starter kits including food and a pipette.
We do require photographic evidence of the queen in the original test tube for validating the guarantee once outside the test tube and in a nest the environment is outside of our control.
It is illegal to release non-native species of ants into the wild and could damage the local ecosystem so bare this in mind we have a duty to our environment.
 
Live arrival guarantee we ensure the live arrival of the queen only upon delivery contact us within 24-48 hours of receiving the Queen dead on arrival with a picture of the dead queen and the original workers. DO NOT TRANSFER THE DEAD QUEEN OR WORKERS TO A NEST AS THIS VOIDS YOUR WARRNTY. For our additional 14-day guarantee for European species the Queen and workers must be kept in the original test tube sealed with the cotton and care sheet instructions followed if you want to keep this additional guarantee do not transfer to a nest or your warranty is VOIDED (we recommend you keep the 14-day warranty). 
 
We have no control over the environment outside the test tube and have no influence in the conditions the responsibility once placed outside the test tube within the 14-day period the responsibility is with the buyer. 9 times out of 10 colonies die in the nest due to lack of water access, food, temperature, oxygen or stress due to vibrations or exposure to excess light. If your colony does fail inside a nest contact us, we can advise what went wrong but it is up to you to buy another ant colony, you will succeed but sometimes it does not work the first time. Research is key to success with ant keeping and follow our guides.